Q&A With the Cast and Crew

- Hello, I'm Meghan O'Keefe, and I just wanna say, I am so excited to be here moderating the "Sanditon" season two panel.

We have an amazing lineup of guests here to talk all things "Sanditon", starting with Susanne Simpson, Belinda Campbell, Justin Young, Rose Williams, Crystal Clarke, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, and Tom Weston-Jones.

I think the first question we all have for all of you guys is how do you feel now that "Sanditon" season two is officially out in the world.

It's been seen by fans.

How are we feeling guys?

- Very good.

- Yeah, very excited, yeah.

- It's been such a whirlwind as well.

You know, we got a green light December 2021 and the last 8,15 months have just been such a blur.

So to now be sharing it with viewers is, yeah, it's incredible.

I can't quite believe that time's come already, but we're excited for people to see it.

- Rose, I know when we talk after the first season, you had told me that you would hope that Charlotte would move on from her heartache and have adventures of her own and find love in a new way.

Do you think that happens for her in "Sanditon" seasons two and three?

- Yeah, absolutely.

She's still... Like what I like to say about Charlotte is that she always had an open heart.

She had an open heart for adventure, for experience, as we saw in the first season, and her heart was open and she found love.

And although we just all found out, she goes through loss, her heart remains open and she still strives forward with the spirit of adventure.

And I love that by the end of the first episode, she's gone out and found a means to start to navigate a path of independence.

So absolutely.

- Yeah, Crystal, I don't wanna give spoilers, but Ms.

Lambe sort of has an interesting interaction with a certain Bohemian artist in the premier episode.

Do you wanna tell us more about Ms.

Lambe this season and what to expect from her and Charles Lockhart?

- Yeah, so when meeting Ms.

Lambe at the beginning of season two, she's really starting to come into her own.

She's fighting off suitors because she's about to come into her fortune finally.

And she's also involved in sugar boycott trying to like find her purpose in that.

And at the same time, she's trying to forge her identity.

She's still on that search to figure out what exactly defines her.

And part of that is her rebellious spirit.

And this new Bohemian artist comes into town.

And that's very interesting to her and yeah, he's totally different from everyone else and he's not trying to fit in.

And obviously that peaks her interest, but at the same time, she's been hurt by Otis.

And we're not too far along from that.

And she's still got her guard up, so let's see what happens.

- We'll see what happens.

- Yeah, happen.

- Ben and Tom, you guys are the new kids on the group.

Can you describe who your characters are and what you think Colonel Lennox and Mr.

Colbourne bring to "Sanditon" this season?

- Ben, you first.

Do you wanna go first?

- Thank you, what a gentleman.

I play Alexander Colbourne who everyone has probably just seen he is a bit of a recluse.

You could argue a hermit in his big house on the outskirts of Sanditon called Herrick Park.

And he is in search of a new governess because his daughter and his niece have always Mary Poppins-esque always driven out their governesses out the house and he's in search of a new one.

And for various reasons, Charlotte comes his way and he is very intrigued, but also frustrated by that first meeting, I think.

Monsieur Tom.

- Monsieur Tom.

Thank you, Ben.

Monsieur Ben, yeah, really, in terms of coming in the show really, really enjoyed being welcomed in by everybody wholeheartedly.

It's strange coming into something.

The first time I'd done it in the second season of anything, but everybody I'm happy to say was very, very lovely and very welcoming.

But yeah, in terms of Lennox, it felt like, for me, I felt liberated in some respects from being part of the source material, but not literally so I could take whatever inspiration I wanted.

But yeah, Lennox is, you know, he is on the move constantly.

He finds himself surrounded by opportunity in this new place.

And a lot of that is centered around Charlotte in the top specifically, and that sort of blooms throughout the show.

- For the producers, I'm curious, when did you realize how popular this show had become particularly with the American audience on PBS and how instrumental has the fandom been to getting "Sanditon" back on the air?

- Well, I- - What's- - Do you wanna go, Belinda?

- Go, Susanne.

- You go first.

- So obviously we went out in the UK first on ITV and we knew that there was a really, really hardcore of fandom over here because they were clamoring for a second season immediately.

The show didn't go out for another five months on Masterpiece.

And you know, Susanne was with us the whole time.

When she watched the rushes, she just knew from the outset how well it was gonna work in the US.

And so you know, she has always been our biggest champion.

Couldn't wait for it to sort of hit the air, but it hit in the States and it sort of became so sort of, you know, so big and immediately the clamor for more really sort of took off.

And we had have this incredible letter writing campaign and not just letter writing campaign.

Gifts and you know, the most inventive, the most extraordinary sort of input into trying to get a second season.

Letters were written to us at Red Planet Pictures, to Masterpiece, to PBS, to ITV.

I mean, it was an ordinary thing.

And you know, I've been making television for 25 years.

I have never seen anything like it and it was incredibly heartening.

And it was quite a journey, wasn't it Susanne, getting this sort of, you know, the second season back on?

And it really galvanized us.

- No, it was incredible.

I think after seeing the rushes like Belinda said, I knew this was gonna be an incredibly popular show for Masterpiece.

