Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins) is 27 and has rather given up on the idea of ever getting a husband. She lives at Kellynch Hall, a place she loves, with her widower father, the vain and spendthrift Sir Walter Elliot (Anthony Head), and her older unmarried sister Elizabeth (Julia Davis).

Sir Walter’s costly habits have forced him, most reluctantly, to find a tenant to pay for the upkeep of Kellynch, and he intends to move to a house in Bath, where his expenses might be more manageable. When Anne hears the names of the tenants, Admiral and Mrs. Croft (Peter Wright and Marion Bailey), she is quietly alarmed. She confides in a close friend of the family, Lady Russell (Alice Krige). Mrs. Croft is the sister of Captain Frederick Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones), whom Anne had once hoped to marry. The relationship was discouraged by Lady Russell, who thought Captain Wentworth too poor and undistinguished for Anne, and so Anne broke it off. She and Wentworth have not seen each other since. Wentworth has now made a fortune through his exploits as a naval officer. Read more & comment »