Death Comes To Pemberley: BBC 2013 series (Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge: December)

So, it’s the last day of 2013 and time for my final review as part of the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge. As you’ll see from my original plan, I had various different ideas about what I’d review for this challenge over the year, some of which have come to fruition and some have not, largely owing to the difficulty of getting hold of some of the books (they were unavailable at the library and some belt-tightening in the family finances prevented me from buying them). However, other opportunities have presented themselves at just the right time, and this final review is of one of those.

Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James was published in 2011, an imagined sequel to Pride and Prejudice. If all had gone according to plan, I’d have read it in January of this year with my reading group, but I knew early on that I wouldn’t be able to make the date chosen for the meeting and chose to catch up on some other reading rather than read the book I was not going to be discussing. So it was that I approached this BBC adaptation fresh to the plot as well as the casting and production, meaning that there will be no reflections on how the series stands up against the book. By all means get in touch and let me know what you thought, if you’re in a position to do a comparison.

Several years have passed since Lizzy married Darcy and they are now the parents of a small son and live a happy family life at Pemberley. Preparations are underway for a large party and a ball (it’s going to be so big they don’t have room for all their guests to sleep at Pemberley) and the Darcys’ main concern is over the two suitors for the hand of Georgiana – one of whom she likes a lot more than the other. I thought this part was acted really well and the humour of the resentment between the two gentlemen was brought out to great effect.

Suddenly, however, things change. Lydia Wickham – who was travelling with her husband to Pemberley uninvited as a “surprise” for them all – arrives in hysterics because Wickham is missing and she heard shots in the woods. On investigation it turns out Captain Denny is dead and it seems highly likely that Wickham is the murderer.

As well as following the development of the case, the story focuses on its impact on the household at Pemberley and in particular Darcy’s relationships with his wife and sister. I felt that the existing characters – by which I mean those whom we know from Pride and Prejudice – were developed in a believable way, especially Wickham as the incorrigible rogue motivated alternately by the pursuit of his own pleasure or the desperate attempts to cover over his mistakes, whose past was now coming back to bite him as nobody believes in his innocence.

We were given more of an insight into his relationship with Lydia and in particular her decision to turn a blind eye when it came to his extra-marital dalliances.

The new characters introduced by PD James fitted well into the setting and there was nothing much which struck me as confusing or at odds with Austen’s world. However at one point during the trial I did question the behaviour of the judge in his refusal to allow Wickham’s lawyer to raise objections – I couldn’t work out whether he was biased in favour of the prosecution, or if those kinds of interruptions just weren’t permitted in Austen’s day. But it was puzzling, whatever the reason!

The plot strands were enjoyably woven together as the story progressed and it all finished in a most satisfactory manner with a last-minute revelation and the inevitable race against the clock to resolve matters.

All in all I really enjoyed this three-part production (which surprised me, as several people I know hadn’t liked the book). My main disappointments were that Colonel Fitzwilliam was dropped rather suddenly from the story and did not appear in the final summary of “what happened next” to everyone, and that Lady Catherine de Bourgh only featured very briefly. Everyone in my family thought that we’d have liked to see a lot more of her, played as she was by the excellent Penelope Keith in a very effective yet understated way with not too much of the Lady Bracknell about her (anyone who’s planning any adaptations of P&P in the future would do well to bear her in mind for the part!).

So that’s my year of reviews finished. I’ve really enjoyed it and read a few things I wouldn’t have otherwise so it’s been fun and enlightening.

I wish you a Happy New Year with minutes to spare (in the UK at any rate!) – see you all next year!

Thankful for

Champagne!

Time with family

The chance to see some friends today after years of being unable to meet up

Being able to make plans for the future

All my gratitudes from 2013. What a year it’s been.

Doctors Austen week, 2013 BBC series (Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge: October)

Wow, this was confusing!  First I read that there’s a whole week of Austen-related specials on Doctors.  I watch two of them (Austenland: Part 1 and 2) and judge by the preview of the supposed third episode (Charlotte’s Web) that it has nothing to do with Austen and that in fact it was just a two-part special.  Before I get round to reviewing it, we find a letter in the following week’s Radio Times discussing the Austen-inspired episodes on “14-18 October” and realise that I need to watch the rest after all.  In fact, it turns out that there are six in all – seven, if you count the episode in which the main, stand-alone story hasn’t anything to do with Austen (that I could spot) but the ongoing story arc does – spilling over into the start of the following week.

Doctors

For a summary of the series as a whole, see my previous post.

