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Friday, April 28, 2006

BBC ONE controller talks about Jane Eyre 2006

Friday, April 28, 2006 7:25 pm by Cristina   2 comments
We have - quite accidentally - stumbled upon this speech recently given by BBC ONE controller Peter Fincham to the Voice of the Listener and Viewer annual spring conference. He briefly mentions Jane Eyre, which makes it sound like a very important production for them. We doubt a regular one would be discussed here.

This autumn, in the same spirit, we're bringing back another of those iconic brands, Robin Hood. [...] At the other end of the spectrum we're broadcasting an ambitious dramatisation of Jane Eyre. It's shooting now in Derbyshire. I was recently shown some early scenes – they looked ravishing.

As with Bleak House, this is BBC ONE doing something that's in our DNA, something that the viewers almost demand of us – producing timeless, but modern, versions of the classics.

Both these series, by the way, introduce completely new faces to BBC ONE: newcomer Ruth Wilson, who plays Jane Eyre, and Jonas Armstrong as Robin Hood. Refreshing the family of talent on the channel, and avoiding the obvious route of playing safe with familiar faces.

Ravishing scenes! Our Good Vibes are jumping again! Oh, to be able to take a look at those ravishing scenes already.

We also like the bit about "refreshing" the family, especially as far as a character like Jane Eyre is concerned. So far, little as we know of Ms Wilson, we'd say she's been the best choice. But we'll see.

[Criticism mode ON]Now, as for the viewers demanding adaptations on the classics. Not so long ago the Beeb itself cut on an adaptation of Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell due to budget cuts. Honestly, we're thrilled by this production but we humbly think that - new faces and all - they are playing it safe by shooting Jane Eyre once again.[Criticism mode OFF - there go the Good Vibes again]

Finally, we'd just like to remind you about the almost complete cast of this production and the latest addition to it.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous4/29/2006 10:51:00 am

    Yes, I kind of agree with your criticism. A new adaptation of JE is lovely, and will always bring out new aspects of the novel, but I wish they would adapt Shirley or Villette or Cranfield or Silas Marner or even Balzac. But you can tell why JE gets adapted time and again; it has an inbuilt audience: and it must be considerably cheaper to make than your Dickens or Eliot epics with a hundred families and lots of trudging through muddied-up London. No doubt CB had an eye on the BBC classic serial market when she wrote it. ;-)

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  2. Anonymous4/29/2006 11:55:00 am

    No doubt CB had an eye on the BBC classic serial market when she wrote it. ;-)

    Haha! I'm sure she did. She knew her sitting room was lacking that coloured box they had in the future too :P

    But seriously, as I said I like that they are adapting JE - especially if it turns out to be a good adaptation, but I find it a little hypocritical that they are boasting about the new faces and the audiences demanding classics when they cut on another - but less known - classic so recently.

    I'm sure the success of North & South - with the large fanbase after Mr Thornton - actually surprised them - so why not give it some other less known classics a try?

    Both Shirley and especially Villette would make fabulous miniseries and/or films IMO.

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