2 February (2025-02-02)– 23 February 2025 (2025-02-23)
Miss Austen is a four-part historical television series. It stars Keeley Hawes and Jessica Hynes. It is an adaptation by Andrea Gibb of the novel Miss Austen by Gill Hornby. Aisling Walsh directed the series, while Stella Merz produced for Bonnie Productions and Masterpiece.
In year 1830, Cassandra Austen, the sister of late Jane Austen, visits the family Fowle, when Reverend Fowle is dying, and promises him to help his daughter Isabella find a new home. Additionally, she looks for the letters Jane has written in her youth to Fowle's wife Elizabeth, planning to destroy them so that the private themes discussed can not stain Jane's reputation. Mary Austen, James Austen's widow, also looks for these letters, in order to write a biography about her late husband. Reading the letters, Cassandra reminisces the past, which is shown in flashbacks. These cover Cassandra's engagement to Tom Fowle who dies soon after, Mary's marriage to James Austen, losses of relatives and homes for the Austen family, new chances for love, Jane's literary trials and successes, and end before her death. Cassandra burns most of the letters, except for a few she leaves for Mary to discover, and departs after finding a man for Isabella.
Jake Kenny-Byrne as Frank Austen, a brother of Cassandra and Jane
Patrick Knowles as James Austen, Cassandra and Jane's eldest brother
Felix Scott as Reverend Fulwar Fowle, Tom Fowle's brother and Isabella's father
Madeline Walker as Eliza Fowle, Fulwar Fowle's wife, Mary Austen's sister and Isabella's mother
Guest
Tom Glenister as Harris Bigg-Wither, Jane's short-time fiancé
Rebecca Johnson as Mrs. Hobday, Henry Hobday's mother
Elle McKay as Catherine Bigg-Wither, a sister of Harris
Eve Ponsonby as Elizabeth Austen, Edward Austen's wife
Ruby Richardson as Alethea Bigg-Wither, a sister of Harris
Production
Aisling Walsh directed the four-part series and also acts as executive producer. Other executive producers on the series were Susanne Simpson for Masterpiece, Christine Langan for Bonnie Productions, Polly Williams for Federation Stories, Keeley Hawes who stars and Andrea Gibb, who also adapted the book by Gill Hornby. Filming got underway in November 2023.[1]
Casting
The series features Keeley Hawes as Jane Austen's elder (and only) sister, Cassandra, and Jessica Hynes as Jane Austen's sister-in-law, Mary. Rose Leslie is the Austen's family friend Isabella and Mirren Mack is her servant Dinah. Also in the cast are Max Irons and Alfred Enoch.[2]
Broadcast
In December 2023 the BBC acquired the rights to show the series in the UK, and it was broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer from 2 February 2025.[3][4][5]
Shivani Gonzalez in The New York Times noted that although "the characters are all based on real life people in Austen’s life, the actual story lines here are mostly fictional”.[7]
Lucy Mangan in The Guardian awarded the series four stars and praised the performance of Keeley Hawes.[8]
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