First of all, I think our audience loves Jane Austen and here's a story that had never been done before.

So I think, you know, that right there was intriguing to everyone.

And it was so beautifully done and obviously cast so well that we got immediately intrigued with Charlotte and also with Georgiana and just felt that it was an audience winner for sure.

And of course it went out and then to see the number of fans, you know.

That's really only happened to us once before with "Downton Abby".

It's very rare to have that kind of outpouring of love for a show.

So at that point we were eager, Belinda and I, to make sure we could do a second season.

So it was really just a matter of putting the funding together, making sure that cast could come back given their very busy schedules.

But we're so excited that season two is coming and I just finished watching all of season three so I can tell you, it just all gets better and better.

- A tot of tease about the next season.

Oh, my goodness.

- I know.

- All ready.

- Justin, I know that you wrote on the first season, but now you're the head writer.

Could you talk about that transition and what you wanted to do with this season?

Where did you decide to pull inspiration from and what was the main concern going forward?

- Yes, it was a quite a natural transition 'cause I think, my role was consultant on series one.

So I played a very big role in building those storylines with Andrew and the team.

And obviously I wrote half of the episodes in season one so I was thrilled when Belinda asked me if I would head up this season.

Obviously the big challenge was that we had to switch directions 'cause we had a kind of hypothetical idea of where Charlotte and Sidney were gonna go.

And then obviously we knew that Theo wasn't gonna return so that opened up a whole different avenue for us, a whole different angle on the story.

I think coming back when we first talked, when I was first talking to Masterpiece and pitching to Susanne and Rebecca there, I think we wanted to open up the focus of the series.

I think series one was very much about Charlotte and Sidney and everything else kind of fed into that.

And I think we wanted to... Obviously, you know, Charlotte was our way in, but we wanted to also give Georgiana more weight now as an equal protagonist and open it up really.

So it became more of an ensemble.

And I think we were clear that we wanted this to be about really strong female characters, but we were excited to bring in, you know, really interesting complex new male characters to beat into those stories as well.

So right from the get go, we had this idea of the army coming in.

We had this idea of Charles Lockhart, this fabulous, ironic character.

And I think we had this idea of Colbourne.

These three very different men.

And I think the pitch was just, we wanted mystery and intrigue and romance We just wanted to turn everything up.

We were aware of what the audience loved in season one.

They loved the kind of flirty dance, flirty banter as they would say to me.

And we just thought, well, let's do more of that.

Let's have, you know, let's have more romance, more love stories, more mystery.

And so it was really just about taking the things that had worked in the first series and turning the dial up, which I hope the audience would agree we've done.

- Yeah, I think one of the most sweet moments in the premier is the reunion of Georgiana and Charlotte who are such great friends.

Rose and Crystal, what was it like reuniting on set for you guys?

- Amazing, that was the tea room scene.

I think that was the first scene that we- - Yeah- - did.

- yeah, it was.

So that was real.

- Yeah, and I - We hadn't even seen each other before we got to set.

Lie with me Rose.

We hadn't even seen each other before before we got to set.

(all laughing) Crazy.

Never been loved before.

- That's actually true.

I remember seeing Crystal walking ahead up.

We were filming at Lee Court.

This amazing location where the assembly rooms were and the tea room.

And I was like, oh, my God.

The first time I saw Crystal was in costume, which was amazing.

- Yeah, It was exciting.

It was exciting.

- Ben and Tom being the new guys, how welcoming were the "Sanditon" casting crew?

Did they put you through any hazing?

Were they nice?

Tell us what it was like joining this tight-knit crew in- - Locked in a cupboard for a few days, I think, was the way it worked right, Ben.

- Yeah, people just called me Theo for the first six months.

(all laughing) Not only me actually.

I found it amazingly welcoming.

I was very, very disturbingly late on my way to the read through to open up the whole experience and so I felt in incredibly guilty about that.

So it was a kind of nightmare actor scenario where everyone's waiting for you.

You have to get COVID tested before you arrive.

So you are in the COVID waiting room.

You can see everyone, producers, actors, legends of the game, Anne Reid looking at her watch as they're waiting for your COVID test to pass.

So that was a kinda terrible start where I thought everyone thought it was a kind of power game.

And in my head I thought the only thing that could make it worse is if I was naked.

That would probably make it the ultimate.

- It was the biggest room in London that we found Reid- - The most intimidating ballroom, yeah, in London.

And apart from that hiccup at the beginning, everyone was so welcoming and generous with their time and attention.

And obviously I worked a lot with Rose and she was fantastic.

I think the only thing she didn't enjoy was me admitting that I hadn't watched season one.

(all laughing) (crosstalk drowning out Ben and Rose) - You just kept repeating, "I haven't seen series one.

I haven't seen it."

- I felt I always had to clarify butt it was done for legitimate acting reasons for it not to influence me.

And in fairness to her, she always did say that I hadn't read the scripts well enough, which is always true.

But again, it was a justification of what my character- - Oh, you really got hazed.

You actually did get hazed.

- Oh, yeah.

I felt the the wedgie... I was told that you get wedgied on the set of "Sanditon" everyday.

