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Emma is a four-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. The episodes were written by Sandy Welch, writer of previous BBC costume dramas Jane Eyre and North & South, and directed by Jim O'Hanlon. The serial stars Romola Garai as the titular heroine Emma Woodhouse, Jonny Lee Miller as her loyal lifelong friend Mr Knightley, and Michael Gambon as Emma's father, Mr Woodhouse. The serial originally ran weekly on Sunday nights on BBC One from 4 to 25 October 2009.
Website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/emma/
Notable quotes
“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”
— Chapter 1: The opening sentence.
“A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable, old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls; but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as anybody else.”
— Chapter 10: Emma to Harriet Smith.
“It is such a happiness when good people get together—and they always do.”
— Chapter 3: Miss Bates.
“A mind lively and at ease, can do with seeing nothing, and can see nothing that does not answer.”
— Chapter 9: Description of Emma observing the daily activities in Highbury.
“Can you trust me with such flatterers?—Does my vain spirit ever tell me I am wrong?”
— Chapter 2: Emma to Mr. Knightley, who is leaving her to "her own reflections."
“One man’s style must not be the rule of another’s.”
— Chapter 15:: Mr. Knightley to Emma.
Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.
Emma is a four-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. The episodes were written by Sandy Welch, writer of previous BBC costume dramas Jane Eyre and North & South, and directed by Jim O'Hanlon. The serial stars Romola Garai as the titular heroine Emma Woodhouse, Jonny Lee Miller as her loyal lifelong friend Mr Knightley, and Michael Gambon as Emma's father, Mr Woodhouse. The serial originally ran weekly on Sunday nights on BBC One from 4 to 25 October 2009.
Critical reception to the series was generally positive, especially the first episode, with many of the main actors being praised. Later episodes attracted fewer viewers, and some critics felt that the initial tone was not maintained; alternatively, the lower figures may have been due to a scheduling conflict with the very popular X Factor on ITV1.
Contents
Cast and characters
Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse: Emma has no need to marry, being financially independent, but delights in matchmaking those around her — and credits herself with being very good at it – despite her friend Mr Knightley's scepticism.
Jonny Lee Miller as Mr George Knightley: Mr Knightley is Emma's only social and intellectual equal in Highbury, living at Donwell Abbey, a rambling country estate a short walk from Hartfield. His brother is married to Emma's older sister. He has known Emma since she was born, and there is an easy familiarity between them. He is an individualistic man, quick-witted, with a dry sense of humour — often used in sparring with Emma. But he also has a strong moral compass — and at times he strongly disagrees with Emma over her behaviour.
Michael Gambon as Mr Woodhouse: Mr Woodhouse, Emma's father, lost his wife when his two daughters were very young, and he has developed an extremely nervous disposition. He is loving and kind, but he worries constantly. He hardly ever leaves Hartfield, and he hates the thought of Emma ever leaving him. He sees the marriages of Isabella, Emma’s older sister, to Mr John Knightley, and Miss Taylor, Emma’s beloved governess, to Mr Weston, as disruptions to the life he has led with them.
Louise Dylan as Harriet Smith: Harriet is a parlour boarder at Mrs Goddard's School. She has been sent there by her anonymous father to be educated, because Harriet is his "natural" (illegitimate) daughter. Being a parlour boarder means that she has stayed on at the school to help with the younger girls. She is pretty but not very bright, and she has little prospect of marrying a gentleman. Emma, however, is sure that Harriet's father must be a gentleman and takes her under her wing.
Jodhi May as Anne Taylor/Weston: Anne has been Emma's governess since her mother died when Emma was a baby. More like an older sister than a governess, Anne is wise and caring, and devoted to Emma.. When she marries Mr Weston, she is worried about leaving Emma at Hartfield with only her father for company.
Robert Bathurst as Mr Weston: Mr Weston is an eternal optimist, despite the fact that his life has not always run smoothly. He married young, to a woman who spent all his money, who was disowned by her family, and then died, leaving him with a young son, Frank. He agreed to Frank being adopted by his wife's estranged sister, who insisted that Frank change his name to Frank Churchill. Frank has lived in the lap of luxury ever since.
Rupert Evans as Frank Churchill: Frank is a ball of energy, charming and mischievous. He has been kept at his aunt's beck and call for most of his life, and often seems to be called back to her bedside whenever he ventures away — although it is never entirely clear whether this is just a convenient excuse for not visiting Highbury and his father.
