A twisted bonnet parody of Pride and Prejudice airs on UK television! What would Jane Austen think?
The first episode of the new time travel twister Lost in Austen aired in the UK this last week. The advance publicity of the production gave me serious doubts as to its possible success. The reviews from the press have been mixed to say the least, but the Jane Austen community has also weighed in, and I might add more favorably than I had anticipated. I watched the first episode with an open mind and without much expectation, and was in turn, delightfully amused. I found myself laughing out loud several times, enjoying the time travel plot and all the challenges facing a 21st-century woman transported into her favorite novel set in the early 19th-century. If you begin to pick it apart, there are several flaws, historically and in Austen’s original concept, but taken as whole it is hilarious. I just hope that the Pride and Prejudice theme exists beyond the novelty of episode one and that they don’t go too far with the creative plot to put off anyone who admires the novel and wishes to relive it a new way.
Here is my take on the humorous blunders with a few complements thrown in for good measure.
My top 10 most improbable surprises in Lost In Austen: Episode One are…
Number 10.) Lydia Bennet may be the tallest, but if she’s 16, then I am too!
Number 9.) Mrs. Bennet is a ball breaker! Who’d ever have guessed it?
Number 8.) Kitty Bennet gets to lead the conversation a lot instead of following little sister Lydia in her thinking.
Number 7.) Cadbury chocolate bars must have been time warped into the dinning room since they would not be invented for another forty years.
Number 6.) Mary Bennet talks instead of sermonizes, shows interest and concern for others and has not sung, played the pianoforte or had her nose in a book for one minute. (on second thought, this is an improvement!)
Number 5.) They did not repeat scenes or dialogue verbatim from the novel so we see new views. Nice touch.
Number 4.) Mr. Bennet’s first name is CLAUDE!
Number 3.) Louisa Hurst was indisposed and could not show up for the filming.
Number 2.) Charlotte Lucas is actually the younger Miss Marple who got sucked into the time warp too. That explains the Cadbury bars for breakfast.
And my number one most improbable surprise in Lost In Austen: Episode One is…
Number 1.) Amanda is not very ‘Austen’ savvy for someone who has read P&P over and over again. She obviously forgot to visit The Republic of Pemberley or AustenBlog!
One thing that I am really happy with in this pastiche is that the screen writer chose to have the heroine Amanda Price fixated on the novel Pride and Prejudice and not the 1995 Mini-series of Pride and Prejudice. Please do not get me wrong. I adore the 1995 version of P&P and admire Colin Firth as Darcy as much as the next Janeite, but having her love the romance and characters of the book makes her an advocate of literature as opposed to lusting after the wet shirt Darcy in the Pemberley pond plunge like Bridget Jones did in the novel and the movie Bridget Jones’ Diary. I like smart heroines and this screen writer chose that difference for his heroine Amanda, and I thank him for it. Now if only some of the reading had made her a bit wiser!
Next up, we meet the odious Rev. Mr. Collins. We shall see what they do to him!
Further reading
- A review of episode one at Jane Austen’s World
- An in-depth discussion of Lost in Austen by viewers
- View Lost in Austen
The most improbable surprise of all is that a real person lands in a fictional book and interacts with an author’s characters as if they were real. Right away I knew I would have to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the movie on its own terms – a fun bit of austenesque fluff.
Oh, but I think she’s definitly fixed on the BBC 1995 mini-series since their major scene includes the wet shirt.
[...] Sutherland reviewed the show in this Guardian article; see also these posts at Austenblog; Austenprose; and Jane Austen Today (there are a few posts here), for just starters! I will put in my 2 cents [...]
[...] quite a bit of discussionat AustenBlog. Episode one was fun and frolicky, with more than a few improbable surprises. Catch my review of Episode two on Monday, September [...]
[...] Lost in Austen Episode One at Austenprose [...]
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