It was a relief when I realized that wasn't true.

But apart from that, it was awesome.

- Just by Rose, that was it.

- For the producers, the elephant in the room in the first episode is obviously Sidney's not back.

He dies very early on.

Are you at all nervous about whether or not the fans will still respond positively to this series going forward without that main character?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, no.

I mean, I think, you know, look, we are aware that he was a very sort of, you know, successful character, but I maintain that Jane Austen's stories are about the female protagonist.

And people really, really loved the character of Charlotte Heywood that Rose sort of brought to life and all these other fabulous female characters that sort of, you know, Justin has talked about.

So yes, I'm sure people will miss him and that is why Justin took the decision kind of very definitively to say he's not coming back.

You know, we're not teasing, we're not playing a game with the audience.

He is not coming back.

And I think that that sort of confidence and that clarity is absolutely right, because it's sort of, you know, the audience we expect to grieve alongside Charlotte, you know.

They will miss him as a character, but then they will get totally sort of blindsided by all these other brilliant things that are coming in.

So you know, you know, we are aware of it and we have sort of been really clear that this is what's happening.

And so some of that grief will be out of the way before the show hits next Sunday, but we're really confident.

We've got this amazing Jane Austen character and you know, the audience we know love her, you know, want to see what's next for her.

Susanne, have you got anything?

- Well, I feel the same way that you do.

That I do believe that it's exciting to watch Charlotte's journey given what's happened.

And that the audience will grieve along with her in these first few episodes, especially.

And you know, I'm just very pleased that Belinda and Justin were able to see a story ahead of us that is so interesting in terms of Charlotte's choices and what she will decide defines herself and her purpose in life.

The same as Georgiana is going through that as well.

And I think that makes for very interesting storytelling and surprises along the way.

So I hope the audience will, you know, join us in going forward with what Charlotte will be going through.

- I was looking at the audience.

We have some questions coming in from people watching the panel right now.

Jennifer from Mississippi asks, what preparation do you do to feel more in character for the time-period dramas?

I'm assuming this is for the actors.

- I did a lot of- The thing I really love about period shows, particularly this period as well, where so many people kept diaries and journals and everything.

And of course, you know, a lot of them wrote them hoping that they would be discovered so they might be imbued with a little bit more drama than actually was there.

But that's something that I did from the very beginning, 'cause I mean obviously reading Jane Austen was something that I considered and did during the actual filming process.

But with Lennox, there's a lot of... Obviously the military is such a specific thing and there being the Peninsula war.

Yeah, I just consumed a lot of that.

Didn't live on the camp.

That would've been hell, I think.

That might not be dedication enough, but yeah.

Didn't wanna take it too seriously.

Ben, you lived in the house for the entire time, right?

- I did live in the house, yeah.

And I purposefully... They didn't brush their teeth at the time, so I didn't brush my teeth or have a regular bath or shower.

So that was... We've already established I barely read the scripts.

So my- (all laughing) - Costumes, I think my answer would be costumes.

Costumes help so much.

They really try to support you.

I don't envy that... For men and women they're quite tight and uncomfortable, but it's good 'cause it kind of makes you stand up straight and feel different.

I'd say the costumes really help.

- Yeah, I agree.

I think that immediately transports you.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, and reading books.

- Yeah.

- I've always... Like anyone in the courset, it just looks the most painful experience I've... Absolutely horrible.

- Oh, yeah, Kate Ashfield quite often would... She's an escape artist.

She would get out of it quite a lot.

(all laughing) And I mean like in the middle of crowded rooms.

(all laughing) How she did.

It's amazing, I've seen it happen.

- Yeah.

- He did say that.

- Well, one of my favorite parts of a Jane Austen drama are the ballroom scenes.

And I wanna know, can you guys tease?

Will there be some dancing in the future for your characters and what was it like shooting the ballroom scenes in "Sanditon" season two?

- Right, we had Sammy Murray, the same choreographer.

He's absolutely fantastic so I was so thrilled that she was coming back.

And not easy dancing, you're going to get an influx of dancing in episode two.

There's a ball in episode five, not to give too much away, but there's upcoming dancing.

Me and Tom had a dance and Ben had a dance.

Boys, what did you think of the dancing?

Did you enjoy it?

- Sammy is amazing, amazing choreographer.

I loved how each dance told its own story and had its own sort of reason for the choreography.

And I loved the scenes that we got to do while we're dancing because inevitably the dialogue minimizes and you can start telling a story really with your eyes and your physicality.

And as you know, as minimal of Justin's dialogue is always ideal.

- So less is more.

(all laughing) - And no, I just thought what you can do with a hand gesture is amazing.

And there was an excitement around those days of filming because there was a kind of unique element to it that made it feel like there was a novelty factor and always a lot of extras and a lot of dancers who always inevitably bring a lot of energy.

So it's a fun day.

- Although the opposite of that is that the dancing was never just about dancing.

So I would often get a note from Sammy saying, "what are Tom and Mary talking about in this bit?"

"Cause they can't just be dancing.

You've got two seconds of s..." So I'd have to invent these brief bits of dialogue that had some function just so that you could pass from couple to couple.