Laura Pyper as Jane Fairfax: Jane's parents died when she was a toddler. Her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs Bates, sent her from Highbury to live with the Campbells, who could offer greater advantages. Colonel Campbell knew she would be a good companion for his only daughter, Miss Campbell. Ever since, Jane has excelled at everything a girl should, and Miss Bates has bored and irritated Emma by recounting Jane's virtues at every opportunity. Now Jane has reached the age where she must leave the Campbells, return to Highbury, and find means to make a living as a governess.
Tamsin Greig as Miss Bates: Miss Bates is the daughter of the former vicar of Highbury, who died many years ago. Without a husband to provide an income, she faces ever-increasing poverty. Despite her woes, Miss Bates has a perennially cheerful disposition. She fills any silence with incessant talk.
Valerie Lilley as Mrs Bates: Whereas Miss Bates talks without ceasing, her aged mother, Mrs Bates, hardly ever speaks. She sits silent in the corner of the room, or is wheeled from place to place by Miss Bates.
Blake Ritson as Mr Elton: Mr Elton is the vicar of Highbury, a dashing young man, aware of his status in the village and his eligibility. He aims at an advantageous marriage.
Christina Cole as Augusta Elton: Mrs Elton is rich, and a good catch for Mr Elton in many ways. However she is also vulgar and interfering, and one-upmanship is second nature to her. She arrives in Highbury keen to prove her social standing.
Dan Fredenburgh as John Knightley
Poppy Miller as Isabella Knightley
Jefferson Hall as Robert Martin
Veronica Roberts as Mrs Goddard
Liza Sadovy as Mrs Cole
Eileen O'Higgins as Miss Martin 1
Sarah Ovens as Miss Martin 2
Susie Trayling as Mrs Churchill
Frank Doody as Mr Dixon
Amy Loughton as Miss Campbell / Mrs Dixon
Production
Principal photography commenced with a four-day shoot in the Kent village of Chilham from 14 to 18 April 2009. Production design staff covered several roads with gravel to disguise the 21st-century road markings, and erected a fountain in the village square. Filming occurred from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day and was scheduled to coincide with the Easter school holiday to minimise local disruption.
Filming continued at the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin in Send, Surrey on 24 and 28 April, where scenes of a wedding and a Sunday service were completed. Further filming took place at Squerryes Court, Westerham, Kent where many interior scenes were shot.
The scene that shows Emma and Harriet Smith on their way to visit the poor was filmed in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The church they pass along the wooded path is St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield.
Critical reception
Reviewing the first episode, Sam Wollaston of The Guardian called it "very good... even if it's not necessary", wishing the BBC would adapt some lesser-known novels rather than churning out the same adaptations again and again. He nevertheless praised the acting, suggesting Garai's "eyes alone deserve a BAFTA" and that Michael Gambon made "a splendid old Mr Woodhouse".
John Preston of The Telegraph also noted Romola Garai as "particularly good" in the titular role, and noted that while Jim O Hanlon's direction was perhaps a little too "steady and sure" there was still "plenty of sprightliness there too". After the third episode of the series, however, he wrote that "[it] was a disaster, becoming ever more coarse and clumsy as it went on. The narration was obtrusive, the charm next to non-existent and the secondary characters insufficiently delineated." Emma he deemed "too bovine, too cocksure" in order for her to be truly in doubt. He did not find that Jonny Lee Miller, "who could have been a first-class Mr Knightley, was given enough screen time to make an impact". He concluded: "Contrivance ha[d] taken over. Sprightliness ha[d] disappeared. The soufflé ha[d] fallen."
Tom Sutcliffe of The Independent wrote in a review that "the primary-colour brightness seems to have carried over into some the performances." He found that Garai "[did]n't capture the sense of frustrated intelligence that makes Emma bearable on the page", but blamed the script for it. He also saw a casting problem with Emma and Knightley in the sense that Miller "still carrie[d] too much of the seductive bad boy about him" so that he was not convincing as a "surprising love object", and "that threatens one of the novel's great achievements, which is to educate us alongside its heroine."
Some critics also noted the dip in ratings following the first episode. In The Independent, Jonathon Brown observed that while "the critics have given it a qualified nod of approval" the second instalment of the serial "pulled in only 3.5 million viewers – down nearly 1 million on the opening episode the previous week – while the third episode saw another 200,000 switch off". He suggests this may be due to the "13 million-strong audience from ITV1's all-conquering X Factor" which had launched a Sunday night results show for the first time, or that "the days of bonnet and bustle are [simply] over".
Soundtrack
The original soundtrack with music composed by Samuel Sim was released on 8 December 2009 and features numerous themes featured in the series, including music from the dance sequences during the ball at the Crown Inn. A track listing for the album is as follows:
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