Northanger Abbey 

Catherine Morland is a young woman who enjoys reading Gothic Novels. She is invited to Bath by a family friend, Mrs. Allen, and there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor. Upon ... See full summary »

Director:

Giles Foster

Writers:

Jane Austen (novel), Maggie Wadey

Stars:

Katharine Schlesinger, Peter Firth, Robert Hardy

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Katharine Schlesinger	...	Catherine Morland
Peter Firth	...	Henry Tilney
Robert Hardy	...	General Tilney
Googie Withers	...	Mrs. Allen
Geoffrey Chater	...	Mr. Allen
Cassie Stuart	...	Isabella Thorpe
Jonathan Coy	...	John Thorpe
Ingrid Lacey	...	Eleanor Tilney
Greg Hicks	...	Frederick Tilney
Philip Bird	...	James Morland
Elvi Hale	...	Mrs. Thorpe
Helen Fraser	...	Mrs. Morland
David Rolfe	...	Mr. Morland
Elaine Ives-Cameron	...	Marchioness
Angela Curran	...	Alice

Storyline

Catherine Morland is a young woman who enjoys reading Gothic Novels. She is invited to Bath by a family friend, Mrs. Allen, and there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor. Upon returning to her home with her family, Eleanor invites Catherine to come along as her guest and companion. There Catherine's imagination continues to flourish and she begins to suspect a dark secret at Northanger Abbey.

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Plot Keywords:

reading | novel | secret | young woman | guest | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

PBS [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1987 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Assembly Rooms, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), A+E Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The The striped muslin day dress worn by Helen Fraser (Mrs. Morland) at Fullerton is the same costume worn by Kate Ashfield (Ella, the Worrell's maid) in Princess Caraboo (1994), Toni Collette (Harriet Smith) wears while reading Mr. Elton's charade, Sophia Myles (Susan Price) at Portsmouth in Mansfield Park (1999), and Charity Wakefield (Marianne Dashwood) wears when Edward calls at Mrs. Jennings' London house in Sense & Sensibility (2008).

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Connections

Featured in The Real Jane Austen (2002)

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Soundtracks

The Lancer's Quadrilles: La Dorset
(uncredited)
Composed by Spagnoletti
[Catherine dances with Henry Tilney at the Cotillion Ball]

User Reviews

Bizarre Adaptation

Normally BBC productions of Jane Austen are pretty good but Northanger Abbey is just odd. What were they thinking? This film has little of Austen's charm and ironically mimics the Gothic novels that Austen so wonderfully mocked. Not only that, the "gothic" sequences are tacky, over-the-top, and frankly silly. The actress playing Miss Morland is poorly cast with no obvious appeal to attract the attentions of an eligible bachelor, and though I rather liked the creepy Peter Firth as Mr. Tilney, he is not a bit like the novel, even when delivering dialog straight out of the book. Robert Hardy as General Tilney turned in one of his few terribly "ham" performances. This film was so bizarre and strange that I actually watched it again just to savor how freakishly wrong it was.