Following the acclaimed BBC drama Miss Austen, Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius celebrates the surprising life of the author whose ground breaking novels have been loved for over two centuries.
The three-part series explores how the author of masterpieces including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma ripped up the rulebook and reinvented the novel, allowing her readers into the minds of characters as never before.
But getting into Austen’s own mind isn’t easy. During her lifetime, she wrote thousands of letters to her sister Cassandra. After Jane’s death, Cassandra burnt almost all of them. Now, this major new series draws on the surviving letters, alongside the insights of experts, contemporary novelists, and actors who have portrayed Austen’s characters, to bring Austen back to life.
Each episode weaves in cinematic drama vignettes with contributions from authors and writers including Helen Fielding, Candice Carty-Williams, Kate Atkinson, Colm Tóibín and Bee Rowlatt; actors Charity Wakefield, Greta Scacchi, Samuel West, Tamsin Greig, Tom Bennett and Greg Wise, experts and historians Dr Paula Byrne, Admiral Lord West, Dr Priya Atwal, Dr Louise Curran and Dr Paddy Bullard, and film maker Ken Loach.
Jane Austen died at the age of 41. But her work leaves a lasting legacy that is read, enjoyed, adapted and cherished to this day.
Helen Fielding, Author and Contributor, said: “Jane Austen’s voice is so strong and funny and perceptive. And her work’s still being copied and stolen by people like me.”
Alistair Pegg, Commissioning Editor, BBC Arts said: “Jane Austen is timeless, but the 250th anniversary of her birth this year is the perfect moment to reflect on her extraordinary achievement. In Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius, we unpack the surprising story of how she defied the odds in eighteenth-century England, rising from humble beginnings to become one of our most important and best-loved writers.”
Rob Coldstream, Executive Producer, 72 Films said: “72 Films are hugely proud to present this exciting journey into the life and works of one of Britain’s best loved novelists. Austen’s life is often conflated with the lives of her heroines – this series knocks that myth on its head and brings the messy reality of her life into focus. Packed full of ambition, tragedy, hardship, and humour – we’re thrilled to showcase to audiences, the real Jane Austen.”
There will be further content across the BBC later this year marking Jane Austen’s 250th birthday including factual series and special programming on BBC Radio 4 in December with titles including Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and BBC Four will be showing adaptations of her novels as part of a season in June. The new series of The Read will feature an interpretation of Persuasion and BBC Education are offering a new dedicated assembly pack for schools, with a short film featuring writers and spoken word performers sharing their unique perspectives on the work of Jane Austen, reflecting on the themes in her novels. All episodes of Miss Austen are available now on BBC iPlayer and a new ten-part drama The Other Bennet Sister based on the hit novel of the same name by Janice Hadlow has been announced.
Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius is a 72 Films production for BBC Art and is distributed internationally by Fremantle. The Series Editor is Rosie Schellenberg, Drama Director Ali Naushahi, Production Manager Emma Taylor, Producers Alice Boorman, Emily Thompson and Alexander Parsonage, Production Coordinator Claire Lawrence-Smales, Junior Production Manager Braedie Marsh, Executive Producers David Glover, Rob Coldstream and Cate Hall, Production Executive Ross Booker. The Commissioning Editors for BBC Arts are Alistair Pegg and Suzy Klein.