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The beautiful and well-wroughtPBSMasterpieceminiseriesSanditonhas an infuriating ending.
Originally a production for the U.K.s iTV,Sanditonis an adaptation of Jane Austens last, unfinished novel.
By the end ofSanditon, Sidney and Charlotte are destined to fall in love and get married.
Except inthe final episode of the series… they do not.
It isnotthe ending any Austen fan wouldve expected and hoped for.
It was also not the endingSanditons creators wanted for the show.
Can you tell me a little about the extra challenge of adaptingSanditon?
Shed been writing it for a matter of weeks before she became too ill to continue.
She wasnt writing about country gentry.
Its an entirely fresh potential, and it felt too delicious to not give it a go.
Did you look at the way other authors have tried to finishSanditon?
She is much loved and entirely unique.
We tried our very best to be faithful to what an Austen novel was.
What do all Austen books contain?
Theyre about social commentary.
Shes poking fun at various players.
It was knowingly a fresh take.
ButSanditonis a fresh world and written at such a different time in British society.
So why would [Austen] have stuck in the same mode she was in 20 years before?
So we were loyal, but also trying to be bold.
How did you think about building Miss Lambes arc in the show?
A lot of it is inference.
Clearly she had things to say about roles and responsibilities.
From that, we did a lot of research into Jane Austen herself.
Shes three-dimensional, and she struggles with the position she has in life.
She misses the freedom she has at home.
But we wanted to make her real as well.
Can we talk about the end?Mustwe?
Yes.Yes, there seems to be quite a lot of trauma!
For which we feel, obviously, devastated that people are devastated!
Its calledSanditon; its about the town.
So we dont necessarily have to finish everything in that [first season].
Its the only Jane Austen out there where you’re free to take it beyond the one arc.
It was designed to be the midpoint of Sidney and Charlottes story.
That being said, the series is also designed so that it works as a self-contained story.
It was the midpoint, and the next challenge was to come.
But the truth is, it just didnt get the numbers high enough.
So were it to continue, we would need a new partner.
By the end of the series, he has absolutely acknowledged his role and his responsibility.
And it is historically the case that people have to marry for money.
That is something that happened.
So there is a complete story arc there.
Including that it involves pain, loss and sacrifice.
So there is that ending.
And we would love the opportunity to give it to them.
OfcourseSidney is going to find a way around it!
Plus, he was naked, in the ocean!