So it was really, really collaborative.

So the dancing is always about juggling plots as well as just, and you've gotta remember the steps.

So I take my hat off to our cast who can do acting and dancing.

Triple threats, all of you.

- And learning the dancing very quickly.

I mean, Rose, didn't you have to learn dances very quickly?

- Oh, yeah.

- Everyone had to schedule.

- Yeah, Rose you were amazing.

- I learned and ended up not being able to rehearse, but it was a really beautiful dance and it kind of... I think I quite liked being under pressure so that I had no option, but to learn it.

And it was such beautiful choreography and Sammy is such an amazing choreographer.

And that, Ben and Tom, were so generous of me and we went over it and over it in our little green room.

People would only imagine like we were all... That's what's so fun about those big ball days, is that everyone's in, and as Ben said, they're so many people moving through.

And- - Was that the dance that... - Sorry, was that the dance that you had to do with Ben, with me watching from afar?

Is that the one that you mean?

I think it's that one.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause I remember watching it and I'm meant to be, you know... I don't think it's a spoiler to say there's some level of competition going on, obviously.

I've got to observe from afar and I remember watching it and just thinking that this is really beautiful actually.

- Aw.

It was lovely, really beautiful.

- Crystal always has really fun dancer, don't you, Crystal?

- Oh, yeah, and like just fancy, fancy dresses.

- Yeah.

- Fancy, fancy dresses.

We also kicked it off.

We kicked off season two filming at least.

That first week was a ball, wasn't it?

- Yeah- - Yeah.

- It was, yeah.

- Or was it the second week?

- I feel like it was the- - Yeah, it was the second week.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- So it was quite nice to be able to like see everyone and have everybody in a big room at the same time going back into it.

- Watching each other.

- We have another audience question.

This is for the ladies from Sue.

Which period costume is your favorite, favorite, and why?

The fit, color, texture, the way it made you feel.

Please describe it all to us.

- Crystal, what's your favorite, favorite piece?

- Is that in the show specifically?

- Yes.

- Okay, good, 'cause I don't know what my answer would've been otherwise.

(all laughing) Let's see.

I really like... Ugh, no, 'cause I think the problem is there's a lot of things I could say that would give things away, but I'm gonna say I like... Oh, actually no, this won't give me away.

So there's loads of pictures.

There's a picture of me and Rose sat in our ball dresses.

I've got like the black sheer thing top over like it's kind of like goldie-brown and stuff.

I really like that one.

That one's my favorite.

- I like that one on you.

I like the Ms.

Lambe navy Spencer that Lauren designed that's like the collar is up with the leg leaf- - Oh, the- - Yeah, I like that.

- The haute couture.

- Yeah, yeah.

(all laughing) Oh, and I really like that one on you.

My favorite, favorite.

My favorite, favorite from season two would be again, it's in the promotional imagery.

The teal coat that we see Charlotte in at the end of series one, which she goes to her interview with Mr.

Colbourne.

'Cause it felt like a bridge between Charlotte likes... I like the... It's nice to be asked about texture 'cause texture is so important.

There's the kind of hero coat from series one, which was this sand heavy coat we imagined that Charlotte brought from the farm.

Which I always felt connected to the character in that coat 'cause the texture and the feel and the color felt very earthy like the farm.

But it was quite fitted, which represented society in the town of "Sanditon" so that was like the bridge coat.

And then that kind of evolves in the second series.

The similar silhouette in this beautiful teal color, which I feel represents Charlotte's mood and next chapter.

So that's my favorite coat.

The teal coat.

- It looks beautiful in the wind.

- Oh, thanks.

Yeah, I love the weight and like I love the long coats.

- I felt a bit cheated.

I only had the one outfit.

(all laughing) The season two red coat.

- You only needed one outfit, Tom.

- I could have jazzed up the... I could have jazzed it up.

I'm sure I could.

- Your eyes jazz it up.

(Tom laughing) - Well, for the boys, you guys get to do amazing things on horseback.

I think one of the most iconic things about an awesome hero is him dashing up in a horse.

And both of you guys get your question moments in the first episode.

Can you tell us about horseback riding on the show?

Did your horses have names?

Did you get along with the horses?

- Yeah, I think I had Van deVal, was mine.

Weird name, beautiful horse.

I dunno much else about them beyond that.

Bt yeah, I've done a fair amount of it before.

We were kind of thrown into the deep end.

I remember actually the first day that I saw you on set, Ben, you were actually on a horse quite close to a cliff edge, right.

- Yeah.

- It was just very safe.

- That's that was me and Quentin.

Amazingly, I don't think it's a spoiler to say there are two horses.

One is Quentin and one is a different horse whose special job is to be bat shit crazy.

So Quentin is the nice one and then they bring in the kind of the one who's- - Stirs it up a bit.

- Yeah, it's a misconception that the other one is very badly behaved.

It's actually, they've just been trained to do specific tricks that make them look badly behaved.

But obviously its reputation was like the bad boy, so they would bring the bad boy on and everyone would step back and think, oh, my God.

