We saved for last the third and final ITV Jane Austen adaptation – Mansfield Pak. This series was, in our eyes, a real and utter disaster. Why? First of all, the scriptwriters felt they needed to give a more modern look to the story and so they changed everything they could, not only characters but also parts of the story. It’s understandable they needed to inject a bit of liveliness to be able to bring the story to the screen but, at the same time, they left out the most important aspects of this novel, like the ever present wit, the morality and greediness or even egoism which are always so present.
Fanny, for instance, didn’t really look like the uptight, sensible and quiet poor relation. Instead she seemed some kind of tomboy always running around disheveled and with a big bouncing cleavage all over the house and gardens. Billie Pipper was definitely a bad casting choice to perform Fanny Price. Too modern both in looks and clothes she spent the movie doing nothing except maybe play badminton, petting the horses and looking a bit lost. We couldn’t quite understand also why she was supposed to be in love with Edmund who didn’t seem all that interesting or interested, even in the end.
Edmund Bertrand, interpreted by Blake Ritson, was the one who looked more like the original character but, he is by far our least favorite Austen hero, with excessive romantics and delusions…
Another negative aspect was, what did they do with Mrs. Norris?! This character was such a powerful element in the story with her mean comments full of bile and her superior attitude over Fanny’s lower social status. What a disappointment to see her almost fading in the background.
Our favourite members of the cast were Michelle Ryan as Maria Bertram and Haley Atwell as Mary Crowford, who managed to bring some energy and charm.
The action always took place at Mansfield Park and maybe that contributed to the idea that nothing really important happened and even when something did happen, we couldn’t have cared less.
Besides not being faithful to the book in settings it also failed to correctly portray the characters as originally created by Austen. In the end, we have a dull series that bored us to tears!
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