Sanditon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of unfinished strings - hope they get a second season!! Sidney is gorgeous! But aside from the other modern plot points, is he an Austen hero to marry for money? Have to show why that doesn’t work out!

It's already been announced in the UK that there will be no second season because ratings in the UK were not good. Ratings here won't matter because it's only on PBS here -- a self-selecting small group to begin with.

I know you liked it PP but I have to say this somewhere since no one I knew bothered to watch it, unlike other costume dramas that my friends all watched....

I think it doesn't deserve a second season. The program had a few virtues (some good performances, some potentially interesting story threads) and just threw them away episode after episode.

Sidney's choice to marry for money? Out of character, out of the blue, and we were told about it--not shown it. Zero time spent on it. Lazy plotting and writing. Poor Miss Lambe's story was shabbily done overall; she had a fascinating background but was made a grimly one-note character (pining, angry) and essentially sold out to pay her boyfriend's debts; and it seemed that was all just an excuse for writing one exciting rescue scene to show us Sidney's A Hero, after which she was largely shoved out of the story. Lovely Stringer was never given enough to do despite being a potentially interesting case of a man trying to move up honorably in life. I ended up rooting for Esther and Lord B. despite the fact they and their "romance" were so thinly developed. I'm sure some fans will say that obviously Davies, the other writers and producers were expecting a second season in which to get Sidney and Charlotte together etc., but if that's the case, they were astonishingly naive for people who have done this for decades. No program is guaranteed to get a second chance.

So disappointed in Davies, who has done some terrific series in the past. I think his reputation as the king of adaptations blinded people and no one realized how patchy this was without enough source material from Austen (the UK coverage noted that only the first 30 minutes are based on her fragmentary novel, so the remaining faults are all Davies'). Yes, I did watch it all, mostly because of the acting, and the overall storyline of developing a fashionable resort, which was intriguing.

The writers probably figured that given the time period this was set in, it didn't need explanation. No one married for "love" back then, that wasn't really a concept people would have understood. You married for money or status or to preserve your money and status. If you were lucky, you fell in love after or you had discrete affairs.

The creators thought they'd get at least a second season and so deliberately left things feeling unfinished or vague. They were quite surprised. I read an interview with someone from the show who strongly hinted that there would ultimately be a happier romantic ending, as there always was in Austen novels.

[Anonymous]

Just watched this today and loved it.

I didn’t have expectations of it fitting Jane Austen since I knew she didn’t finish it. I thought it was really compelling and kept me more on my toes even to the last episode.

I mean the fire happened in the last ep... I looked at the time remaining... it was only ~20 minutes left. I was like whaaaaaa?

I wish Otis would have been truly more honorable. It was close for me... but him talking to his debtor about a rich prospective wife isn’t ok. She got *sold* literally.

Thought it was fun, interesting and creative.

[Anonymous]

Renewed!

https://deadline.com/2021/05/sanditon-british-period-drama-renewed-for-two-seasons-by-pbs-britbox-uk-cancelation-1234750887/amp/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Renewed!

https://deadline.com/2021/05/sanditon-british-period-drama-renewed-for-two-seasons-by-pbs-britbox-uk-cancelation-1234750887/amp/

Wow! I thought there was no hope. What a pleasant surprise.

Now, if we could just get Anne with an E renewed, I'd be satisfied!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Renewed!

https://deadline.com/2021/05/sanditon-british-period-drama-renewed-for-two-seasons-by-pbs-britbox-uk-cancelation-1234750887/amp/

Wow! I thought there was no hope. What a pleasant surprise.

Now, if we could just get Anne with an E renewed, I'd be satisfied!

THIS! So happy for Sanditon renewal!!!! And yes, Anne with an E renewal would be amazing. Did I write your post, PP? Kindred spirit!

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of thanks should be sent the way of the online, organic support community for Sanditon renewal via the SanditonSisters:

https://twitter.com/SanditonSister2?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[Anonymous]

WTH. Theo James NOT returning. No Sidney Parker. I don't think they will replace him -- it seems like Sidney is completely out of the storyline. Which is bizarre -- fans didn't fight to just keep Charlotte's storyline alive -- it was Charlotte and Sidney.

