Dashwood and Marianne, leading them both to expect that he will propose. Willoughby requests a private audience with both Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor begin to speculate on whether they have become secretly engaged.īrandon invites the Dashwoods and the Middletons to a party on his estate at Delaford, but before the trip can take place, he is called away on urgent business. Willoughby and Marianne grow close through their mutual love of poetry, and he later takes a lock of her hair. Brandon also comes to visit, but upon seeing Willoughby, he quickly departs. He introduces himself as John Willoughby ( Dominic Cooper), and states that he will return to check on Marianne the following day. She is rescued by a young man, who carries her back to the cottage. While out walking with Margaret, Marianne falls and twists her ankle. Brandon instantly falls in love with Marianne, but she believes that he is too old for her. Jennings ( Linda Bassett) and their family friend, Colonel Brandon ( David Morrissey). She and her daughters decide to leave Norland immediately.ĭuring a welcome dinner at Barton Park, Sir John introduces the Dashwoods to his wife, Lady Middleton ( Rosanna Lavelle) her mother, Mrs. Dashwood receives a letter from her cousin, Sir John Middleton ( Mark Williams), offering her a small cottage house on his estate, Barton Park in Devonshire. Dashwood hopes they will become engaged, Fanny informs her that his mother will not approve the match. Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars ( Dan Stevens), comes to visit, and he quickly befriends Elinor. In addition, they will have to leave Norland Park as it now belongs to John Dashwood.
However, John's wife, Fanny ( Claire Skinner), convinces him to make a much smaller provision than he had originally intended. John promises that he will provide for his stepmother, Mary Dashwood ( Janet McTeer), and half-sisters Elinor ( Hattie Morahan), Marianne ( Charity Wakefield), and Margaret ( Lucy Boynton). When Henry Dashwood ( Simon Williams) dies, he leaves his entire fortune and his home, Norland Park, to his son John ( Mark Gatiss). It was released on a two-disc DVD in the UK on 14 January 2008. Sense and Sensibility garnered mostly positive reviews from television critics, while the cast and crew earned several award nominations for their work. The first episode also became one of the top ten most streamed programmes on the BBC iPlayer. It was aired in three parts from 1 January 2008 in the United Kingdom and attracted an average of 6 million viewers per episode.
Sense and Sensibility was co-produced by the BBC and American studio WGBH Boston.
The series was shot on location in the English counties of Berkshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Devon for two months from April 2007. Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield starred as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters who go on "a voyage of burgeoning sexual and romantic discovery". Sense and Sensibility was directed by John Alexander and produced by Anne Pivcevic.
The series was "more overtly sexual" than previous Austen adaptations, and Davies included scenes featuring a seduction and a duel that were absent from the feature film but are included in Austen's book.
The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, who revealed that the aim of the series was to make viewers forget Ang Lee's 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. Sense and Sensibility is a 2008 British television drama adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility.