Jane Austen’s last work brought to life in ‘Sanditon’

Sunday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m., March 6 at 7 p.m. and March 13 at 7 p.m. or stream it anytime online or on the PBS Video app.

Marathon the first season of “Sanditon” one more time before the premiere of Season 2 on March 20!

Select Sanditon when you support Arizona PBS and get both seasons on DVD, a Jane Austen mug, as well as a copy of the novel based on the show.

More about ‘Sanditon’

The storyline, as Austen left it in 11 beautifully crafted chapters, is as follows: Tom Parker is obsessed with turning the sleepy seaside village of Sanditon into a fashionable health resort, and he enlists the backing of local bigwig Lady Denham. Through a mishap, Tom makes the acquaintance of the Heywoods and invites their eldest daughter, Charlotte, for an extended stay at Sanditon.

There, the sensible Charlotte observes hypochondria, avarice and attempted seduction run amok. Lady Denham, a widow, is playing matchmaker for her destitute nephew, Sir Edward, who is determined to seduce Lady Denham’s ward, Clara. The arrival of wealthy heiress Miss Lambe, under the protection of Tom’s upright brother Sidney, adds an interesting complication. Eligible men find Miss Lambe fascinating, while Charlotte is intrigued by Sidney.

With many promising loose ends and romantic possibilities, how will the young people pair off? Who will Lady Denham designate as her heir? Will Tom’s tourist spa finally catch on with the public? Where will that lead? Andrew Davies imaginatively enters this world of Georgian-era suitors, hustlers, and health cranks and boldly tells us what happens next.

Remarkably, even as Jane Austen was succumbing to the ravages of her fatal illness, she chose to lampoon the contemporary fad for tonics, sea water cures, and other medical remedies. Undiagnosed at the time, her malady was probably Addison’s disease, which today is easily treatable. She might have had many years of writing ahead of her, but Jane Austen died at age 41, on July 18, 1817.