I’m a little disappointed to see that last night’s opening episode of the ITV1/Mammoth Screen comedy drama, Lost in Austen, attracted a paltry audience of 3.8 million and a 17% share. By anybody’s standards, that’s pretty dismal for a well-publicised, prime time first run drama.
What, I ask, is the matter with all of you? Lost in Austen was a cracking, frothy piece of drama, with romance, frilly bonnets and tight breeches in abundance, bringing a modern twist to the costume drama genre with some nice comedic touches and some fizzy, fun dialogue. And in Jemima Rooper as bored bank clerk Amanda Price, who finds a doorway in her bathroom to the world of Pride and Prejudice, we have a winning, likeable heroine.
So where was the audience?
To be fair, Lost in Austen was up against the hugely popular Who Do You Think You Are?, so it had a tough room to play to, but still, I’d much rather watch some fun nonsense about Jane Austen than an interminable hour of Esther Rantzen trawling through her family history. But no, 27% of the total audience in the 9pm hour preferred that. Lunacy!
I can understand tat like The Palace and Harley Street pulling in laughable ratings - and with respect to Paul Nicholls, Harley Street is still rubbish whether on in the Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. But Lost in Austen is genuinely good - and I don’t even feel the need to add a “for an ITV drama” in there.
What I think this points to is a more worrying trend for ITV drama, that its reputation has eroded so far that the audience has lost all faith in any of it being any good so simply don’t bother to turn up. Which is a crying shame when quality fare like …Austen and Monday’s The Children, which mustered 4.93m against a repeat of New Tricks, deserve more viewers than this.
And this isn’t just another chance for some ITV bashing. Since Life On Mars, I can’t actually recall a new break out hit for Auntie either (Ashes to Ashes doesn’t count) - but then, they made it really easy with Bonekickers. Both networks appear to be tied in to established, long running dramas to bring in the ratings. I don’t really blame ITV for relying on the likes of Heartbeat to pull in respectable numbers, and likewise the BBC on repeat commissions for Waking the Dead and New Tricks.
But how far is this reliance on old faithfuls slowly dampening commissioners’ enthusiasm for taking risks every now and then? Especially when something slightly off the beaten track like Lost in Austen comes along and can’t pull in the numbers?
I just hope Lost in Austen proves to be a slow burn and more people turn up next week - isn’t it about time British TV had a sleeper hit?
Perhaps the viewers were tuned into the far superior "God On Trial" on BBC2! I await your review.
I thought Lost in Austen was genuinely bad, so one may as well expect lower numbers next week.
Maybe people didn't watch precisely because Lost in Auseten was just "fun nonsense". Pride and prejudice is fun because it's different and romantic, like Lost in Austen you might say. But putting a modern girl there in some sort of time travel shenanigans messes up the story and detracts from us being wrapped in that world. Every few minutes we are taken out of it by a comment about bikini line waxing for example (actually a little funny, but just didn't sit quite right). Trouble is, despite how good it was to try and do something new, the classics aren't for tampering. I commend them for trying, but you lose the P&P storyline - and all that's wonderful about it - by the presence of someone out with it. To be fair, I did watch it all, and might watch next week, but only because concentration camp misery didn't do it for me (we had Jerry Springer's holocaust tragedies on the other side last week) and I wasn't so interested in Who Do You Think You Are? this time around. *shrugs* Sometimes programmes with the best of intentions just don't catch on.
Best thing I've seen on ITV for weeks. No, make that months. Umm - actually it was the best thing I've seen on ITV for ages and ages. Yes, it was silly, but it was inventive and laugh out loud funny with very appealing actors. I for one need a bit of escapism in these wet and gloomy tan agees!
Lost in Austen was properly awful - and I'm genuinely amazed how it is being talked up as 'frothy and fun' - the 'concept' was cynical and unoriginal, the script dull and entirely predictable, the acting ok for the most part (except Alex Kingston who seemed to have wandered in from the local am dram) and the dialogue lacked any bite whatsoever - and yet it is being positively spun.
Seems like a massive media agenda at work here... but I'm not buying it!
Lost In Austen surpassed my expectations by some margin! I'd lost all hope of ever enjoying a Drama Premiere on ITV again, especially after last year's truly dreadful Jane Austen adaptations. But Lost In Austen was a real treat - often highly amusing, nicely-acted (especially Hugh Bonneville's Mr Bennet), and lavishly produced. Sure enough, there were a few clunky moments, especially in the opening scenes, but once the action got going in Austen-land (so to speak), the show really took off.
I did watch Lost In Austen and, although it has a good cast, it is yet another example of ITV's 'women friendly' programming. Any programme so clearly designed to appeal to just one sex or the other will not attract large viewing figures, I suspect. I imagine the same if the BBC ran a very male centred, macho drama. Also, as a male and an English graduate, I read Austen and the programme falls into the obvious trap of reinforcing the popular notion that Austen is just about romance and hunky male leads; the subtle social satire is lost. In addition - and I hope this doesn't sound patronising - the average prime time ITV viewer has probably not read a lot of Austen, again detracting from the level of viewer interest. And also, is the programme trading on the literary view of Austen (the books) or the received TV and film interpretations of her work? The latter was my sense. On the plus side, it had some humorous moments and looked good. I can't help feeling though that the BBC would have done it much better.
I thought Lost in austen was enjoyable escapist fun - dunno what the rest of you were expecting. Best thing on ITV for ages, anyway.
Have to laugh at Emmy's comment that "the classics aren't for tampering"! Andrew Davis gave Lizzie's dad a new speech regretting his failings as a father - wasn't just the Darcy-in-wet-shirt he invented. Also at the end of the Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier movie horrible Lady Catherine de Burgh turns out to be an old dear whose insuts to Lizzie were just a way of "testing" whether she really loves Darcy.
But the point is Lost in Austen isn't trying to be P&P though - it's frothy fantasy. Great performances, . What's not to like, indeed...
Absolutely loved the first episode - haven't enjoyed an ITV costume drama so much before and am really looking forward to the 2nd episode tonight ('Who do you think you are?' by the way is repeated on BBC HD on Friday night for those who have to make a choice). Only pity for me was that it was not transmitted in HD on fressat - I suppose they are holding the HD version back until after the DVD is released at the end of September. After so many remakes of the original P&P it was refreshing to see the story in another light. Congratulations to ITV1 and Mammoth Screen.
Dear God, how boring people are. Lost in Austen is great fun and Jemima Rooper is terrific. I feel that many of the people who are giving it the thumbs down are all ardent Janeites and simply cannot bear the idea that her output is being poked fun at. I adore Austen but I also dearly love a laugh. Get off your high horses, extract the stick, sit down and enjoy the show.
'Lost in Austen' was a divine series. Well acted and well thought out in terms of script and almost anything else you could think of. It is sure to garner support in time..re-runs and what-not. But, a heady diet of trash dulls the senses...perhaps it is just 'too' good for the average Brit. A truth we cannot deny easily.