Lost in Austen – INTRODUCTION
Aug 24, 2008 Author: admin | Filed under: news
Lost in Austen is an ingenious reinvention of the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, in which Jane Austen’s story is thrown off track by a very modern heroine, Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper). Amanda swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet (Gemma Arterton) and takes centre stage in the celebrated love story.
Disillusioned with her life in London and disenchanted with her boyfriend, Amanda Price discovers Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom. Soon she finds herself swapping places with Lizzie, and entering the ‘real’ fictional world of Pride and Prejudice. Amanda arrives at Longbourn, the home of the Bennet family, and realises she’s joined the action at the very start of the story, she gets to know the remaining Bennet sisters, and prepares to meet Mr Darcy (Elliot Cowan). How will she keep the greatest love story of all time on track when Elizabeth Bennet is stuck in the modern world?
Playing Mr and Mrs Bennet are Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston; Lindsay Duncan plays Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh; Morven Christie is Jane Bennet, Tom Mison is Mr Bingley, Guy Henry is Mr Collins, Tom Riley is Captain Wickham, and Christina Cole is Caroline Bingley.
Lost in Austen is made by Mammoth Screen, the independent production company set up by former ITV drama executives Michele Buck and Damien Timmer.
The four part series is written by acclaimed television writer Guy Andrews (Chancer, Prime Suspect, Absolute Power; Poirot and Lewis). The director is Dan Zeff (Worst Week Of My Life, Doctor Who, Marple) and producer is Kate McKerrell (Lewis).
Lost in Austen is executive produced by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, alongside writer Guy Andrews. Michele Buck and Damien Timmer’s recent credits include Ballet Shoes for BBC1, Agatha Christie’s Marple, the Inspector Morse spin off Lewis and the BAFTA award winning Housewife 49, starring Victoria Wood.
Michele Buck says: “With a thoroughly modern heroine transposed into the world of Jane Austen, and a ‘new’ Mr Darcy in the shape of Elliot Cowan, this is a hugely exciting project. It’s an honour to be working with such a fine cast on this very ambitious production.”
Damien Timmer says: “We’re delighted to be producing Lost in Austen for ITV. Guy’s scripts treat Jane Austen’s much loved source material with the utmost respect, but Amanda Price’s appearance in the story of Pride and Prejudice and the absence of Lizzie Bennet can’t help but turn everything on its head. We hope viewers will be gripped by the new romantic twists and turns which emerge, and will want to see who claims Mr Darcy’s heart.”
Granada International holds worldwide distribution rights.
9 Responses for "Lost in Austen – INTRODUCTION"
So this is the official ITV blog to promote this series, isn’t it?
Are you trying to convince us the true Janeites that this could be good?
You’d better not publish the personal e-mail addresses.
Has Guy Andrews been reading Jasper Fforde novels recently???? There are shades of The Eyre Affair here methinks!
I’ve just brought my DVD copy and sat through all four episodes in one sitting. Congratulations to Guy Andrews – so many clever observations and a tremendous reverence for the original novel and previous adaptions. Having expereinced my first viewing on ITV and enjoying the unpredictable twists, a repeat viewing only enhances it for me as you can then relax into enjoying the actors dedication to this most sacred of storys. We all own a part of this story as we are all affected by the integrity and hope we all long for in oursleves. Ignore the purest Mr.Andrews……I say bravo Sir!!!!
(My husband watched it all with me and he still can’t see why Darcy is so appealing. If this production hasn’t shown him, then nothing will!!! )
Will this ever be released in the US? If so please give us an Idea of when! I NEED to see this! It sounds wonderful.
How can I get this mini series?
i think this could be a regular series, showing new twists and turns as Amanda and Lizzie [and who ever else may venture to 'the other side'] re-visit there old haunts. Any possibility of this happening?
Bravo! I Loved it!
I watched this mini-series on Ovation TV and loved it. It had enough of a love story and comedy to keep me thoughly intertained. I will be getting this on DVD so that I can watch it again and again.
I am from the states my comment of Lost in Austen is a very entertaining , I became a fan only recently when seeing the series on Ovation tv here in the states and wasn’t smart enough to record it because when I got the full series on dvd and I was most distressed to find that they have deleted many scenes including Amanda’s singing part along with many others I know they do that when they rebroadcast british television in the states but the dvd version that
just confuses people here who have never seen the movie before.
but in all it was a great movie, not as great with the scenes deleted but satisfactory in the end.
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