Hey everybody,

Here's a thread to discuss the final Austen adaptation for awhile, Emma, starring Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller, until it airs on Masterpiece Theatre next year.

I was a little apprehensive going into this one - Emma's never been a great favorite of mine - but so far, it's been fantastic! I'm really enjoying the little details that no other adaptation has had time for, and the leads! What can I say? Romola has been one of my favorite actresses for years, and I'm glad she's gotten an Austen hero. I like how she really becomes the character - voice, movement, expressions, just...everything! And Jonny has been a revelation. RG is a tall girl, and they are probably around the same height, but I'm really enjoying the depth of character he has brought to the adaptation. That dance in Episode 3 was absolutely brilliant. After watching it about 200 times, I started comparing it to P+P'05, and geez, that was nothing in comparison.

Anyways, it's a bit nerve-wracking knowing this is the last one in awhile. I first read Pride and Prejudice and other Austen books shortly a couple of years before the movie came out, and since, it's been a steady stream of adaptations. Here's to Episode 4, and may it be a smashing success!

I'm looking forward to this. How many hours is it? I love it when they have time to really do a book justice.

I am also adoring this adaptation. So far it has been fabulous. Quite easily my favourite version so far. I do have a soft spot for the 1996 film but it took more of a lightweight stab at it. Cannot wait for episode 4.

chooci: It's 4 hours long and so far, is as complete as any book to film translation can be.

I've enjoyed it so far though there are a few scenes that seem to go on forever (not sure if this is a good or bad thing... but 10 minute scenes are unusual in TV these days).

There is a definite sense in this adaptation of the problems of class at the time, especially for women and the underlying theme seems to be loneliness.

Tamsin Greig is fantastic. I mean I'm almost in tears in every scene she appears in.

Romola Garai is very good and gives the role a lot of energy. But she is very like Alicia Silverstone in the way she plays it, so much so that I wonder if it is a conscious choice..

I'm enjoying it so far too. Episode 3 was my favourite yet. Emma's not a great favourite of mine either, and I never liked Gwyneth Paltrow's portrayal of her, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much better Romola Garai is as Emma. She's definitely an actress to watch. Jonny Lee Miller is doing well in his role too. It wouldn't have occurred to me to cast him as Mr. Knightly but he and Garai match well together. You could feel their chemistry in that dance scene.

I'm so jealous of you guys! Have been waiting for this adaptation but living in the US who knows when I'll get to see it. It's nice to see that so far it's really good. I've always liked Romola Garai.

I am loving this version of Emma. Having seen every Austen adaptation from the 90's and 2000's, I have to admit that my Austen adaptation knowledge doesn't go back beyond the 90's so I haven't seen any of the older adaptations. That said, however, I have seen both the Paltrow and Beckinsale adaptations of Emma and this current adaptation is my favourite so far.

In both previous versions, I didn't like the portrayal of Knightley and couldn't believe in the romantic relationship blooming between Emma and Knightley. Both Knightleys seemed too paternal and preachy to me and that isn't the Knightley that I've read in the book. I think the perfect and most true-to-the-book Knightley is one who has his moments of disapproval of Emma's actions and being wiser, but he also has to have moments where he honestly is fond of Emma and enjoys her company, and her his. If Knightley comes across as a paternal know-it-all who is constantly preaching at Emma, it makes no sense to me as to why Emma would realize that she's in love with Knightley, and I'd argue that Jane Austen didn't write Knightley that way either. In the current adaptation, Romola Garai's Emma seems to realize, sometimes in an exasperated way, that Knightley disapproves of her when she does something wrong, but is otherwise very fond of him and enjoys his company - and even misses him when he's not around so that we, the audience, can see her realizing her love for him. Jonny Lee Miller does a wonderful job balancing the two sides of Knightley that I mentioned and it seems much clearer to me in this adaptation why he realizes that he loves Emma. The chemistry between the two actors is fantastic too (great dance scene!) and it really makes the whole relationship work. I never really believed that Emma and Knightley were truly in love in the previous adaptations but here (as in the book), I'm completely sold.

I have to admit I've never seen any of the other adaptions or read the book but I really am enjoying this show. I find a lot of the characters really likable and fun to watch. I'm looking forward to the last episode tomorrow but I'm so sad that it's over already. I'll rewatch it when they show it on Masterpiece next year for sure! Unfortunately I've been reading that the British ratings are pretty bad...

Thanks for the thread, macncheese (haha, love the name)!

Same. Emma's never been a favourite, but I have loved Romola since I Capture the Castle and am so glad to see her on my screen.

Absolutely. I think it's a tricky business selling these two, but the actors have good chemistry and I buy their story.