But Quentin was lovely and you know, inevitably it wasn't always me on the horse.

Spoiler alert.

And- - Aw.

- I know, I probably should admit that, but I really enjoyed all the people who worked on "Sanditon" were always lovely.

And my stunt double Matt was a great guy and the horse riders, the devil's horseman, they're kind of the best of the best so they're always on top of their game.

- Although Tom, you were often next to Frank Blake who played Captain Fraser who's from one of the great equestrian families of Ireland.

His entire family were at the Olympics.

Is that right?

- They were literally at the Olympics the time.

I mean, if you're going to make a- Like if you're gonna make a captain look bad... (all laughing) - The mad thing is that sometimes I had a stunt double riding him for me, but I was Frank's stunt double.

So if any time the- - Ah, that makes sense.

That makes sense.

- So just for the record.

- We a question from Elizabeth Rose for Justin.

In addition to the hints, clues for the original unfinished novel "Sanditon" do you use narrative pattern from Austen's earlier work to determine the paths the characters will take?

- Absolutely, it's a really good question, and we did.

It's a very particular style of writing and I've sort of compared to like a box of paints that she left behind.

So the trick we wanted to play was that all of these characters and stories needed to feel Austen-esque and our kind of... You know, we had advisors, we had the great Paula Byrne who's written books.

We had obviously Andrew Davies on our team.

So we would run things past these fantastic experts that go, does this feel right, do these characters feel Austen-esque?

And they share DNA with certain Austen characters.

And so we wanted them to feel like they might plausibly have been in her other novels.

And there are certain moments in the series that if you're a real Janeite and you really know your work, you'll recognize certain structures, certain stories that feel familiar, but then the fun is we try to subvert them.

So there are certain motifs, there are certain characteristics.

And I think, again, you know, you don't have to be a Jane Austen expert to enjoy our show, but I think you get it on different levels, if you are.

There are special little clues that if you know her life, you know, her work.

And I think the fun is as soon as the soldier gallops on screen in a Jane Austen adaptation, you've got certain preconceptions and you're gonna go, well, we know soldiers.

We know Colonel Brandon, but we also know Wickham and there are all these characters.

And where does this character sit in that cannon?

So we had this fantastic box of tools that we were, you know... The whole series is our homage, our respectful homage to Jane, so yes.

And we try to repeat patterns.

And of course and the sisters, Jane had a wonderful sister of her own Cassandra in "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice".

They're full of these wonderful, textured sister relationships.

So it felt like a no-brainer bringing in Charlotte and Alison together at the start of season two.

That just felt like, you know... As soon as we realized we were bringing Alison, we all had the same question, which was, can they share a bed?

Can we have scenes where they talk in bed?

'Cause that felt like such a really Austeny thing to do.

So we had a conversation of, well, shouldn't she really be staying at the Colbourne's?

We were like, no, 'cause we wanna have them in a bed so they can have talks together and that was what that is.

That felt like a proper Austen moment to have the sisters having that conversation.

- Well, speaking of which, what is everyone's favorite Jane Austen story that is not "Sanditon"?

- I love "Persuasion", so that's one of my favorites, but I also love "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice".

It's very hard, I love them all.

Masterpiece at one point was able to show all six novels in one season and I have to say every one of them is very special.

So who else?

I don't know, who else likes- - I love them all with the exception of "Mansfield Park".

That is the one I really, really struggled with just because Fanny Price as a protagonist is not quite as sort of interesting as some of the other ones.

But I think that there are ways of reading that book, which actually sort of had a great influence when we were talking about sort of "Sanditon" storylines and you know, the story about Antigua and slavery and you know.

So all of them, all of them influenced the storytelling, the storylining of "Sanditon".

But yes, just as a character, she's not so much fun.

(all laughing) - I must admit that my first ever introduction to Jane Austen was "Clueless", the film and- - Right.

- it's probably sacrilege but that was my first introduction to her storytelling in a way.

And I think that film still holds up.

It's still a classic.

- I literally watched it the other night, it's perfect.

And Paula, Austen expert, genuinely believes it's the best.

I don't wanna speak for her, but she believes it's the best Austen adaptation.

You do too, Megan.

Yeah, I think it's amazing.

So yeah, my favorite Jane Austen is "Clueless" as well, Ben.

(all laughing) - We have another question.

This is Marie from Colorado ask Rose, what do you imagine Charlotte's life was like during the previous nine months and how did that informed your character this season?

- Good question, I thought about that a lot.

I think she was processing a broken heart.

A bit of a calm down from her adventure meeting the Parkers, meeting Ms.

Lambe, falling in love platonically and romantically with Sidney.

Processing this broken heart and being confronted with what she perceived to be the monotony of the farm and the pressure to get married and the sensitivity of that subject.

And me and Rosie had, one for Rosie, who I actually saw today, guys.

She's doing all right.

- Yay.

- Yeah, we had brunch.

She was cute.

- Oh, amazing.

- She's fab and we had a lot of conversations about how much Charlotte would've told Alison how perceptive Alison is when it comes to Charlotte, and her emotions.

We kind of gauged that Charlotte gave impressions of her experience with Sidney, but not details.

