This is a good new version. I'm surprised it was made, since the one with Emma Thompson is still quite fresh in people's minds.
However, I think that this one has some better characterisations. Both versions had good Mariannes, but this one is hard to beat. Hatty M. plays Elinor with all the right emotions, but I'm not always sure she is quite in period.
This could partly be Andrew Davies' fault, as he is responsible for some dialogue that surely would never have come from the pen of Jane Austen.
David Morrissey is excellent as usual, as is Dan Stevens (who has the great advantage, in my book, that he is not Hugh Grant. I think he would have been good as Willoughby, who should surely be more handsome than Edward). Dominic Cooper is not good as Willoughby. His looks are wrong, his speech tends towards Estuary English in places and in others he does not speak clearly. I could go on.
Lucy Steele's sister does something close to an impression of Alice in The Vicar of Dibley. Why does she have a non-standard accent, whereas her genteel sister does not?
I should also mention that the settings and overall look of the production were first rate.
However, I think that this one has some better characterisations. Both versions had good Mariannes, but this one is hard to beat. Hatty M. plays Elinor with all the right emotions, but I'm not always sure she is quite in period.
This could partly be Andrew Davies' fault, as he is responsible for some dialogue that surely would never have come from the pen of Jane Austen.
David Morrissey is excellent as usual, as is Dan Stevens (who has the great advantage, in my book, that he is not Hugh Grant. I think he would have been good as Willoughby, who should surely be more handsome than Edward). Dominic Cooper is not good as Willoughby. His looks are wrong, his speech tends towards Estuary English in places and in others he does not speak clearly. I could go on.
Lucy Steele's sister does something close to an impression of Alice in The Vicar of Dibley. Why does she have a non-standard accent, whereas her genteel sister does not?
I should also mention that the settings and overall look of the production were first rate.