The background to the specials is that there is to be a Jane Austen exhibition held somewhere in the locality, which one of the regular cast is encouraging others to attend.  Also ongoing seems to be a sponsored read they are taking part in to raise money for charity.  Some of the characters who have never read any Austen are being sponsored to get through one book, but must pay the money themselves if they fail in the attempt.

Plot summaries and comments

Austenland: Part 1 and 2

The two Austenland episodes (nothing to do with Shannon Hale’s novel of the same title) seemed distinct from the rest of the series, except for a few references to the sponsored read and a shot of the poster advertising the launch of the exhibition.  The story concerned a girl in her late teens or early twenties who had been the victim of a mugging some time before and was now selectively mute, choosing to carry around a computer tablet on which to write any communication.  She was shown with her head in an Austen novel from the outset.  I felt that the design of her costume was very clever as she looked quite Regency in style whilst wearing modern day clothing – a long dress with a high waist and a cropped denim jacket with a very Spencer jacket look to it.  Unfortunately this was about the only thing I did like, and to be honest if I hadn’t decided to review the episodes (and that I wouldn’t have time left this month to listen to the audio version of Longbourn) I’d have stopped watching after the first one.  The girl, whose name is Lizzie, visits the the GP for a reason that now escapes me, although it can’t be connected to her trauma problem as the doctor quizzes her about why she hasn’t been attending her counselling appointments.  The girl becomes even less communicative but it’s clear she doesn’t want to belong to our world, but to retreat into the society of Austen’s novels.  She falls suddenly unconscious and begins to dream a strange version of Pride and Prejudice in which she is Lizzy Bennet and other characters from the book are played by characters she has met around the surgery.  She has clearly developed a crush on one of the doctors and casts him in the role of Darcy, whilst a practice nurse plays Lydia (the only other sister present) and a receptionist plays Mrs Bennet.  Before long Mr Collins appears on the scene (played by one of the nicest doctors – I felt a bit sorry that he had to have such a ghastly part but he did it very well!), along with – inexplicably – Frank Churchill and General Tilney.  Despite her confusion over where these characters have come from, she’s enjoying herself and goes out, only to find herself at the picnic scene from Emma.  Mr Woodhouse and Miss Bates are there, and Lizzie insults Miss Bates in the way Emma does.  Embarrassed, she leaves the party and finds Mr Darcy, who scolds her.  She returns to the house and discovers she’s now at Northanger and must endure a terrifying night during a storm.  From then on things deteriorate further – she’s discomfited by Mr Collins’ lecherous looks as he proposes and won’t take no for an answer, she’s alarmed by the violence Darcy shows when he rescues Lydia from a gypsy and she’s horrified when she discovers Darcy and Caroline Bingley in a passionate embrace in the gardens.  Everything is going wrong, and she’s confused because it’s a world of her own creation.  The doctor finally succeeds in wakening her and she is now able to speak.  She agrees to return to her appointments to help herself reintegrate into real life, but by the time she has got through the very busy reception area she’s obviously having second thoughts and as she leaves she spots a man who’ll make a perfect Captain Wentworth…

I really wasn’t sure what to make of those two episodes.  There didn’t seem to be any clear message in them and it looked rather like the cast had all had the chance to pick an Austen character they wanted to be and a story had been woven around that.  I thought they all did very well in their characters but the whole thing didn’t hang together very well, the doctors were unable to help the patient and the status quo was restored by the end of the episodes.

Charlotte’s Web

The other episodes focused on one book each.  Charlotte’s Web was a modern take on the story of Charlotte Lucas.  I think I found this the most interesting.  It investigated the idea of marrying for money and security, but the main difference was that the modern-day Charlotte seemed to be doing this out of laziness and a disinclination to work, rather than the need for protection that a Regency woman would have had.  However, it examined the effects on her other relationships, including with a close male friend who obviously has feelings for her, and raised the question over whether, like Austen’s Charlotte, she would sacrifice as much as she gained in the marriage.

Northanger Bungalow(!)

This covered the story of Catriona Morbrook, a teenager living with her recently separated mother, and obsessed with horror films and zombies.  She becomes convinced that the previous occupant of her home had murdered his wife.  Whilst searching the loft for evidence she believes she sees her own mother who has now become a zombie.  It turns out to be a type of epilepsy, but whilst it was a good way of updating the story, I was unimpressed with the hallucinations and the very casual treatment of apparent mental illness (similar to the Austenland episodes).