And as her younger sister who knows her through and through, she would've gauged that something happened, but wouldn't quite have understood or comprehended the depth of feeling that Charlotte was experiencing.

But I think Charlotte pretty much went back into practical work mode, felt a bit guilty 'cause she'd left her family for all those months when she'd been spending time in Sanditon.

Back to taking care of the brother and sisters, back to taking care of the farm and feeling that pressure from mom and dad to find a husband.

So yeah, I think that's what she was up to.

- On that note, Crystal, I wanna know what you think Georgiana was up to in the nine months leading up to season two premier.

- Oh, sorry, feels like a whole 10 minutes unmuting.

So I feel like when we meet her at the beginning of season two, there's much she seems to have... She's become more comfortable and so I like to think that she's done a lot of... Like she's got a love story growing with Sanditon, the place itself and she's with the loss of Sidney and now having the Hankins' as her guardians.

And being more like talking more with like Mary Parker and Tom Parker.

I think she would've been spending a lot of time with them and actually building those relationships up.

And yeah, I think there's been... She seems to kind of have more of a sense of her own strength of will than she did last time.

And so I just like to think that she is just kind of begun to find the joy in the everyday life of Sanditon.

- Awesome.

We have another question.

So this is for the panel from Kim.

I think it's for the actors.

What is your favorite part of your character on "Sanditon"?

Is it an attribute, a costume, a storyline?

- Any of you guys wanna go first?

- I think- - Jennifer... Oh, oh, sorry, Ben.

Oh.

- Sorry, I dunno if it's a spoiler to say that I love his integrity.

His sense of integrity.

Crystal, what about you?

- Oh, thank you.

Clothes, Georgiana's costumes.

(all laughing) - I think I would probably say, again without giving too much away, the fact that he is very driven at achieving what he wants, which gives some people certain blind spots.

But that's all I'll say.

A little bit cryptic, but yeah.

- So Justin, what do you love about... oh, I'm sorry.

Rose, you were gonna say... - Yeah, Rose.

- Yeah, about Charlotte.

Charlotte, about Charlotte.

I think my Charlotte attribute that I like the most, I guess is that she's open.

She's got an open heart and she's open to learn and grow and explore.

- The strangest thing is how much I've missed your characters the last month since I put down my pen on December the 17th.

I felt this weird kind of absence in this room because I've spent last year with all these characters, you know, for hours every day.

And it's really, really odd not hearing them talking to me anymore.

You know, I don't miss you as actors.

I just miss the characters.

(all laughing) I miss you as people too, obviously, but yeah, it's funny.

I got to love all of the characters, and yeah, it was sad to say goodbye to them.

- I think we have another audience follow up for a question before.

Alicia from Washington state asked Rose and Crystal, what was it like for you as an actor to pick up your characters' stories after a year or more of the pandemic?

Was it easy to step back into those roles for you guys?

We talked about what your characters were going through.

What were Rose and Crystal going through?

- Clearly I found it really easily.

I don't know why that's weird, but like maybe it is, but I found it really easy.

I don't know, I think once we were there, I think also it speaks a lot to the chemistry of the cast and how well a lot of us got along.

Like I found it so easy stepping into that tea room scene with Rose in that first week, and then stepping into the ball and acting alongside Turlough as Arthur Parker.

Like I immediately felt like I was transported back into that place.

I think it also helped that we had Charles Sturridge again, who directed the last part of season one.

We came back for the beginning of season two and I think that really helped to feed that energy into the beginning of this season and he was amazing, amazing.

- Yeah, we love Charles.

Yeah, I echo all of that 100%.

I dunno if I found it... I think I found the space with like specific to the character of Charlotte, I felt like I could relate to Charlotte a bit more because she'd had her heart broken and she'd been through more.

So of all of the Austen heroins, I've always gravitated towards Anne from "Persuasion" and the fact that there had been time and the pandemic and now stepping into series two I was meeting Charlotte and she had more emotional experience that I found it.

That was my like entry point.

And the fact that she's has this relationship with her younger sister and I'm a big sister and I have a younger sister.

So those were my... Like, those are my entry points for Charlotte, but yeah.

Similar to Crystal, like just that.

So when you spend so much time with people, it's weird.

It becomes like a space-time continuum when you work together on a show.

Like having danced with someone and getting to know each other so well and all of that intimacy to then doesn't really matter how long it's been.

There's this, like you step back on the ship together and it's like kind of no time's passed in a weird way.

So yeah.

- For the producers, what was it like for you guys coming back to the show after that gap as well?

Was it easy to get back into the groove or did you guys struggle to find your footing from behind the scenes?

- Justin.

- Yeah, it was weird actually, because in some ways it felt like creating a brand new show because you know, everybody was different.

So Georgiana in episode one of season two is not the same character we left behind nine months ago.

And certainly that's the case with Charlotte as well.

So there was... You know, the first draft, it felt like that, you know, I had to keep the tap running for a bit till the water ran clear, 'cause it was like, oh yeah, I kind of remember.

And it's such a specific way of writing dialogue, you know, 'cause it sort of heightened.

