Being the Brontës at the BBC

A Brontë weekend on BBC:

Being the Brontës
BBC Two
March 26, 21.00 h
(except Scotland, 22.00 h)
To mark the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth, Martha Kearney, novelist Helen Oyeyemi and journalist Lucy Mangan travel to Haworth Parsonage, the home of Charlotte and her sisters Emily and Anne, to discover the inspiration behind their classic novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.

Just two years before the books were published, prospects for the three unmarried sisters were bleak. Their brother was battling alcoholism, Charlotte was hopelessly in love with a married man and their father was going blind. But by 1848 they were a literary sensation. To find out how this extraordinary turnaround happened, Martha, Lucy and Helen each immerse themselves in the life of a Bronte sister. From everyday routines at the Parsonage to walks on windswept moors, from harsh schooldays to misadventures as governesses, the trio learn how the Brontës combined literary genius with real-life experience to create some of the best-loved novels in the English language.

Producer and Director ... Linda Sands
Series Producer ... John Das

The Brontës at the BBC
BBC Four
March 27, 20.00 h

An exploration of the BBC's long love affair with the lives and works of the Brontë sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne. For over half a century, the ill-fated literary dynasty has proved irresistible to drama and documentary makers alike, keen to reinvent their novels for new audiences. So we get Brontë heroines reimagined for each emerging generation, first as classic 1950s housewife material, then wild child '60s 'chicks', Gothic waifs and, finally, empowered modern women. The Brontë males, meanwhile, are restyled as assorted prigs, wife-beaters, even brooding prog rockers and, of course, wouldn't you know it, new men. Wonderful stuff.

Narrator ... Tamsin Greig
Executive Producer ... Michael Poole
Series Producer ... William Naylor
Producer ... Rebecca Whyte

And:

BBC Two
10pm - 11:50pm
(Scotland 11pm)
Jane Eyre 2011