Gemma

This episode was a reworking of Emma in which a young girl from a council estate becomes frustrated that she can’t be as in control of her friends’ lives and events around her as she would like.  It turns out that this is her reaction to the discovery that she has rheumatoid arthritis and her fear that this will stop her dancing, which she wants to pursue as a career.  I quite liked this story apart from its rather laboured use of signs such as “Hartfield Estate” and “Randalls Park”, in case we couldn’t work out the connection!

Remission

This was the story of a man who’s celebrating his five years clear of cancer.  As he arrives at the health centre to invite the staff to his party he bumps into his former boyfriend, who disappeared overseas during his illness with little explanation.  The staff work together to uncover the cause of the split (the mother of the recovered cancer patient who had in fact given the impression in an email that her son was dead!) and reunite the pair.  Although this was a little predictable at times, it was probably the best updating of one of the stories and I also liked the title, which was enough to give a clue to the source novel but also describe the focus of the medical storyline.

Background story

Running throughout the latter four episodes, and continuing into the subsequent, non-Austen, episodes, was the ongoing story of a mother and daughter who were opening a beauty salon locally.  It quickly became clear that this was a Pride and Prejudice idea, the twist being that the mother was both Mrs Bennet and Jane.  They turn up at the health centre to register and Gloria, the mother, quickly becomes convinced that Kevin, a young GP, will be the perfect partner for her daughter Sigourney.  Sigourney, however, is unconvinced that she’s in need of a man and has a low opinion of the medical profession.  Gloria falls for an older doctor, Heston, who’s quite flattered by her attentions, but Kevin convinces him Gloria’s a gold-digger and he’d be better off steering clear.  At the launch of the Jane Austen exhibition Kevin becomes keener on Sigourney and “rescues” her from the attentions of her landlord who’s also the security guard at the health centre (in fact, this was one of the most poorly attended launches I’ve ever seen, since everbody there, but for Gloria and Sigourney, was a staff member of the health centre!)  Next day, Barry the security guard turns up at the salon to mend a leak and takes the opportunity to impart some information about Kevin’s past (it’s all true – I knew just enough about the history of the programme to know that! – but slanted to make Kevin look bad).  Kevin turns up later and tries to ask Sigourney out, but she throws it all in his face, along with the accusation that he split up Heston and her mum.  Before he can leave, the leak – which Barry had repaired badly so he’d have to come back again – bursts and Kevin comes to the rescue.  He defends himself against Barry’s rumours and then storms off.  Later, however, he encourages Heston to think again about Gloria and finally Sigourney turns up in the health centre car park and kisses Kevin.

Conclusions

My thoughts on the short series are that the on-going story was well thought through, although I’d imagine the more familiar you are with the series and the characters, the more you would get out of it.  There was another storyline in which Emma, a doctor, and Howard, the practice manager, were seen separately on several occasions reading Persuasion for the sponsored read, usually with the other’s voice heard as a voice-over reading the passage from the book.  I assume they have had a previous relationship a long time ago but I don’t know this as the last time I watched it, Emma had not yet arrived.  If I were a regular viewer, no doubt those scenes would be more meaningful to me.

I didn’t feel that the individual stories worked very well, however.  Because there was no time to develop the guest characters, a very broad-brush approach had to be used in order to establish their personality as well as make the link between the episode and the source book.  This led to the issues I’ve already highlighted surrounding mental illness, along with the fact that everything felt rushed and forced.  And why no Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility episode?

Overall I was disappointed; when I was still a regular viewer I saw a short series of Shakespeare-themed episodes which were much better constructed.  The stories were developed over several days, making them more believable and involving, and nobody had to dress up in period costume! In addition, much of the action took place on location in Stratford-on-Avon itself, which made it seem more of a special event.  A shame the Austen season didn’t achieve as much.

My November review will definitely be of Jo Baker’s Longbourn (audiobook).

Thankful for…

• An enjoyable (if brief) trip to Kent to visit friends and relatives
• Surviving the storm whilst we were there, with no damage to property or person
• Ann Voskamp’s recent series on Missing Jesus, which I’ve found encouraging reading
• The chance to spend time with my parents, who arrive today
• The decisions over the Bookworm’s high school applications finally completed

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice BBC DVD set (Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge: February)

So, here we are at the end of February and I’m ready to review my second Pride and Prejudice-inspired choice for the year.  A while (maybe as long as two years) ago, I spotted this DVD set online at a bargain price and decided to buy it, but I never got round to watching it.  This is the series made by the BBC and first broadcast on Sunday evenings in September and October 1995 as a 6 part series.  At the time of buying it I was under the impression that this edition was created and released for the 10th anniversary, but I don’t know where I got that from now as there’s no mention of it anywhere on the box and the copyright date is 2009, so I (or the online advertising) must have been mistaken.  That said, the set is classed as a “Special Edition” on the grounds that it features “frame by frame restoration from the original negative”.  There are also three extras in the form of featurettes, which, as they contain clips from the original, allow the effects of the restoration to be seen very clearly by the viewer.

