I've never been much into fan fiction or sequels of Jane Austen, thinking that I didn't want to mess around with my idea of Jane Austen's writing. I was pleasantly surprised when, finding "Death Comes to Pemberley" on Amazon Prime, I actually really enjoyed this mini-series.
Death Comes to Pemberley is based on a novel by crime novelist P. D. James. I haven't read the novel yet, so I am not in the position to assess whether it is a good adaptation of James' novel, but I enjoyed it as a sequel to Jane Austen's work. I was impressed by the acting and thought the storyline was very captivating and credible. I was intrigued until the very end to find out who the murderer was. The series had all the essential elements of Pride and Prejudice woven into the screenplay, and the characters were recognisable. It resonated Jane Austen's wit, and I think that she herself would have enjoyed the story, given the fact that her juvenilia was full of stories like this and she may well have been amused by the twists to her story.
I also loved seeing Matthew Goode cast as Wickham in this adaptation. I was smitten by Matthew Goode in Downton Abbey, a series which I really enjoyed, and I thought he made a great dashing villain in Death Comes to Pemberley as well.
To my great surprise, I had the good luck of bumping into the said gentleman as I was visiting Oxford a couple of years ago. I was at the Bodleian Library with my family and I was quite shocked as I walked right up to him at a doorway to the library courtyard, and there he was, right in front of me, staring at me straight in the face. I immediately recognised him and thought that he was even more dashing in real life! He was incredibly handsome, in a Bond-like manner, dressed in a slim black suit - this reminded me of him as Henry Talbot in Downton Abbey.
I was too embarrassed to ask for a photo, and I was mortified when my husband teasingly said that I'd love a photo with him, but Matthew was a perfect gentleman and happily obliged! He told me that he was shooting a Netflix series at the Bodleian (I later found out that they were shooting "A Discovery of Witches" - not my type of genre but perhaps some of you have seen it?). What a shy fangirl moment that was!
Death Comes to Pemberley is based on a novel by crime novelist P. D. James. I haven't read the novel yet, so I am not in the position to assess whether it is a good adaptation of James' novel, but I enjoyed it as a sequel to Jane Austen's work. I was impressed by the acting and thought the storyline was very captivating and credible. I was intrigued until the very end to find out who the murderer was. The series had all the essential elements of Pride and Prejudice woven into the screenplay, and the characters were recognisable. It resonated Jane Austen's wit, and I think that she herself would have enjoyed the story, given the fact that her juvenilia was full of stories like this and she may well have been amused by the twists to her story.
Image from Wikipedia: https://binged.it/38WP7bi
I also loved seeing Matthew Goode cast as Wickham in this adaptation. I was smitten by Matthew Goode in Downton Abbey, a series which I really enjoyed, and I thought he made a great dashing villain in Death Comes to Pemberley as well.
To my great surprise, I had the good luck of bumping into the said gentleman as I was visiting Oxford a couple of years ago. I was at the Bodleian Library with my family and I was quite shocked as I walked right up to him at a doorway to the library courtyard, and there he was, right in front of me, staring at me straight in the face. I immediately recognised him and thought that he was even more dashing in real life! He was incredibly handsome, in a Bond-like manner, dressed in a slim black suit - this reminded me of him as Henry Talbot in Downton Abbey.
I was too embarrassed to ask for a photo, and I was mortified when my husband teasingly said that I'd love a photo with him, but Matthew was a perfect gentleman and happily obliged! He told me that he was shooting a Netflix series at the Bodleian (I later found out that they were shooting "A Discovery of Witches" - not my type of genre but perhaps some of you have seen it?). What a shy fangirl moment that was!
Anna, I have been out of action recently as far as blogging goes. I spilt a mug of tea over my laptop keyboard. It’s in for repairs at the moment if it is repairable???? I want to claim on the insurance and get a new one. I remember watching the series when it came out. I enjoyed it too. I think I wrote a review of the first episode.? It was some time ago. I see you are real fan!! Ha! Ha! I hope you and the family are well? We are all fed up with the way things are . All the best, Tony
ReplyDeleteHaha! I'm not such a crazy fan, but thought I would post as people love these kind of stories 😄
DeleteI must read your review now.
Hope you get your laptop issues sorted soon! Any plans for the summer?
Hi Anna we are all well. it was Marilyn’s birthday on the 19th. I baked her a cake. Also one or two other presents of course.
ReplyDeleteI am doing an online course using ZOOM with the Museum of The Home where I volunteer. we are working with Professor Michael Macmillan. He is of West Indian parents born in Hackney where the museum is located. We are working on ,” decolonising,” the museum. Hackney has different ethnic minority groups. We have never thought about developing the museum by addressing other cultures and histories. We should have done this before in a multicultural society.
The first session was about addressing our own beliefs and attitudes. It was a bit of soul searching and raw honesty. Anyway I am looking forward to progressing with the course. I have met Michael in the past. He is also a playwright and he has written plays for radio and also the museum.I hope you are all well. It’s the children’s summer holidays now. are you doing much over the Summer? Tony
Your online course sounds interesting. Seems like a good idea to modernise museums now. They need to be open and honest about past mistakes and attitudes that hurt people.
DeleteWe are well thank you, we aren't doing much this summer, perhaps a few short trips nationally. Looking forward to a proper routine now!