Jane Eyre PBS webpage and more

The last BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre is again all over the news.

As you probably know, the PBS will broadcast the series for the US next January 21 and 28 (in two two-hour parts). The Masterpiece Theatre webpage now includes a Jane Eyre webspace.

There it can be found: a short biography of Charlotte Brontë (where apparently they have ended the speculations about the reasons of Charlotte's death: she caught pneumonia); an article about Victorian governesses; a very visual and self-explanatory who's who in the series where Bertha Mason doesn't appear, preserving the mystery for newcomers); complete Cast+Credits (with a special mention to the composer, Rob Lane); episode descriptions (full of spoilers, beware!); the production diaries by Diederick Santer that were already published on the BBC website but with different pictures; a not really very exhaustive section of links and bibliography (where is Juliet Barker's indispensable book on the Brontës?) and a forum, of course, but common to all Masterpiece's productions.

And yes, you can watch a preview.

But, this is not the only thing related to this BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre. Remember this? The Times ask their readers what was their favourite show of the year. Now, we have the results:

No doubt about the people’s choice as the cultural event of 2006, after my appeal for suggestions in December. More than half of you cited Sandy Welch’s brilliant BBC TV adaptation of Jane Eyre. “I’ve never read the book,” says Sarah Connolly, of Co Armagh. “But after watching I ran to buy a copy and couldn’t put it down.”

A large part of the attraction lay in Toby Stephens’s performance as Rochester. “Every female I know is in love with him,” swoons Alice F, of Dartford, Kent; while for A. Black, of Leeds, it was “a case of ‘move over, Colin Firth; hello Toby Stephens’.”

Quite right too. Mr Firth has been the nation’s favourite TWH (thinking woman’s hunk) for far too long. (Richard Morrison)

The recent Spanish broadcast of the show is also causing the appearance of fan-websites so nice as this one, by Mai, devoted to Ruth Wilson.

EDIT
And of course remember that this is the Jane Eyre weekend on BBC4 with the airing of Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre and more. Check this link or our TV/Radio Weekly Alerts section on our sidebar.
Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Websites