Lost in Austen 

Amanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet.

Stars:

Jemima Rooper, Elliot Cowan, Hugh Bonneville

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jemima Rooper	...	Amanda Price 4 episodes, 2008
Elliot Cowan	...	Mr. Darcy 4 episodes, 2008
Hugh Bonneville	...	Mr. Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Florence Hoath	...	Kitty Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Alex Kingston	...	Mrs. Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Morven Christie	...	Jane Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Perdita Weeks	...	Lydia Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Tom Mison	...	Mr. Bingley 4 episodes, 2008
Ruby Bentall	...	Mary Bennet 4 episodes, 2008
Christina Cole	...	Caroline Bingley 4 episodes, 2008
Tom Riley	...	Mr. Wickham 3 episodes, 2008
Guy Henry	...	Mr. Collins 3 episodes, 2008
Gugu Mbatha-Raw	...	Pirhana 2 episodes, 2008
Daniel Percival	...	Michael 2 episodes, 2008
Gemma Arterton	...	Elizabeth Bennet 2 episodes, 2008
Lindsay Duncan	...	Lady Catherine de Bourgh 2 episodes, 2008
Michelle Duncan	...	Charlotte Lucas 2 episodes, 2008

Storyline

Amanda Price is dissatisfied with her life in modern London. Her favorite escape is getting lost in the pages of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. One night, Amanda is startled to come face to face with the novel's protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet. A small door in her apartment mysteriously links their worlds. Eventually, Amanda becomes trapped on the other side, while Elizabeth remains in the modern world. Now as the events of her favorite book unfold in all the wrong ways, Amanda tries desperately to set things straight, but inevitably makes things worse. Will this fractured version of a classic tale lead Amanda to her own happily-ever-after?

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Plot Keywords:

jane austen | time travel | romanticism | portal | period piece | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

ITV [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

Eksyin Jane Austenin maailmaan

Filming Locations:

Allerton Castle, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mammoth Screen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min (4 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The white polka dot dress with ornate floral pattern on the bodice that Ruby Bentall (Mary Bennet) wears to the Meryton Assembly Ball is the same costume Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet) wears while observing Wickham horse riding in Pride and Prejudice (1995), and Dagmara Dominczyk (Mercedès Iguanada) wears at the office of Monsieur Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).

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Goofs

When Mrs. Bennet and the girls' carriage has broken down, just as Wickam arrives, you can see a airplane or helicopter in the distant sky over Mrs. Bennet's head.

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Quotes

Amanda Price: I'm not hung up about Darcy. I do not sit at home with the pause button on Colin Firth in clingy pants, okay? I love the love story. I love Elizabeth. I love the manners and language and the courtesy. It's become part of who I am and what I want. I'm saying that I have standards.
Frankie: Oh, you have standards, pet. I hope they help you on with your coat when you're 70.

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Connections

Version of Pride & Prejudice (2005)

User Reviews

Proud sensibilities prejudiced and persuaded!

Three episodes in and I feel now is the time to say a big well done to all concerned. As a long time Austen lover and a fan of period/costume drama I was unsure what to expect from this reworking of a favourite story. As others have commented this bears similarities with 'Life on Mars', a person taken out of modern day life and deposited into the past, albeit Jane Austen's fictitious one. Fortunately Amanda (played by Jemima Rooper) is a devotee of the novel and is genuinely pleased to meet her favourite characters. However, and this where the series really takes a life of its own, the characters are not as she (or we) imagined them from the book, and events start taking different paths than those in the book. Amanda, horrified, tries to restore the story to its proper track but events spiral out of control and she herself is unsure whether she is now part of the story, and if so does she 'become' the character who in the novel was Elizabeth Bennet? A wealth of talent is here and I pick Hugh Bonneville as Mr Bennet and Alex Kingston as his wife for special mention. Who would have thought that they would be as enjoyable as Benjamin Whitrow & Alison Steadman in the 1995 P&P, but they are - and if this was a straightforward P&P remake they would do very well indeed! There are moments of complete hilarity where old and new collide, in music and manners and speech and it is done brilliantly, and, if you know the story, you wonder what liberties with the plot will be taken next. Casting is first rate...none of the characters are quite 'right' but in the context of this story they are brilliant, the obnoxious Darcy, the drunk Bingley and the threatening Mrs Bennet! Locations costumes and period detail are excellent and I look forward to the rest of the series which I recommend to you.

I suppose that we can expect more in a similar vein as there are many stories that could be re-jigged. Holmes with a modern day Watson anyone? I think it is probably more entertaining to see a modern person cope with the privations of life in a bygone age than say to tell Elizabeth Bennet's story in our 21st century. Anyone remember Adam Adamant Lives? I almost find myself hoping that they manage to spin this out for longer and embellish the book even more! Full marks so far - it's very good!