Jane Austen Heroines

(dramatic music) - My character, Charlotte Heywood, is a country girl.

Her father's landed gentry, so she's from the land, she's grown up on a farm.

- She comes from a happy family.

She's got lots of younger brothers and sisters, but she's led a very isolated life.

- I think she's ready to branch out, escape, but she hasn't had the means to that end, so along comes Tom and Mary Parker, and that all changes.

- The healthiest breezes of any seaside town in England.

What do you think, Charlotte?

- I think if we were anywhere else, we could call it a gale, sir.

- Through Charlotte Heywood's eyes, we open into this delicious world, which is full of intrigue and romance and cunning.

- And along the course of the series, my character, Charlotte, meets all of the different characters that are coming into the town for different reasons.

- I do like the situation, which was rather similar to Northanger Abbey, of young girl goes to strange place and has adventures.

That's a nice one.

- Good afternoon, Miss Heywood.

- It is, Mr.

Stringer.

(dramatic music) It is!

(girls giggling) (dramatic music) - Lady Denham requests your attendance at a luncheon party and pineapple tasting in honor of Miss Lambe.

That sounds very grand, indeed!

- And quite uncharacteristic of Lady Denham.

I wonder what she's up to.

(dramatic music) - Suddenly, she's thrust into this new world full of strangers, and she's got to negotiate this world, decide who to trust, who not to trust, who she likes, who's going to like her.

- I don't care to be any man's property, Lady Denham.

- What do you think, Miss Heywood?

- And she gets a series of surprises that turn her upside-down.

- I know young ladies are not expected to have opinions, Lady Denham, but I think that Miss Lambe is quite right to value her independence, just as you do yours.

- Poppycock.

(piano music) - I think this show will resonate with modern audiences primarily because the lead characters are strong, powerful women.

- Lady Denham demands respect.

- They described her as somebody who is of a lively mind.

She probably likes Mr.

Parker's company, except when he doesn't spend her money wisely, and then she turns and becomes extremely unpleasant, which I love.

Think on this, I am my own woman, and I have a good mind to withdraw my entire investment.

- She rules without a man, and I think really, that's everything that Clara would want to be.

You and I should not be enemies, Miss Denham.

- How can we be otherwise when we are competing for the same thing?

- Money?

- What else?

- Esther is the mini version of Lady Denham.

They're both incredibly honest, and they're both fighters.

It comes across as quite cutting.

Mr.

Tom Parker is well on the way to ruining himself and his family with his crazy schemes.

- I think his ideas are admirable.

- You wait 'til he bankrupts himself.

- You will need to marry well.

And, no doubt, they sent you to Sanditon to find yourself a fortune.

- Not at all, ma'am.

- Nonsense, of course they have.

There's no shame in that.

I married very well myself.

- Charlotte is a step in a more modern direction, in the sense that she's more interested in work, she's practical.

I came to see if I could be of any assistance.

- Bills, invoices, plans, memoranda.

- Let me sort them for you.

- Oh, would you?

- You see if we would, separate these papers into piles, income, expenses, rental payments, bills, and so on.

- Wait, you have an eye for this sort of work.

I can see.

- She's drawn to Sanditon through Tom Parker.

She's inspired by his architectural plans.

She's interested in how he's gonna bring his vision to fruition, as opposed to wanting to go to a fashionable seaside resort to find a man.

So in that sense, it's very modern.

(characters chatting) - The other really big innovation was Miss Lambe, who's an heiress from the West Indies, and I thought, you know, looking around, my god, it's her first black character, and what was she going to do with this?

What could we do with this?

This woman of color has shown up in this town, who is richer than every single person around her.

That is shocking to them.

- You're Lady Denham's guest of honor.

- To be served up for the general amusement, here we have the Negress.

Feast your eyes!

- Georgiana, you know that you're worth far more than Lady Denham and all her circle put together.

- The same thing that makes it a challenge is what makes it exciting, which is you have free reign to use your imagination, like Andrew Davies has done.

- I think I was excited by this new idea of different kinds of endeavor, different kinds of characters.