My only criticism is that they could have tightened a few scenes and added/lengthened others. Episode 3 has been my favourite so far; can't wait for the final installment!

Do you mean the modern mannerisms and the faces? The director and producer have said they wanted to make a modern production, therefore they opted for this. I suppose it's a little divisive and distracting, but it doesn't bother me much.

However, I also noticed that RG has toned it down in a progression, possibly a sign that Emma is growing up. Her voice also does similar things - it started a little bit annoying, higher and in the latest episode, it's more to RG's normal tone.



Ohh! I love I Capture the Castle!! I thought the part where she thinks she's love with Frank Churchill reminded me of Cassandra. I've also met RG in real life recently, and she's very pretty in person, down-to-earth. I have a story (albeit, a not-so-great one) about that...



Yes, I had the same feeling. I always felt in those previous adaptations that Knightley was too much of a father and always got a little icky when she ended up with him (hello! Freud!). But I like that balance JLM politikgirl talked about. Similarly, I'm glad SW dropped that brother and sister line. It's enough that Emma ends up with her sister's brother-in-law! Nonetheless, Mr. Knightley is definitely up there in my 19th century hero checklist.

I'm wondering what the hyper sexually charged scene will entail in tonights episode. I mean, Sandy Welch wrote this adaptation right? She of the kissing in the train station in North & South and the lying together on the bed and smooching up a storm of Jane Eyre and Rochester in Jane Eyre.
I say this facetiously of course, though I must admit I was torn when watching the scenes I mentioned above, between thoughts of "This has nothing to do with the book! Stop it at once!" and "Stupid lucky Margaret!/Stupid lucky Jane!"

I am really enjoying this adaptation however. I think RG and JLM have great chemistry together and I do like how we're seeing little moments between Emma and Knightley that develops their relationship. Also is Christina Cole the go-to woman for playing the unlikeable character in a period adaptation? She seems to have done well since being in Hex.

I see the DVD is going to be released at the end of November. That's so much better than having to wait until the new year like we had to with Jane Eyre and nearly not getting a DVD release at all, like with North & South! (Why is it I remember that kind of thing so clearly and other things not so much?)

I am excited for the final part of this series. I have liked it from the first, and while it's not perfect (no adaptation ever can be compared to a novel), I think it's the best one of the ones I have seen. (Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale). While I thought I liked GP as Emma, seeing RG really makes me rethink that. I don't find RG's mannerisms that modern, and she doesn't come off as much as of a snob as GP's Emma does. I could never buy that GP's Emma actually liked helping those in the village.

I was never really a fan of the Beckinsale version, not because of her portrayal of Emma, but because Mark Strong's Knightley just seemed so yelly and I could never buy that she would fall for him. JLM has impressed me, because I didn't think he was that great in Mansfield Park, and he is tied, if not surpassing Jeremy Northam's Kinghtley. Tonight will help me make a decision.

Other sites seem to be really critical of this version, and I am a bit confused by it. The ITV Austens were very mediocre compared to this one, except for Northanger Abbey, yet I am reading many more negative reactions to Romola Garai's Emma than I expected. Perhaps there are some modern elements, but then again I don't think you can sell the Emma / Knightley romance with the father figure/older brother aspect to any audience post the 1970s. It was something I never liked in the original novel, so I am fine with it being downplayed. The Telegraph reviews are so negative that you would think Billie Piper was playing Emma.

I must admit to being disappointed by this version. Emma here simply is not the stately, charismatic, charming egotist of the books or even the '72 BBC miniseries (which is by far my favourite version). Her manners seem more naturalistic and, well, I suppose those of the time might even say a bit "coarse" (honestly, she even slouches when she sits). And it really doesn't help that Romola looks and acts so much to me like Katee Sackhoff -- I keep thinking "What the frack is Starbuck doing in an empire dress?"

I'm also finding the portrayal of Jane to be problematic, as she doesn't seem nearly beautiful enough or obviously accomplished enough or icily proud and self-contained enough to be a plausible rival for Emma (if even just in Emma's own mind). In this version, she seems somewhat dumpy, while at the same time being reasonably open-mannered with Emma, making their rivalry all the more inexplicable.

And while I love Michael Gambon, I just find him too..."substantial" to play Mr. Woodhouse successfully. He is a large, robust man, with a deep, robust voice, and he's just not convincing to me as a fretful near-invalid.

But most of all, I miss the sparkling language of the book -- the witty dialogue, the clever slights, the ridiculousness of the ridiculous characters. This adaptation just does not have the vibrance of the text. In large part I suppose it is because the characters are in a sense not as extreme as in the book -- Mr. Woodhouse is much less querulous, Miss Bates much less obviously ridiculous, Harriet much less obviously stupid, Frank not as much of a dandy, etc. It gives the piece a more natural sense, but I think it also loses a lot of the Austen charm.