Will it still be worth watching? I mean, I like Charlotte. I like James Stringer, and always thought he deserved Charlotte. But I'm not sure the other characters are enough to keep this series afloat for 2 seasons.

https://ew.com/tv/theo-james-not-returning-to-sanditon/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH. Theo James NOT returning. No Sidney Parker. I don't think they will replace him -- it seems like Sidney is completely out of the storyline. Which is bizarre -- fans didn't fight to just keep Charlotte's storyline alive -- it was Charlotte and Sidney.

Will it still be worth watching? I mean, I like Charlotte. I like James Stringer, and always thought he deserved Charlotte. But I'm not sure the other characters are enough to keep this series afloat for 2 seasons.

https://ew.com/tv/theo-james-not-returning-to-sanditon/

whaaaaa.

Well, I was happy! And now I'm sad. The chemistry between Sidney and Charlotte was what made the show IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of thanks should be sent the way of the online, organic support community for Sanditon renewal via the SanditonSisters:

https://twitter.com/SanditonSister2?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

The SS2 strategy group appreciates the thanks. Ask me how I know? Even without Theo James returning, we are stoked about 2 new seasons focusing on Charlotte and Georgiana.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH. Theo James NOT returning. No Sidney Parker. I don't think they will replace him -- it seems like Sidney is completely out of the storyline. Which is bizarre -- fans didn't fight to just keep Charlotte's storyline alive -- it was Charlotte and Sidney.

Will it still be worth watching? I mean, I like Charlotte. I like James Stringer, and always thought he deserved Charlotte. But I'm not sure the other characters are enough to keep this series afloat for 2 seasons.

https://ew.com/tv/theo-james-not-returning-to-sanditon/

Darn it! He was the best part of Sanditon and the main reason I wanted it renewed!

[Anonymous]

I’m ok with Austen being updated to be more racy and woke. What I am NOT ok with is abusing the main characters. In most Austen novels, there may be one peripheral couple with an unfortunate fate — usually cast as their moral commupance — and it’s because they make a bad marriage or are forced to marry. The main characters have a happy marriage. There are also examples of longstanding couples with bad marriages (or not exactly bad, but Austen the unmarried/childless one observing the non-fairy tale like evolution of most marriages.)

Sanditon, in contrast, destroyed every single main character and minor character, with the exception of Lord B and Esther. And Esther doesn’t even really deserve it because she has not done anything good or really evolved morally - she is rescued from abuse.

I almost wonder if the showrunners were influenced by Game of Thrones in killing off everyone ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH. Theo James NOT returning. No Sidney Parker. I don't think they will replace him -- it seems like Sidney is completely out of the storyline. Which is bizarre -- fans didn't fight to just keep Charlotte's storyline alive -- it was Charlotte and Sidney.

Will it still be worth watching? I mean, I like Charlotte. I like James Stringer, and always thought he deserved Charlotte. But I'm not sure the other characters are enough to keep this series afloat for 2 seasons.

https://ew.com/tv/theo-james-not-returning-to-sanditon/

Wow. That EW.com article got some angry comments blaming Theo James for not returning, as if he personally owed viewers his return in the role. Surprising that people seemed not to realize that actors have other obligations to other productions lined up well in advance, sometimes, or they just don't want to be typecast by going on with a role they feel they've done enough. I am not a "Sanditon" fan (though I saw the whole first season) but I certainly see why he was so very popular as Sidney and why people got invested in Sidney and Charlotte. But the vitriol about him in those EW.com comments was just ridiculous. Especially considering that between the initial cancellation and the pandemic, the show was done filming as far as anyone knew until quite a sudden and late renewal, so it's to be expected that some actors would have moved on. I'm glad that here, people are expressing understandable disappointment that Theo James won't return, but they're not blaming him as if he's plotting to hurt them somehow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just watched this today and loved it.

I didn’t have expectations of it fitting Jane Austen since I knew she didn’t finish it. I thought it was really compelling and kept me more on my toes even to the last episode.

I mean the fire happened in the last ep... I looked at the time remaining... it was only ~20 minutes left. I was like whaaaaaa?

I wish Otis would have been truly more honorable. It was close for me... but him talking to his debtor about a rich prospective wife isn’t ok. She got *sold* literally.

Thought it was fun, interesting and creative.

The writer, Andrew Davies, is so famous in the UK for adapting classic novels for TV that I think he just arrogantly assumed all along this series would be renewed. So he (IMHO) wrote the not-an-ending on that assumption.

[Anonymous]

So much potential, yet so boring. Zero chemistry, no meaningful character development or story.