Sanditon (TV series)

Sanditon is a British historical drama television series adapted by Andrew Davies from an unfinished manuscript by Jane Austen and starring Rose Williams and Theo James in the lead roles. Set during the Regency era, the plot follows a young and naive heroine as she navigates the new seaside resort of Sanditon.
The series first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom on 25 August 2019 in eight parts, and on PBS in the United States on 12 January 2020, which supports the production, as part of its "Masterpiece" anthology.
Due to the unfinished nature of the novel (Austen completed only eleven chapters), the original work is used for the majority of the first episode, and then Davies used the developed characters to complete the story. The novel is set in a seaside town during a time of social change. At the time of her death in 1817, Austen had completed 24,000 words of the novel.
A second and third series were commissioned as part of a collaboration between PBS and BritBox in May 2021, with ITV acquiring the series for later linear broadcast. Filming is expected to begin in late 2021.
Overview.
A chance accident brings Charlotte Heywood to Sanditon, a seaside resort on the cusp of dramatic change. Spirited and unconventional, Charlotte is initially keen to experience everything the town has to offer but is then shocked by its scheming and ambitious inhabitants and intrigued by the secrets they share. When Charlotte is tactlessly forthright about the family of enthusiastic entrepreneur Tom Parker, she immediately clashes with his handsome but wild younger brother Sidney. Amidst the rival suitors and unexpected danger, can Charlotte and Sidney see past each other's flaws and find love?
Production.
Many of the Sanditon scenes were filmed in Somerset including the seaside towns of Clevedon, Brean and Weston-super-Mare. Dyrham Park near Bath, Somerset was used as the location for Sanditon House. The bridge at Iford Manor was used in the first Episode. The majority of interior filming took place on interior and exterior sets built at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol.
Critical reception.
Critical reception has been mixed. Some UK media outlets reported that viewers were shocked at the depictions of sex and nudity in the opening episode, considering it to be untrue to the works of Jane Austen.
Many viewers critiqued the ending as unusual and very “un-Austen-like”. Viewers claim Austen would have liked a happy ending for all characters, as she has happy endings in all of her stories; however, this could have been a set up for a second season.
On Rotten Tomatoes Sanditon achieved 62% critic approval but 95% audience approval.