That said, although I find Knightley here rather young, I do like the portrayal -- it makes the final declaration of love much more plausible than in many other adaptations, and the whole piece much more of a romance. And I like how the opening sequence sets up the characters' history, as is it well to be reminded in this comedy that many of the principals do have tragedy in their pasts, and that there is a certain underlying sadness and even desperation to some of their situations.

I really enjoyed this Emma. It's one of my favorite books and I disliked the Kate Beckinsale and Gwyneth Paltrow versions So. Much. I didn't even make it all the way through the Beckinsale one because Mark Strong was such an awful Mr. Knightley. And, I've always thought that while Paltrow does a perfect British accent - she just never seems British to me. You can always see that she's "acting," too.

But I love Romola Garai and she was a wonderful Emma. She really let the character's goodness show through - I think there's a tendency for people to think that Emma is very pert but she's not. She's just young and a little egotistical and silly. The modern mannerisms threw me at first, but I got used to them. I ended up liking them because Emma is a very modern book in a lot of ways so it made sense. Also, I really liked Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley. I could always see how much he loved her, even when he was angry with her. Rupert Evans was a good Frank Churchill, too.



She really is! I just watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and she's the unlikeable one in that, too.

And in Lost in Austen as well!

Overall, I really enjoyed this adaptation. I didn't mind the modern mannerisms - I could buy that with her position and wealth, Emma doesn't really feel the need to be the perfect lady all the time.

I really liked the romance between Emma and Mr. Knightley - you could see it blossoming, and I especially liked that we got to see more of Mr. Knightley's feelings.

I've seen both the Kate Beckinsdale and Gwenyth Paltrow versions, and I think the only thing I liked about the Beckinsdale version was how Emma convinced her father to let her get married, by mentioning that there had been some thefts in the neighborhood. Suddenly having Mr. Knightley living with them sounded appealing! And on the whole I liked the Gwenyth Paltrow version as well, but it just couldn't be as complete as a four-hour miniseries.

I think that this is definitely one of my favorite adaptations, although I'm not sure where I'd place it on my list. Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 version), Sense and Sensibility (the Emma Thompson version) and Northanger Abbey are my other favorites. Maybe I need to have a marathon and decide!

I watched the whole thing in one go, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Mlles better than the Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale adaptations. I could take or leave Romola Garai in the previous roles I've seen her in, but thought she was perfect as Emma. In terms of her looks, whenever she smiled especially, I was reminded of a young Drew Barrymore.

I think part of the reason why Jonny Lee Miller's Mr. Knightley works for me here, is because JLM looks and acts younger than Jeremy Northan and (especially) Mark Strong, and came across as more big brotherly than paternal, before they realized they were in love. It makes the whole bit about how he knew her from when she was a baby less icky to me, even though they threw in a scene of Mr. Knightley holding baby Emma (Isabella's daughter), and commenting on that very thing. I always found that somewhat creepy, even though a 16 year gap in age isn't as big a deal in real life.


And she does insufferable so well too! It almost made me feel a bit sorry for smarmy pompous Mr. Elton, who was also perfectly cast. Speaking of Hex, the actress who plays Jane Fairfax here, was Ella Dee in Hex series 2! I don't think she is a plausible rival for Emma in terms of looks either, but she was also played as such a mousy nonentity. More shy than icy and proud.


Me neither, but Mrs. Elton's constant calling of Mr. Elton as "Mr. E" did throw me. And as for period-inappropriate sexually charged scenes, we got Frank Churchill and Jane, practically making out in the middle of the street after they were free to go public about their engagement.

I always thought that Frank Churchill got off entirely too easily for his behavior and flirtation towards Emma. Once I got over the "hey! It's Frederic Hale from North and South!" reaction, I thought Rupert Evans did a pretty decent job. In the picnic scene, I thought he was really channeling Greg Wise as Willoughby in Emma Thompson's S&S. Also loved Jodhi May as Miss Taylor/Mrs. Weston.

Mrs. Elton actually does that in the book, too. It's one of the ways she's shown to be affected and annoying.

Speaking of the modern feel of this Emma, I have always felt that Jane Austin's works all have a very modern feel to them. A lot of the dialogue seems fresh even today. I remember being surprised when I read Lydia Bennett saying "Oh Lord" all the time. Because of that I don't mind most of the mannerisms used in these newer productions. I do mind though when attention to details like dress and hair are ignored. I could not stand the recent version of Mansfield Park because of this. Kissing in public would never occur either.