| Mansfield Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | Mansfield Park by Jane Austen |
| Written by | Kenneth Taylor |
| Directed by | David Giles |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Derek Bourgeois |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Betty Willingale |
| Running time | 317 minutes in six episodes |
| Production company | Lionheart Television International |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | 6 November – 11 December 1983 |
Mansfield Park is a 1983 British television drama serial, made by the BBC, and adapted from Jane Austen's 1814 novel of the same name. The serial was the first screen adaptation of the novel. Unlike Patricia Rozema's 1999 film, it is faithful to Jane Austen's novel. Jonny Lee Miller, who has a small role as Charles Price in this serial, played Edmund Bertram in Rozema's adaptation.
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Set, like all her novels, in contemporary England, Jane Austen's tale of virtue and vice centres on young and impoverished Fanny Price who arrives at the elegant country estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. Snubbed by everyone except her cousin Edmund, Fanny begins her long struggle for acceptance by her snobbish relations, who believe wealth automatically means quality. Although Fanny finally wins some respect from the Bertrams, she incurs the displeasure of her uncle by rejecting a marriage proposal from handsome philanderer Henry Crawford because she sees through Crawford's veneer and is unwilling to marry such an unprincipled man. After a period spent at the home of her parents and siblings in Portsmouth, she returns to Mansfield Park because of unfortunate events affecting the Bertram family, and through her support for the family and her adherence to moral principles, her worth is recognised.
