Northanger Abbey (TV 2007)

A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

Director:

Jon Jones

Writers:

Andrew Davies (screenplay), Jane Austen (novel)

Stars:

Geraldine James, Felicity Jones, JJ Feild

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geraldine James	...	Jane Austen (voice)
Felicity Jones	...	Catherine Morland
JJ Feild	...	Henry Tilney (as J J Feild)
Sylvestra Le Touzel	...	Mrs. Allen
Desmond Barrit	...	Mr. Allen
Carey Mulligan	...	Isabella Thorpe
Hugh O'Conor	...	James Morland (as Hugh O'Connor)
Catherine Walker	...	Eleanor Tilney
Liam Cunningham	...	General Tilney
Bernadette McKenna	...	Mrs. Thorpe
William Beck	...	John Thorpe
Mark Dymond	...	Captain Frederick Tilney
Julia Dearden	...	Mrs. Morland
Gerry O'Brien	...	Mr. Morland
Liam McMahon	...	Sedley

Storyline

When Catherine Morland is given the opportunity to stay with the childless Allen family in Bath, she is hoping for an adventure of the type she has been reading in novels. Soon introduced to society, she meets Isabella Thorpe and her brother John, a good friend of her own brother, James. She also meets Henry Tilney, a handsome young man from a good family and his sister, Eleanor. Invited to visit the Tilney estate, Northanger Abbey, she has thoughts of romance but soon learns that status, class and money are all equally important when it comes to matters of the heart.

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Plot Keywords:

abbey | love | estate | georgian | gothic | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

ITV [uk] PBS [us]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

A klastrom titka

Filming Locations:

Ardbraccan House, County Meath, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Television, ITV Productions, WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 93 min 120 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The green coat and buff breeches JJ Feild wears as Henry Tilney is the same costume Colin Firth wears as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

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Goofs

When Mr. Henry Tilney meets Mrs. Morland, he virtually drains his glass, which is then refilled ("I should like to pay my respects"), and drained again ("Perhaps Miss Morland").

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Quotes

Henry Tilney: Now I must give you one smirk, then we can be rational again.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: Picture Perfect (2008)

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Soundtracks

"My Lord Byron's Maggot"
Traditional
Performed by The Pemberley Players

User Reviews

A witty and light adaptation

I've really enjoyed that adaptation. It's witty, charming and the necessary changes brought to the book narrative are clever and do not jar too much with the original. It made me reread the book, which I think should always be the effect of a good adaptation.

The actor playing Henry Tilney was charming (maybe more than the book Henry Tilney in fact) and all the others seemed to fit their roles. Carey Mulligan makes a very effective Isabella Thorpe and plays her part with subtlety while Felicity Jones looks just naive enough for the role of Catherine. I was only bothered by the choice of William Beck of Robin Hood to play John Thorpe. His physical appearance simply did not seem to fit the character. He is a very good actor but hardly attractive enough to make a valid love-interest for romantic Catherine.

The only reason I do not give it "10" is because of the absurd over-sexualisation of Catherine's dreams or the lending to her of "The Monk" by Thorpe.

This is taking incredible liberties with the historical period in order to "make it relevant" to 21st century viewers which TV film-makers must assume to be incapable of viewing anything with interest if it does not contain overtly sexual contents, though the contrary has been proved again and again.