The four-part drama will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2025, marking 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth
Miss Austin wrapped production earlier this year in the Home Counties and will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2025
Federation Studios will distribute the series internationally
Published: November 14, 2024 — The BBC has released new pictures for Miss Austen, a star-studded production of Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel of the same name, produced by Bonnie Productions for MASTERPIECE, in association with the BBC. The four-part drama wrapped production earlier this year in the Home Counties and will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2025, marking 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth.
Miss Austen is adapted by BAFTA-winning writer Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth is Missing, Mayflies) and takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine.
The new pictures show Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, It’s A Sin) as Cassandra Austen and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Vigil) as Isabella Fowle. Synnøve Karlsen (Last Night in Soho, Clique), Patsy Ferran (Living, Hot Milk), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Shetland), Max Irons (Condor, The Wife), Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder, Foundation), Calam Lynch (Bridgerton, Sweetpea) and Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen, Elizabeth Is Missing) are also seen in their roles for the first time.
Jessica Hynes (Life After Life, Years and Years), Mirren Mack (The Witcher: Blood Origin, The Nest) and Kevin McNally (The Crown, Ten Percent) also star across the series.
The drama begins in 1830, many years after Jane has died. Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) rushes to visit Isabella (Rose Leslie), the niece of her long-dead fiancé, who is about to lose her home following her father’s death. Cassandra is ostensibly there to help Isabella, but her real motive is to find a hidden bundle of private letters which, in the wrong hands, she fears could destroy Jane’s reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth. In flashback, we meet Young Cassy (Synnøve Karlsen) and Jane (Patsy Ferran) as they navigate the romantic infatuations, family feuds and dashed hopes which shaped their lives, and laid the foundations for Jane’s unforgettable stories. Cassandra’s re-evaluation of her past eventually leads her to find a way to guide Isabella towards the path of true happiness.
The series is directed by BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Aisling Walsh (Maudie, Elizabeth is Missing) and produced by Stella Merz (Gentleman Jack, Renegade Nell).
Miss Austen is a co-production of Bonnie Productions and MASTERPIECE, in association with the BBC and Federation Stories. The executive producers are Christine Langan for Bonnie Productions, Susanne Simpson for MASTERPIECE and Polly Williams for Federation Stories. Keeley Hawes, Andrea Gibb and Aisling Walsh are also executive producers. Federation Studios will distribute the series internationally.
Source
BBC One
