It is a truth universally acknowledged that a classic novel often suffers the embarrassment of countless adaptations (and hideously misused opening sentences). Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a classic work that is still widely-read today despite being published in 1813, because while the setting is period-specific, the entertaining absurdities of Austen’s characters and intricate plot are timeless. It is no surprise that the novel has been adapted numerous times for books, movies, and television shows. Off the top of my head, I can think of the books Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a popular undead re-telling) and An Assembly Such as This (P&P from Darcy’s point of view), as well as the A&E 1996 film and the more recent 2005 feature film.

Add to these Lost in Austen, a four part television series by Guy Andrews that starts from a puzzling premise: what would happen to one of the best-loved English novels of all time if the heroine were removed entirely and replaced with an every-woman from our time? As the brief summary from Amazon.com tells us:

Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she’s about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book’s Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book’s familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth… and what will become of one of the world’s greatest love stories?

What becomes of this great love story is a travesty. I cannot overstate this. Elizabeth Bennet has about four lines in the entire series and disappears for three hours while we must struggle to keep watching Amanda Price (played by Jemima Rooper) royally screw up her favorite novel.

I firmly believe that when done well, anachronistic characters thrown into unfamiliar time periods is a completely legitimate premise for a novel. In fact, I think it’s a fascinating idea. And it’s a premise that has worked many times. Just think of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, or Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home. The reason Lost in Austen fails so miserably in this regard is that it is not a new story with a new heroine, but a substitution of a bright, witty, independent-minded, well-loved and familiar character with a drab, clumsy, and at times tasteless, modern-day inferior counterpart. It’s a hard pill to swallow, yet the original characters themselves seem to have no trouble accepting the substitution.

After resolving to put up with Amanda Price to try to enjoy the series for what it is, Guy Andrews’ revisionist P&P can be amusing at times, due mostly to the anachronistic items Amanda has brought with her, or her constantly proclaiming that events should be happening quite other than they are (she at least understands she’s about to ruin P&P):

“I am not Elizabeth. The entire world will hate me.”
.

How true. For the Austen purist this series is, frankly, lame. As Amanda herself said, it would have “Jane Austen spinning in her grave like a cat in a tumble dryer.” However, for the lighthearted Austen fan who doesn’t mind seeing what the P&P characters get up to in this topsy-turvy retelling, Lost in Austen provides an equal amount of laughs and shudders. The new versions of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (played by Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston, respectively) are excellent, and offset the horror that is Elliot Cowan’s Darcy. The show makes no bones about being a self-indulgent sentimental romance, and the lack of apology demonstrates that Lost in Austen is an amusing diversion that was never meant to be taken too seriously.

Final Grade: C+

See larger image Lost in Austen (DVD) Director: Dan Zeff Starring: Jemima Rooper, Gemma Arteron, Elliot Cowan, Hugh Bonneville, Florence Hoath Rating: NR (Not Rated) List Price: $14.98 USD New From: $8.48 In Stock Used from: $7.98 In Stock Release date April 14, 2009.