This Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel with screenplay by Emma Thompson was directed by Ang Lee. Mr Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) dies and leaves his fortune to his son John (James Fleet) by his first wife. John’s wife, Fanny (Harriet Walter) does not encourage John to make any provision for his step-mother (Gemma Jones) and three half-sisters, Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret (Emilie Francois) who are subsequently made penniless. Elinor is smitten with Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant), Fanny’s brother, but it is made clear he must marry for money so it seems all is lost for Elinor and Edward. Mrs Dashwood and her daughters then head to Devon where they have been offered a cottage by Mrs Dashwood’s cousin, Sir John Middleton (Robert Hardy). It is here that Marianne first meets Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) who immediately falls in love with her, but she prefers the attentions of John Willoughby (Greg Wise) who is not all that he seems and so the story unfolds. One small obvious adaptation from the novel was made: Elinor in the book is 19 but in the film she is 27 to enable Emma Thompson to play the character. In pre-production a near disaster occurred when Emma’s computer developed a fault and the script could not be retrieved by normal methods. Emma approached her friend, Stephen Fry, who saved the day! The film had a budget of $16 million grossing close to $135 million worldwide.

Release / Airing: 23/02/1996