So the latest in a pretty long line of adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma has come to an end, and frankly, though I love period drama, I’m not sorry to see the curtain come down on this one.

Where the previous episodes have plodded somewhat, this final one tried to cram so much into the conclusion, it was breathlessly done, but worse yet, liberties with the original were taken that disappointed me.

Of course writers always want to put their own mark on adaptations, but I suspect that’s part of the reason why Sandy Welch has found this version of Emma hasn’t exactly broken any viewing figure records. The climax, while possibly somewhat pedestrian in the original work, was tampered with rather more than I’d liked it to have been. Read more & comment »

What was intended as a day of fun turns into a day of agony for everyone on the excursion to Box Hill, in the concluding episode of BBC One’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. Things come to a head when, encouraged by Frank, Emma behaves very badly, insulting Miss Bates.

She is berated by Knightley and realises that her behaviour was shameful. She tries to repair things with Jane and Miss Bates, but Jane will not see her – although Miss Bates tells her that Jane has accepted a job as a governess.

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So we have yet another remake of Emma. Yet another adaptation with yet another writer’s stamp on it, and yet more actors making the famous roles their own.

But the yardstick by which I measure the worthiness of a TV adaptation is how faithfully it rendered the original written work to screen, and whilst Sandy Welch’s version last night held on to the skeleton, it was fleshed it out with unfamiliar nuance, unsubtle character traits and it fiddled with the roles of certain characters.

However, I can’t fault the acting from the main protagonists… well, not much anyway; Romola Garai as Emma was wide-eyed and overtly but innocently meddling, although she was perhaps rather less broodingly intelligent than the original Emma. Michael Gambon as Mr Woodhouse was commanding and fun to watch, while Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley set my old ticker racing. Tamsin Greig made an exasperating and asinine Miss Bates, and as such, was one of the characters who remained true to the original. Read more & comment »

Romola Garai (Atonement, Vanity Fair) stars as the “handsome, clever and rich” Emma Woodhouse in BBC One’s fresh and witty adaptation of Jane Austen’s comic masterpiece Emma.

Adapted by BAFTA-winning writer Sandy Welch (Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre, North And South) this humorous and perceptive serial from BBC Drama Production provides a rich insight into one of Austen’s most complex characters.

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Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon, Tamsin Greig, Robert Bathurst and Jodhi May will star in Sandy Welch’s four-part adaptation of Austen’s comic masterpiece Emma, a BBC Drama Production for BBC One, it was announced today.

Romola Garai (Atonement, Daniel Deronda) stars as the “handsome, clever and rich” Emma Woodhouse.

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