Thoughts on BBC’s Sense and Sensibility 1981
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BBC’s Sense and Sensibility 1981
BBC TV mini-series
Runtime- 7 episodes, total time- 2hr 54min
Air date- February 1, 1981
Director- Rodney Bennett
Writers- Denis Constanduros and Alexander Baron
Filming locations- United Kingdom
Where to watch- stream on Roku, Hulu, Tubi, Britbox, Freevee, or rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video
Starring Irene Richards as Elinor Dashwood and Tracey Childs as Marianne Dashwood
The 80s is a ho-hum time for quality for Jane Austen adaptations. My feelings for this particular adaptation are similar to my thoughts on BBC’s Pride & Prejudice 1980. Let’s take a look at how I view this Sense & Sensibility adaptation.
Characters
For the most part, I found that the characters stayed true to the novel overall. There were however some moments where I felt that some characters didn’t fully adhere to or were consistent with their personalities.
Elinor
One that sticks out in my mind is Elinor. When Marianne is in her woes over Willoughby in London, Mrs. Jennings comments on how she will be over it soon when both of them wed. Elinor then lashes out at Mrs. Jennings over her gossiping over something that isn’t confirmed. Just the way Elinor spoke out was unlike her character.
I do give it some props though. It provoked me to reflect on the theme of the two sisters and made me realize an aspect of the story I didn’t think of before. But I did not think that this moment in the series reflected well on the novel or the theme.
Margaret
They omitted Margaret, the youngest Dashwood sibling, and though I have seen it happen to a lot of adaptations, I felt like not putting her in this one misplaced a few scenes.
Marianne meets Willoughby
Another situation where I thought a scene was a little off, was when Marianne met Willoughby. There was no real drama or passion, and it felt like it was just going through the motions.
Colonel Brandon and Marianne
Which then another thing comes to mind toward the end of the series, when Colonel Brandon reads and entertains Marianne as she gets well again. There was no real dialogue or moments where there seemed to be a real attachment for both of them to wed. Only the very end when Mrs. Dashwood comments on both sisters. Marianne only seems to enjoy a friend to read with rather than an attachment, or even letting go of Willoughby and seeing the romance in Colonel Brandon.
Something about 80’s film…
I don’t know if it’s just me, but in some older BBC TV series and general older television, it seemed like the acting had a very soft cloak over it. Like there was no chaotic energy or when there was an intention of chaos there was an eerie softness or some unknown element to dilute it. It makes it seem like there is some level of lack of strength. Maybe it was the type of recording equipment.
Lighting
The lighting was bad. A lot of the time the scenes were dark or poorly lit. They literally used only candlelight for nighttime scenes, which made it difficult to see.
Costumes
I thought they did better with creating Regency Era gowns in this adaptation compared to the Pride & Prejudice 1980 one. They still though, hung on to the high necklines most of the time, and only saw the regency silhouette at parties. The 80s seemed to like to have a heavy hand in conservative clothes when it came to historical reenactments.
Pace
The pace was very choppy, they cut from one scene to the next, and it almost seemed abrupt. I thought it was weird since it was a multi-episode series. I looked it up and found it to be only three hours long. Even two-hour movies had good transitions, with the extra hour they still feel like they left a lot out.
Other thoughts
I do want to wrap this up with something positive that I did like about the series. The beginning credits of each episode, show the two sisters on a teeter-totter. To me, it was like showing the two contrasts of sisters and that they have each other to balance each other out.
Overall this really wasn’t a favorite of mine, and I wish it was. It felt like there was not enough care or contrast of logic and passion that it could have been.
Other Sense and Sensibility period adaptaions:
BBC’s Sense and Sensibility 1971
BBC’s Sense and Sensibility 2008
Hallmark’s Sense and Sensibility 2024
Want more? read my thoughts on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility
Let me know what you think about this adaptation in the comments below!
