Critic Reviews

“Sanditon” is sexy escapism for winter, tart and political, gorgeous and honest. Austen would have loved it.

Andrew Davies has the witty sense and sensibility to carry the story forward, concocting a delightful diversion that feels to her manner born. Charlotte Heywood (the effervescent Rose Williams), is a quintessential Austen heroine. [6-19 Jan 2020, p.8]

A gorgeous eight-part "Masterpiece" miniseries. Although fans will find many of the requisite Austen touches -- including smoldering suitors and jockeying for a large inheritance -- this PBS presentation includes issues not only of class but race, with a dollop of sex for good measure.

A delight, as it blends the costume drama conventions we’ve come to know and love with bracingly contemporary elements.

Mr. Davies is free to do what he will with “Sanditon,” and he has. ... It’s worth the trip to Regency-Era England to find out what actually happens, and who does what to whom.

Ultimately, though Sanditon may have tamed down its more shocking sensibilities in a desire to be more Austen, it has sought to take the best of what she gave us and remix it for its own purposes to entertaining, if imperfect, effect. Or to paraphrase: disdain its every word, but as romance persists, keep watching.

On the whole, though, the series does nothing to scare the horses, and is as comforting as a mug of cocoa.

Sanditon Season 3 is the show at its soapiest, smartest best and it’s well worth the wait for long-time fans.

It’s tough to say how to square the final episode’s ending with the truly lovely production that precedes it. Because regardless of what Sanditon does at the end, the first episodes are completely enjoyable, and as Charlotte says to a friend when the series comes to a close, “I do not regret the time I spent there.”

It doesn’t click entirely with Austen’s vision — comic ironic wit and misunderstanding that inevitably lead to lessons learned, love found, and marriage vows spoken — and it may well trigger Austen loyalists. But without the Austen connection — it’s a reasonably absorbing and pretty story that will ring all the pleasure bells for “Masterpiece” diehards.