Jane Austen fans around the world have been celebrating the 250th Anniversary of her birth with a wide variety of festivals, conferences, conventions, and other activities. Her novels and her life continue to inspire novelists alongside television and film creatives. Some of these stories are set in the Regency era while others speak to her relevance in today’s world.
Earlier this year, MASTERPIECE premiered Season 1 of Miss Austen, adapted from Gillian Hornby’s novel of the same name. Keeley Hawes portrays Jane Austen’s real-life sister Cassandra, who made the historically unpopular decision to burn Jane’s letters after her death. Literary experts and historians believed for years that Cassandra did a disservice to literature and history by not allowing the public to see “the real Jane”. By contrast, Miss Austen, through numerous flashbacks to Cassandra and Jane’s youth, suggests that some things should remain private. This includes Jane’s struggles with chronic illness and remarks in letters to her friends and relatives that were mean or sarcastic out of context. Cassandra believes she is protecting her friendship with her sister from other family members who are out to make money out of their connection to Jane.
Miss Austen is only the beginning when it comes to this year’s slate of television and film projects that will present Jane Austen’s characters and her life to new and continuing audiences. In May, Sony Pictures Classic released in the US the French independent film Jane Austen Wrecked My Life. In this modern-day romcom, the main character Agathe (Camille Rutherford) is a French aspiring writer who gets the coveted invitation to the Jane Austen Writing Retreat in the UK. Austen’s life and stories force Agathe to confront her own romantic prospects and to finish her debut novel. It’s a matter of coincidence that the movie is premiering on the anniversary, as director and screenwriter Laura Piani spent 7 years making the film based on her own experiences working for the famous Parisian bookshop Shakespeare and Company. Piani told me in May that “As a reader, [Austen] inspired me and I remember being amazed by the humor. She was so funny and witty, and ahead of her time.” The film is still in independent cinemas and film festivals and will soon be released On Demand and on streaming.
The celebrations of Jane Austen’s 250th Anniversary will likely continue into 2026. Season 2 of Miss Austen is currently in production. BritBox is also working on adapting Janice Hadlow’s novel The Other Bennet Sister in partnership with Doctor Who production company Bad Wolf. Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife) stars as Mary Bennet from “Pride and Prejudice” as she takes up work as a governess to a wealthy family. Hadlow’s novel takes Mary’s less prominent role in the original novel and imagines her perspective if she was the main character. MASTERPIECE alums Ruth Jones (Little Dorrit), Richard E. Grant (Downton Abbey), and Richard Coyle (Wives and Daughters) are also set to star. While it is too soon to compare The Other Bennet Sister to Miss Austen, both are based on novels that believe the best place to start an Austen story is to see what was left out of her novels or isn’t common knowledge about her life.
Focus Features recently announced that they’re working on a new film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and directed by Georgia Oakley. Last year, Hallmark made a racebent made-for-TV movie adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, but their ability to distribute the film outside of the U.S. was limited. Given that Emma and Persuasion have also recently had film adaptations, it is very possible that in the next few years, all of Austen’s novels will have been adapted for film again. Fans need to remember that their favorite film adaptations from the 90s or 2000s are now over 20 years old, and a new generation of viewers is ready to experience Austen’s characters with adaptations that speak to them.
What’s next for celebrating Jane Austen’s legacy on TV and film? In addition to the previously discussed upcoming projects, I would like to see another major studio or network to continue the work of diversifying Austen’s novels and legacy that Sanditon and Hallmark’s Sense and Sensibility did with more advertising, production, and budget. This can also mean adapting the works of BIPOC authors who have either written their own Austen-inspired stories, or looking at Austen’s life or events that happened contemporarily through the lens of race and ethnicity. There hasn’t been a major film or TV adaptation of Mansfield Park since the BBC and MASTERPIECE 2007 miniseries, and the time is right for a production that takes the slavery and colonialism in the background of Mansfield Park to the forefront. Whether you watch these projects or read one of Austen’s novels again, this summer is the perfect time to celebrate 250 Years of Jane Austen’s contributions to literature.
