The New Jane Austen Sanditon Miniseries Is Coming to PBS in January

Caroline Rogers
The New Jane Austen Sanditon Miniseries Is Coming to PBS in January

If you’ve watched and re-watched all of the films and miniseries based on Jane Austen’s novels—Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, the list goes on—you should mark your calendars for January 2020. That’s because the first television adaptation of Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon is heading for the small screen.

The eight-part miniseries will air on Masterpiece on PBS beginning on January 12, 2020. PBS describes the novel it’s based on, saying, “When Jane Austen was chronically ill with a mysterious disease in early 1817, she turned her thoughts to a happier subject. She started work on a witty and delightful novel set in a seaside town.” While Austen wasn't able to finish the novel, screenwriter Andrew Davies (Les Misérables, War & Peace) has now taken up the mantle to pen the script for the television adaptation. You can watch a preview of the upcoming series below.

Watch the preview:

As for the plot and casting, according to PBS, “Masterpiece’s bold and lavish adaptation of Jane Austen’s final work stars Rose Williams (Curfew) as Austen’s lively but levelheaded heroine, Charlotte Heywood; Theo James (Divergent) as the humorous, charming (and slightly wild!) Sidney Parker; Anne Reid (Years and Years) as the forthright grande dame of Sanditon, Lady Denham. It also features Kris Marshall (Love Actually), Crystal Clarke (Ordeal by Innocence), Charlotte Spencer (Watership Down), Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead), and Jack Fox (Riviera).

Courtesy of PBS
Courtesy of PBS

Tune into Masterpiece on PBS on January 12, 2020, at 8/7c to catch the premiere of the eight-part Sanditon miniseries. (Check local listings to confirm.) You can learn more about the cast, plot, and setting and also find production photos at pbs.org. In the meantime, be sure to catch up on Davies' other period adaptations, including War & Peace and Les Misérables.

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Will you be tuning in when Sanditon premieres in January? What’s your favorite Jane Austen adaptation?