The Observer - 25.08.2019

The Observer

News 25.08.19 5

Sauce and sensuality: TV drama

adds extra mischief to Austen

As the author’s fi nal

work, Sanditon, starts

on television tonight,

acclaimed screenwriter

Andrew Davies talks

about ‘the joy of Jane’

with Sarah Hughes

He’s the king of the period drama, the
man who infamously sexed up every-
thing from Pride and Prejudice to War
and Peace , but Andrew Davies says
that the key to his success lies not in
nudity but in a good sense of humour.
“I think people don’t often real-
ise that a lot of the joy of Jane Austen
is that these books are funny,” he
says. “People think that, to adapt her,
you’ve got to use long words and
fancy sentences, and that’s not the
case at all. She could be very succinct
and to the point and had a great sense
of humour.”
That sense of humour is very much
to the fore in Davies’s latest adap-
tation, a take on Austen’s unfin-
ished novel Sanditon , which follows
the adventures of young Charlotte
Heywood as she moves to the epony-
mous seaside town. The eight-part
series begins on ITV this evening.
Austen died with only a frag-
ment of Sanditon written, and Davies
admits that he used all that informa-
tion in the fi rst episode before brain-
storming with producers Belinda
Campbell and Nick Lambon about
how the story might unfold. “It was
a little scary because making up sto-
ries was never the strongest part of
my repertoire as a writer,” he said.
Davies wrote four of the eight epi-
sodes (“the fi rst three and the last”)
and describes Sanditon as a story
filled with youth and exuberance
“very uplifting, really ... there’s a lovely
light feeling to Austen’s writing in the
fragment. I was particularly taken by
her description of Charlotte watch-
ing the light dancing over the waves.
I thought: yes, that’s the feeling I want
to capture.”
There’s certainly both lightness
and a sense of mischief about the
series. Davies presents this nascent
seaside resort as almost an escape

from real life, the sort of place where

anything can and does happen and

where people from all walks of life

rub shoulders, freed from the more

rigid constraints of daily society – and

says he’s convinced that’s how Austen

would have seen it as well.

“ The Jane Austen fragment seems

like a real departure to me, ” he said.

“I was really excited when I read it

because the character of Tom Parker

(played by Kris Marshall ), the busi-

nessman who invites Charlotte ( Rose

Williams ) to Sanditon, is a new kind

of Austen man. He’s spent his younger

life as a typical country gentleman

and then thrown all that off and

decided to be an entrepreneur, aided

by his brother Sidney ( Theo James ),

whose job is really to bring celebri-

ties to Sanditon. There’s a real excite-

ment there: Tom thinks that he can

change the world through sheer force

of will and optimism. and Charlotte

gets caught up in that.”

That said, “we have given ourselves

permission to have fun with it”, said

Davies. “The Regency era was a period

of extremely relaxed morals. Add that

into a seaside setting, where stricter

rules were relaxed and all sorts of

people rolled up for fun and holiday

romance. You had to have your wits

about you.”

Nor are the entrepreneurial Parker

brothers the only surprising charac-

ters. There is also a brief mention of

Miss Lambe , described by Austen as

“a young West Indian of large for-

tune, delicate in health”.

“What a surprise to come across

her in Jane Austen,” said Davies of

Lambe, who is played by Crystal

Clarke. “She’s very eligible and

therefore must be a source

of interest to the people of

Sanditon, but what interested

me was: why has she been sent

here? I decided that it must have

been to get her out of the way of

some diffi cult situation or other.”

Given that Davies is now 82 , does

he worry about keeping his work

youthful? “I just write the show I’d

like to see myself. But I do respond

to the young colleagues I work with

• they’re so in touch with everything,
  and so stimulating. Trying to keep
  up with them, understand their jokes
  and make them laugh is a lot of what
  keeps me young and alive.”
  They’ve also bequeathed Davies
  a love of the reality juggernaut Love
  Island, of which he has been an avid
  fan for the past two years. “People
  mock me for saying Love Island can
  teach you important things about
  life, but one of the most interesting
  things about the recent series was the
  kind of toxic masculinity on show. I
  watched all the men talking about
  the need to follow their hearts while
  some girl was sobbing and thought:
  you arseholes.”
  Next up for Davies is an adaptation
  of Vikram Seth ’s A Suitable Boy for the
  BBC: “It was a relief that Vikram was
  so nice because otherwise it could
  have been disastrous, but he was
  lovely and it was a great experience.”
  His ideal commission, however,
  would be to adapt the works of his
  favourite novelist, the American
  author Alison Lurie. “I’ve always
  wanted to do a big mash-up of her
  novels, like Robert Altman ’s Short
  Cuts and I occasionally raise it with
  people but nobody has ever bitten,
  which is a shame because it would
  be a lovely thing.”
  Until they do, Davies will content
  himself with the fact that his 1995
  adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
  continues to be celebrated as the fi n-
  est Austen adaptation of them all.
  “Looking back, I was so lucky with
  the casting and the direction – it all
  came together so well. I know they
  make new versions all the time, but I
  can’t help wanting the reaction to be:
  yeah, it’s all right but it’s not as good
  as the 1995 version.”

Andrew Davies,

now 82, seized

on the funny side

of Jane Austen’s

writing for ITV’s

Sanditon.

sorts off

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Sanditon.

LEFT

Rose Williams

as Charlotte

Heywood in

Sanditon. ITV

ABOVE

Jennifer Ehle and

Colin Firth,

in Pride and

Prejudice. BBC

Comedian Jordan Brookes yester-

day scooped the top comedy award

at Edinburgh fringe. His convention-

busting show I’ve Got Nothing claimed

the £10, 000 top prize at Edinburgh

Comedy awards in what was the most

ethnically diverse, most gender-bal-

anced line-up in their 39-year history.

Born on Merseyside , Brookes grew

up in Surrey and comes from “a

vaguely entertainment background”.

His grandfather worked for the BBC

and produced “the worst soap in his-

tory, Triangle , until they paid him off”.

Until a few months ago, Brookes was

working in an NHS call centre.

His show has been described as

a sort of cat-and-mouse game with

the audience, and involves several

false endings. “It works more than it

doesn’t, ” said Brookes yesterday. “ If

the audience aren’t engaging or are

a bit reserved, I move things round. ”

He was at pains to add that a run-

ning gag in the show – about seduc-

ing his mum – is entirely fi ctional.

Then, clutching his award, he added:

“This should help, though.”

The best newcomer award went to

New Yorker Catherine Cohen , 28 , for

The Twist...? She’s Gorgeous , a show

with songs about her dating history

and the male gaze. Scottish actor Alan

Cumming is her mentor, and she per-

forms regularly at his club in New

York, where he now lives.

The 10-member judging panel –

which included Nosheen Iqbal of the

Observer – saw 759 shows, a record

number for the awards. Previously

sponsored by Perrier , they are now

backed by TV comedy channel Dave.

The two shortlists included London

Hughes (nominated for best show )

and Sophie Duker (on the newcomer

list ), two black British female comics,

the fi rst to be recognised. The new-

comer list had 63 % BAME representa-

tion, and the gender split was almost

equal for the fi rst time over both lists.

Nica Burns, awards’ director, said:

“ It was the most diverse group of

nominees in the history of the awards.

The future of comedy looks fantastic

and it is here.”

From call

centre worker...

to top comic

on the fringe

ON OTHER PAGES

My gig as an Edinburgh comedy

judge ... it’s a serious business

Focus, pages 38-

Veronica Lee