My first observation concerns the plot summary on the back of the DVD case:

Elizabeth Bennett, a spirited and independent young woman, is the subject of her mother’s obsessive goal to marry off her five daughters to the wealthiest gentlemen available.  But Mrs Bennett’s plan is compromised with the arrival of the proud and enigmatic Mr Darcy, as he and Lizzie embark on one of the most famous and compelling romances in history.

In addition to the spelling mistakes and the rather confusing factual error (the idea that Darcy’s arrival might “compromise” Mrs Bennet’s plan surely implies that he is not one of the “wealthiest gentlemen available”), this sort of synopsis frustrates me, chiefly because that isn’t what the book is about.  The story concerns a series of unexpectedly connected events during a year in Lizzy’s life, during which she matures in all sorts of different ways and learns to be less hasty when forming opinions.  During this time she gets to know a man whom she eventually begins to love and respect enough to want to marry him.  In the meantime he, and some of the other characters in the novel, are also able to improve and develop their characters, especially when they see in some of the others what they might become if they don’t work to change themselves.  Now, obviously, that doesn’t really grab the potential viewer as a plot summary, but I hate to see any of Austen’s novels reduced to a mere love story.  They are always observational, didactic and entertaining – there’s nothing wrong with a simple love story but this is so much more complex and I feel that should be respected.  There are enough people in the world who believe that it’s all about Colin Firth Mr Darcy, without the BBC encouraging them.

The DVD set

I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the lack of extras on this, as I thought a “Special Edition” should contain more and expected at least a commentary on some of the episodes.  However, the featurettes themselves were interesting.  The one on disc one, accompanying the first three episodes, was about how the series was adapted from the book and included interviews with Andrew Davies who adapted it, producer Sue Birtwistle and director Simon Langton, as well as the costume designer and the location manager/set designer (whose contributions I found fascinating, especially footage of the set team trying to decide how to arrange chairs in the sitting room at Longbourn!).  What made a real impression on me was Andrew Davies’ account of his desire to bring a physicality to the characters and make them more real and concrete in the minds of the audience.  His method of doing this seems to be to see them in states of undress as much as possible (Darcy in a bath, Lizzy and Jane frequently in nightwear, talking in the privacy of their bedrooms) but it also extends to scenes of action (various characters riding horses, the gentlemen shooting, Darcy fencing, lots of running – or “haste”, as Mrs Bennet might call it!) which help to show the characters as more than just figures in Regency costume exchanging witty repartee, as can be the danger in adaptations from books of this kind which are driven primarily by conversation.

The other two featurettes, on disc two, focus on the restoration of the film itself and on the lasting effect this adaptation has had on period drama adaptations.  The latter discusses how this series became “watercooler TV”, the most discussed feature of people’s weekend when they returned to work on Monday morning.  This was as unexpected as it was phenomenal – the series creators had expected to appeal to those with an interest in literature, mainly older people who had already read the book and were interested in seeing how it translated to screen, and instead they quickly found they had an audience of 10 million which spanned ages, genders and backgrounds.  Simon Langton calls the series “the Big Brother of its time” (and, as the film was made a few years ago now, we might well update that currently to the X Factor of its time), because of the impact it had on the population, the media (articles about the series and photos of the characters frequently popping up even in the first few pages of daily newspapers).  As I’ve mentioned before, I missed out on this spectacle by leaving the country early in September, so I never saw any of the attention it was attracting.  Perhaps it’s for this reason that I’ve never been able to “get” what it is about this adaptation that people love so much.  Perhaps you had to be there, surrounded by all the fascination and the attention and photos of Colin Firth (“who? Oh, the posh guy from Circle of Friends, I remember”), at that defining moment in TV history, to appreciate the obsession it generated.  I watched the video recording my dad had made for me (because I’d studied the book for ‘A’ Level) during my Christmas holiday, and reflected that it was a lot better than the version we’d watched at school (the 1980 series – just as a by the way, can you now picture this man playing Mr Darcy?!).  Whatever the reason (and I know I’m in a small minority here, so please try to accept my views and move on!) I just can’t seem to love it the way so many of my friends do.

