Sanditon

A gorgeous eight-part "Masterpiece" miniseries. Although fans will find many of the requisite Austen touches -- including smoldering suitors and jockeying for a large inheritance -- this PBS presentation includes issues not only of class but race, with a dollop of sex for good measure.

Andrew Davies has the witty sense and sensibility to carry the story forward, concocting a delightful diversion that feels to her manner born. Charlotte Heywood (the effervescent Rose Williams), is a quintessential Austen heroine. [6-19 Jan 2020, p.8]

Mr. Davies is free to do what he will with “Sanditon,” and he has. ... It’s worth the trip to Regency-Era England to find out what actually happens, and who does what to whom.

A delight, as it blends the costume drama conventions we’ve come to know and love with bracingly contemporary elements.

A silly but acceptably entertaining eight-episode series (premiering Sunday) that will probably sit well with “Masterpiece” viewers. It’s not the next “Downton Abbey” (what could ever be?), but it certainly works as an intriguing piece of Austenalia, as it tries to both respect and elevate the story she might have had in mind.

It doesn’t click entirely with Austen’s vision — comic ironic wit and misunderstanding that inevitably lead to lessons learned, love found, and marriage vows spoken — and it may well trigger Austen loyalists. But without the Austen connection — it’s a reasonably absorbing and pretty story that will ring all the pleasure bells for “Masterpiece” diehards.