BBC and Jane Austen

BBC: One of our favourite things about our trip to England (and there were many!) was BBC television. It was so very different than American broadcasting and different still than CBC. Their news coverage is relayed in a far more friendly manner; the weather is divided up into reports on hourly changes; the everyday evening programming is more than just Law and Order and CSI (try gardening shows and cooking shows and history shows!). Back home here, we are rarely disappointed by BBC movies, and luckily for us, the Calgary Public Library has lots of selection! Jane Austen: I have loved Jane Austen's writing since I was a little girl (perhaps empire waisted dresses should come back in style?!). And the many film adaptations of her novels rarely disappoint. Except Northanger Abbey--the film adaptation of it is horrible. Incidentally, we never made it to Jane Austen's house while we were in England, which is really too bad. A good friend of mine did go, however, and she brought me back a book! Last night we borrowed the 2008 BBC production of Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson-directed and Thompson and Kate Winslet-starring S&S is very lovely, but this new version, as a made-for-tv movie drawn out over three episodes, tells the story in much greater detail (at times embellishing beyond what the book includes). And it's lovely; I highly recommend it.