About the Book
A female-centred collection of four dramatisations celebrating Jane Austen’s classic novels - plus bonus series When I Met Jane Austen
On 16 December 1775, a literary icon was born. Jane Austen’s groundbreaking novels pioneered the romantic comedy genre and put women front and centre, depicting their innermost thoughts and feelings. To celebrate her 250th anniversary, here are four new dramas, focusing on the fabulous, flawed, funny and fascinating women who blaze out from her books. Full of her characteristic wit and biting comedy, they feature star-studded casts including Tamsin Greig, Isabella Laughland, Luke Thompson, Miles Jupp, Adjoa Andoh, and Ben Hardy.
Pride and Prejudice – Featuring one of the best-loved heroines in literature – lively, quick-witted Elizabeth Bennet – this radical reimagining tells the story of the five Bennet sisters’ romantic escapades, as they endeavour to fulfil their mother’s dreams and marry well.
Sense and Sensibility – When their father’s death turns their world upside down, rational, reserved Elinor Dashwood and her impulsive, emotional sister Marianne leave their old lives behind and embark on a voyage of romantic discovery.
Northanger Abbey – Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is a kind, honest and unworldly young woman with a head full of Gothic novels and little experience of the real world. So when wealthy, handsome Henry Tilney invites her to Northanger Abbey, she is determined to discover its dark secrets...
Mansfield Park – Aged just nine, Fanny Price is sent away from her impoverished parents to live with her rich relatives at Mansfield Park. Shaped by family and adversity, this displaced child becomes a fiercely moral young woman with an unshakable conscience – and as she navigates the complexities of love and jealousy, her true strength of character is revealed.
When I Met Jane Austen – Ten of the world’s most prominent authors and thinkers talk to Jane Austen biographer Paula Byrne about when they first encountered the great writer. Featuring contributions from David Baddiel, Andrew Davies, Amy Heckerling, Marlon James, Philippa Perry, Gurinder Chadha, Val McDermid, Colm Toibin, Katherine Rundell and Kate Atkinson.
Cast and credits
Written by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
Starring Tamsin Greig, Isabella Laughland, Luke Thompson, Miles Jupp, Rosie Cavaliero, Lucy Doyle, Kitty O’Sullivan, Gaia Wise, Imogen Front, Louis Landau, Toby Regbo, Adjoa Andoh, Catherine Bailey, Josh Bryant-Jones, Sasha McCabe, Jasmine Hyde, Clive Haywood, and Sarah Thom
Produced by Tracey Neale
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13-14 Dec 2025
Sense and Sensibility
Starring Tamsin Greig, Madeleine Mantock, Rose Basista, Ben Hardy, Enyi Okoronkwo, Richard Goulding, Ava Talbot, Jasmine Hyde, Carolyn Pickles, Clive Hayward, Django Bevan, Sasha McCabe, and Bethan Rose Young
Produced by Anne Isger
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20-21 Dec 2025
Northanger Abbey
Starring Madeleine Gray, Will Howard, Cecilia Appiah, Ella Smith, John Heffernan, Scarlett Courtney, Jasmine Hyde, Josh Bryant-Jones, and Django Bevan
Dramatised by Clara Glynn
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2-9 Nov 2025
Mansfield Park
Starring Lydia Wilson, Bryan Dick, Tala Gouveia, Tom Mothersdale, Janice Acquah, Madeleine Worrall, Joshua Riley, John Hollingworth, Samuel Valentine, Faith Alabi, and Hollie Burgess
Dramatised by Clara Glynn
Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10-17 Jul 2022
When I Met Jane Austen
Presented by Paula Byrne
With David Baddiel, Andrew Davies, Amy Heckerling, Marlon James, Philippa Perry, Gurinder Chadha, Val McDermid, Colm Toibin, Katherine Rundell and Kate Atkinson
Produced by Maggie Ayre
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8-19 Dec 2025
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
About the Author :
Jane Austen was born in Steventon rectory on 16 December 1775. Her family later moved to Bath, then to Southampton and finally to Chawton in Hampshire. She began writing Pride and Prejudice when she was twenty-two years old. It was originally called First Impressions and was initially rejected by the publishers and only published in 1813 after much revision. She published four of her novels in her lifetime, Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Jane Austen died on 18th July 1817. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were both published posthumously in 1818. Colm Tóibín was born in Enniscorthy in 1955. He is the author of nine novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary and Nora Webster and, most recently, House of Names. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker three times, won the Costa Novel Award and the Impac Award. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of non-fiction. He lives in Dublin.
