Miss Austen arrives on BBC One

Miss Austen arrives on BBC One


By Michael Pickard
January 21, 2025

Trailer park

TRAILER: Keeley Hawes, Rose Leslie, Jessica Hynes, Synnøve Karlsen and Patsy Ferran star in period drama Miss Austen, based on the novel by Gill Hornby. The four-part drama launches on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday, February 2.

The series takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine.

The drama begins in 1830, many years after Jane has died, as Cassandra (Hawes) rushes to visit Isabella (Leslie), the niece of her long-dead fiancé, who is about to lose her home following her father’s death.

Cassandra is ostensibly there to help Isabella, but her real motive is to find a hidden bundle of private letters which, in the wrong hands, she fears could destroy Jane’s reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth.

Meanwhile, in flashbacks, young Cassy (Karlsen) and Jane (Ferran) navigate the romantic infatuations, female friendships and dashed hopes which shaped their lives, and laid the foundations for Jane’s unforgettable stories.

The cast also includes Phyllis Logan, Max Irons, Alfred Enoch, Mirren Mack, Kevin McNally, Calam Lynch and Liv Hill.

Miss Austen has been adapted for television by Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth is Missing, Mayflies). It is directed by Aisling Walsh (Maudie, Elizabeth is Missing) and produced by Stella Merz (Gentleman Jack, Renegade Nell).

The series is produced by Bonnie Productions for Masterpiece in the US, in association with the BBC. The series wrapped production last year in and around the home counties.

The executive producers are Christine Langan for Bonnie Productions, Susanne Simpson for Masterpiece and Polly Williams for Federation Stories. Keeley Hawes, Andrea Gibb and Aisling Walsh are also executive producers. Federation Studios will distribute the series internationally.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Miss Austen launches on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Sunday, February 2. In America, the series will air on Masterpiece on PBS from Sunday, May 4.

tagged in: , , , , , , , ,