The series itself

That said, this is probably my favourite “straight” adaptation of the novel (can’t help loving the twists on the original, like Lost in Austen, Bridget Jones’ Diary and Bride and Prejudice).  The casting is almost flawless (my main reservation is over the choice of David Bamber as Mr Collins, who – whilst undeniably excellent and quite incredibly oily – is at least ten years too old) and a lot of attention to detail has gone into the scenes, the locations and the acting.  Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in particular can convey a huge amount with their facial expressions without ever needing to speak: one scene in particular comes to mind, in which Lizzy is visiting Pemberley and she and Georgiana are at the piano, whilst Darcy looks on from across the room.  His expression conveys a real sense of pleasure that his sister and the object of his affection are getting on so well together, and when Lizzy manages to distract the attention away from Caroline Bingley’s catty remark about Wickham he positively glows with approval.  In return her smile expresses her new-found respect and growing fondness for him.  The two other actors I found particularly pleasurable to watch are Crispin Bonham-Carter, as a hugely enthusiastic and completely adorable Mr Bingley, and Susannah Harker, elegantly serene as Jane.

I was pleased to find online a list of the locations used in this series, as these really added to its overall effect and I wanted to know more about them.  I hadn’t expected there to be so many! Most of the buildings used different places for the exterior and interior shots, such as Pemberley, whose grounds and exterior are those of Lyme Park in Cheshire but (some of) whose interiors are in Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire.  We visited Sudbury a few years ago whilst on holiday (I strongly recommend the Museum of Childhood), and was surprised to find that it had been filmed there as I hadn’t realised.  (I’m always very pleased when Chatsworth isn’t used as Pemberley since, although it’s said that Austen modelled her fictional estate on that real one, she also mentions that Lizzy and the Gardiners visit Chatsworth on their tour, which makes it feel slightly wrong if they then go to it as somewhere else!).  Belton House, which is used as Rosings, is very near my parents’ home and we used to visit there a lot when I was growing up*, so I was pleased to be reminded that both the interior and exterior make appearances.  I was interested in the use of Thorpe Tilney Hall (apparently nothing to do with Northanger Abbey!), as that is also fairly near my parents’ and I knew it had been used as Longbourn in the previous BBC adaptation, but couldn’t picture where it could be in this one.  However, further research into that has convinced me that it’s a mistake and wasn’t used.

A “newbie’s” response

Finally, I just wanted to record the responses of my daughters, who came to the series with no prior knowledge of the story or the characters at all.  I thought that the Bookworm would enjoy it but I offered both of them the chance to watch, as it was half term so I didn’t want the Butterfly to be left without entertainment.  She watched all but one episode but found them long and sometimes wanted them to hurry up and be over so we can do something else.  The Bookworm, on the other hand, was quite captivated by it and found it difficult to wait between the penultimate and final episodes (she only had to wait a day!).  It took her a while to “tune in” to the style of speech and language (she’s only 10 after all) and in the first couple of episodes we had to keep pausing to catch up on what they had said, and what it all meant.  But towards the end she was picking things up very quickly and also remembering other things the characters said which bore relevance to the subsequent plot.  She noticed, for example, that after Darcy has initially insulted Lizzy’s family (with very good reason, she acknowledged!) he then mentions on at least two occasions his respect for them – signs of his personal transformation, as well as his developing esteem of Lizzy.  She adored Mrs Bennet and her frequent outbursts, and could quite see how she had missed the point about Lydia’s disgrace by focusing mainly on the idea that Mr Bennet might be killed in a fight and then she would lose her home (and on Lydia’s need for new clothes).  Despite Southern Daddy’s persistent attempts to make it all about Darcy and Lizzy when he discussed it with her (there is still much work to be done with him), she picked up a good understanding of the story and hugely enjoyed watching with me.  I’m wondering what we can watch together next!

My next review will be of Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer, which is apparently the first “tribute” book written after this ground-breaking TV series was broadcast.

UPDATE: 1/3/13 – I’ve just discovered that  The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is set to reach its final episode on 28th March, so I’m now considering making that my March selection and keeping Darcy’s Story for April.  I’ll see how it pans out!

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*It’s also the setting for a children’s novel – and subsequent TV series – called Moondial, by Helen Cresswell, which I’d strongly recommend if you get the opportunity to read/see it)

Thankful for…

A relaxing and refreshing half term holiday

A fun cake decorating lesson with a friend on Monday!

Good, supportive Bible study friends whom I saw today

Summer Holiday plans

A new doormat and runner in our front hall