ITV drama Sanditon introduces Jane Austens first black character
Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood in Sanditon (Picture: Simon Ridgway/ITV) An ITV adaptation of Ja..
An ITV adaptation of Jane Austens Sanditon introduces the authors only black character on screen for the first time.
The new eight-part drama adapts and expands Austens unfinished last novel, after she abandoned work on the project due to ill health.
The unfinished text was published in 1925 after her death, and has now been adapted into a TV series by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies (War and Peace, Pride and Prejudice).
Sanditon is believed to feature Jane Austens only black character in Miss Lambe, an heiress from the West Indies, even though shes never explicitly described as such in the novel.
Speaking during a Q&A panel for the shows launch in London, Andrew Davies explained the process of bringing Miss Lambe, played by Crystal Clarke, to the screen.
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What [Jane Austen] did was set up a place and established this wonderful group of characters very clearly but she never really got the story going at all, Davies said.
But what she did was so fresh because these men in particular are not like Jane Austens usual people. Theyre kind of businessmen, entrepreneurs, theyre something new and what the country was going to become. Think the first industrial age with big business. So thats very interesting.
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Referring to Miss Lambe, Davies added: And an heiress from the West Indies. Jane Austen didnt actually say shes black but we thought hell, why not? “Chilly and tender” is how Miss Lambe is described, so if she finds the climate chilly then thats what we thought.
Executive producer Belinda Campbell added: Shes an heiress. Shes got a lot of money and a lot of power.
And all these women in the show are all strong, and making their best of the situation with the hand theyve been dealt – which makes it really modern and strong. Theyre all formidable characters.