Finally, FINALLY I had the chance to watch the 2008 BBC Production of Sense and Sensibility! Recently, we have been blessed with access to a PBS channel and I happened across the first of the two episodes last Sunday night. I was thrilled - and the rest of my family were not - LOL! They groan when I want to watch something like this, but in the spirit of true family unity, my husband kept the kids busy playing games while I watched.

Can I just how how wonderful it was? Sense and Sensibility has always been my favorite of the Jane Austen books and this rendering was the very best onscreen telling of it I think. It is impossible not to compare it to the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version and though I still love that version, this one was superior in getting the story across to the audience.

The very strongest part of this movie was that the producers and writers took the time to tell the audience *why* Marianne falls in love with Colonel Brandon. That was a serious miss in the feature film version.

As much as I still love the feature length movie version, this one has eclipsed it. The casting was better for almost all of the roles - most notably, the character of Edward. Now, I like Hugh Grant, but the man oozes bad boy from every pore. He can't help it. The actor portraying Edward in this version, Dan Stevens, was much more suited to the role in my opinion.

So, needless to say, I highly recommend this version of Sense and Sensibility if you are an Austen fan or a period drama fan. It is well worth the almost four hours of your time!

*All image icons courtesty of crazed_dreamer

Not feeling all that well last night, I pulled out my copy of North and South - a BBC Production based on the novel of the same title by Elizabeth Gaskell. I believe it was actually a miniseries as it is about 4 hours long - and a wonderful way to spend four hours.

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the BBC America series Robin Hood. One of the stars, playing Sir Guy of Gisborne, is Richard Armitage. Mr. Armitage plays John Thornton in North and South and has had women swooning for year over it. If you are a fan of Richard's, this is the one to watch - and if you are not a fan of his, you have been missing out so get this on your list of 'Videos to Watch' right away!

From the Amazon website:

North & South is a splendid, four-hour adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel about an unlikely, and somewhat star-crossed, love between a middle-class young woman from England's cultivated south and an intemperate if misunderstood industrialist in a hardscrabble, northern city. Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale, forthright and strong-willed daughter of a former vicar (Tim Pigott-Smith) who relocates his family from a pastoral village outside London to unforgiving, largely illiterate Milton, a factory town where John Thornton (Richard Armitage) and his mother (Sinead Cusack), survivors of poverty, rule their cotton mill with an iron hand. Thornton befriends Margaret's father but incurs her wrath for his severity with his workers. What she doesn't notice is Thornton's core sense of responsibility for his employees' welfare. On the other hand, he misinterprets some of Margaret's own actions and intentions. Equally stubborn, the two drag out their obvious attraction over many painful months and events.

Pride and Prejudice lovers will likely love this story as well. It has all the angsty elements of a good love story, a brooding and handsome leading man who gives an outstanding performance and a headstrong leading lady who fails to see the forest for the trees mostly because of her own self.

And....there was a preview of The Way We Live Now starring the totally edible Matthew Macfadyen! Ah...silver linings!!

**All images are borrowed from photobucket and not owned by me