It's not very, very period dialogue, but it's not contemporary dialogue either.

So it took me a while to get back into the rhythms, the cadences of speech.

So yeah, it was strange.

It was strange after such a long time, but it took... You know, we'd never... Belinda and I have been talking about it pretty much since season one aired.

So it's gonna be rattling around in my head.

I'd never really let go.

- I mean, that's what I would say.

It never really felt like it sort of ended in a... But there was that time, wasn't there?

Between sort of, you know, going out on ITV in 2019 and then going out in the US.

But then after that, there was always the conversation.

So we were always figuring out how to kind of get it back on air.

And then when, you know, we got the green light to go again it was just, you know, it was all incredibly full on getting those scripts, those stories ready.

The scripts written and the production sort of.

You know, so yeah, in a funny way it never stopped.

- Yeah.

- No, it's true because we had to go through a development period with the scripting to know that we wanted to move forward with the shows.

So Belinda and Justin had to get up to speed very quickly to come up with some new ideas for season two and three and that was pretty unique for us.

We don't normally green light two seasons at once.

But there was a feeling that we wanted to keep the cast together and we really wanted to make sure that we could follow storylines across two seasons.

So you know, I know it was a lot of work for Justin.

It was a lot of work for everybody- - For everybody.

- but... For everybody, but it is remarkable.

The whole show is quite remarkable.

So well done all of you.

- We have a fan follow up for Justin.

I don't know the fan's name, I apologize.

But any characters you particularly enjoyed writing for, Justin?

Any character storylines you are looking forward to fans seeing now that you can share "Sanditon" season two?

Is there- - Oh, man, yeah.

It's so funny 'cause as Susanne said earlier, you know, we are currently fine tuning the end of season three.

So I've seen, you know... Every time I watch the final episode of season three, I get emotional.

I really do 'cause they all die and it's desperately sad.

(all laughing) - Oh, no.

No.

- No, no, no, that's not what happens.

That's not what happens.

But I get emotional for good reasons.

So you know, I'm excited about the whole journey 'cause the great privilege of the faith Susanne put in us to do season two and three together meant that we could plot everything.

And that was such a wonderful luxury of storytellers.

Was that it meant that there are pieces of the puzzle that we're putting place in episode one of season two, the payoff in the final episode of season three and that's rare and brilliant.

So I really, really loved, you know, I loved writing as I say for all of these characters and I miss them, but I have a particular soft spot, forgive me guys, for Augusta and Leo, who are two new characters.

And I just think the dynamic that they brought was so fantastic.

And I think both young actors are really, really special.

And I think writing, you know, writing young people, writing a young sibling dynamic was really, even though their cousins, was really fun.

So I think the audience are gonna fall in love with them in the same way that we all did 'cause I think the two of them are wonderful and yeah.

I can't say anything else without spoiling it, but I will say that every single episode has moments in it that I go, oh, I can't wait for the audience reaction to that.

I can't wait for the audience to see that bit.

We've basically tried to stack it with good bits.

That was our aim.

Was that every episode has some good bits in it.

Hopefully it's all good, but we've got good bits.

It's good moments.

- Yeah, you definitely do.

- Well, speaking of Augusta and Leo, I wanted to ask Ben and Rose, what was it like working with those gen actors on set?

Were the actresses a little less unruly than the girls are in the season two premier?

- Oh, my God, best crew ever.

Herrick Park, gang.

- Yeah, they were amazing.

I mean, I was thinking how it was amazing working with someone like flora, who it was her first ever job.

And you are always reminded when you're working with someone like that, where every day for her was just uniquely exciting.

And it was such a great reminder as an actor to cherish every day on set because it is such a privilege the job we do and seeing it through her eyes reminded me to kind of eradicate all senses of lethargy and apathy and any sense of taking it for granted.

And the same was absolutely true for Eloise, but I realized that she's actually got more credits than me essentially.

She's- (all laughing) Ready as an experienced actress.

She's been there, seen it and got the t-shirt and she's still so young.

So the future is so bright for both of them.

- Yeah.

- Tom, I'm curious, I know you made fun of the fact that you only have that one red coat, but you have like a crew of boys.

You have a whole army regimen with you at all times.

What was it like working with the other actors playing the soldiers?

Do you keep in touch?

Were there shenanigans?

- Oh, many shenanigans.

Yeah, yeah, Frank and Maxim, we were... Yeah, we got on very, very, very well.

I think that... Actually it was Frank, Max and Rosie who just spent the majority of the shoot just hanging out together goofing around.

But no, we had great fun.

I mean, despite being... I was about to say trapped, which we weren't.

We weren't trapped there.

But stuck on a military camp in the middle of Wales when the weather wasn't particularly great and we didn't really have any weather cover.

But no, like any, you know, filming when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, you sort of bond through adversity 'cause the days are long and hard and yeah, we got on really, really well.

Really, really well.

- We got another fan question.

Oh, this is for Rose and Crystal from Eve.

How does it feel to portray such strong characters that not only bring the time to life, but really discuss issues that relates to our contemporary problems as a society?

- Mouthful, Megan.

(all laughing) I mean, I think I... I'm gonna say something super controversial.

I don't actually normally watch period dramas.

Like when I turn on the TV, it's not the first thing that... I know, I know, I dropped the biggest bomb, but when I do it's usually something that like this has some element that provides this sort of mirror through the past.

And yeah, I think it makes it... You learn so much about yourself and about history and about the things that we repeat.

We always repeat it no matter what.

And I think it just makes it... There's a sort of comfort in that.

There's a sort of comfort in knowing that and being able to... We had Sharon and... Ugh, Justin, you can help me out with his- - His name is SI Martin.

- Yes, SI- - He's called Steve Martin, but- - It's Steve, it's Steve, yeah.

- he goes by SI Martin, yeah.

- We had them both as consultants as... Sharon was the black history side for the US and Steve was the black history side for the UK.

And so it was really interesting being able to learn a lot through them and also through Jane Austen advisor, Paula, Paula.

- Paula.

- And also learn a lot through Paula because I mean, that's all you can do.

Is you can learn from history and then apply those things to the present as much as you can.

But yeah, despite the fact that we're always, probably gonna repeat it, but anyway, yeah.

- Yeah, really well put, Crystal.

I think the... Extra meaningful for me to be part of a show with such a beautiful character that is Ms.

Lambe.

And for the characters for Charlotte and Ms.

Lambe's individual experience and the themes that come off of being a young black woman with a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds, which would be equivalent of millions or billions now.

And Charlotte being an example of a woman kind of, I guess her situation being... They're both struggling with finding a level of independence under different circumstance and those themes are still relevant today.

So like conversations that me and Crystal would have or any female member of the cast.

Like the core subjects of what it is to be a woman in the world now, the themes crossover.

So I always find that quite interesting.

Yes, we're playing characters that lived 200 years ago, but ultimately the conversations that are brought up through our storylines are still very much relevant today.

So that I find to be interesting and confusing at the same time.

- Shifting gears for the whole, I guess cast and the crew.

Did you have any favorite filming locations and did any of the actors learn new skills for this role?

Archery, dancing, cetera.

- New skills.

- Ms.

Lambe you rode a- (indistinct) - What did I ride?

- You rode a carriage?

You rode a- (indistinct) early on.

- I mean I rode a carriage, you know, 'cause I didn't ride it.

(indistinct) No, I had a double.

- No, you lie.

- But I did.

I wasn't supposed to like go like this on one of the takes to like to make the horses go and I did it anyway.

Very exciting.

Did it.

I was in the moment, but yeah.

I think the bits of our new set that were built, that was my favorite filming location.

Also because there was like not a lot of wind usually and like I could go to like indoor plumbing and, you know.

- Archery was a lot of fun.

Rose had a really bad shoulder injury.

So as ever, she was just a complete trooper and battling on through kind of sheer pain and guts.

And I thought it was really cool to learn a new skill.

The only other thing I can think of is Quill pen writing, but because I'm lefthanded, it was just a complete disaster.

I just smudged everything.

(indistinct) - I never even said this to you, but I noticed.

'Cause in the scene that you are writing in the end of episode one, I didn't actually say it's out loud, but I could just see you writing BLH.

(all laughing) - Yeah, yeah.

(indistinct) - It over again.

Like not with a sentence or anything.

Just BLH.

- It my go-to doodle, which is BLH which is my initials or QPR, which is the football team I support.

(all laughing) Any ink or piece of paper I had and I thought it'd just be a funny- - I just didn't know that Colbourne was a football fan.

- Well, Colbourne is a big QPR fan and it's not a spoiler to say that he goes on to create Queens Park Rangers, the football club- (indistinct) - That's the entirety of season three, isn't it?

- Yeah, then we go to- (indistinct) - Spoiler, spoiler.

Lot of very big shorts.

- Well, season three is just everyone dies and there's pro football.

(all laughing) You heard it here first, guys.

This is a great conversation.

I think there's time to be one last question and I just wanna ask everyone, if you could tease the rest season two in one word or phrase, how would you do so for the fans out there?

- I would say nothing is certain.

- Nothing is certain.

- Oh, there was one... Oh, or phrase, got you.

Sorry, Justin.

- Any word or phrase.

- That's okay.

- I would say unexpected, joyous, escapism.

- I would say saucy.

(all laughing) - One word, saucey.

- I would say very saucey.

(all laughing) - Back off, I want my credit, Tom.

- I would say wind, sweat, melting pot.

- Oh, good.

- Ooh.

- Ben, you're not allowed to say QPR.

- I was about to say- (all laughing) BLH, no, probably not.

I guess fun.

It's a lot of fun.

- Oh.

I have to say it's very witty.

And one of the things I love about Jane Austen is she is very funny in her observation of characters.

So with everything else, it's also very witty.

- There you go.

Well, "Sanditon" officially premieres on Masterpiece on PBS next Sunday, March 20th at nine, eight central and yeah.

Thank you guys so much for a great conversation and I can't wait to have more conversations with the fans going forward.

It was great.

- Thanks, Megan.

- Thanks, Megan.

- Thanks so much.

- Thanks everyone.