The actress who played Elinor gasps throughout. In this period in history, it would have been perceived as rude to have an open mouth. At times she looks like a landed fish and at the end the shoulder shaking is hilariously bad acting. So her portrayal lets this version down. Left me wondering why she was chosen for this role.The rest of the cast are quite good.

Though the 1995 adaptation still remains my favorite, this one does have some advantages over it. First, of course, there are the younger actors cast as Elinor and Brandon; as much as I admire Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, it's a fact that they were about 15 years older than their characters. Second, the miniseries format which allowed more scenes to fit in. Third, the addition of Elinor's drawing hobby - after all, she's a living and breathing 19-year-old, not Rational Sense personalized.The costumes and sets are all splendid. Almost no complaints here, though the poverty of Barton Cottage was, I believe, a bit exaggerated – with rooms so tiny there is barely enough space for the family, let alone their guests.But the main flaw of this adaptation, in my opinion, is that it gives too much away too early. We see Willoughby seducing and leaving Eliza Jr. in the first scene, and his sly smile, shifting eyes and plainly arrogant remarks later makes one wonder just how he completely bewitches everybody. On the other hand, Marianne is shown much more sympathetic with Colonel Brandon from the start, and after the duel scene no one can doubt which of the men will end up with her.Edward is shown much less shy than in the 1995 film. It allows him to converse with Elinor more freely, but then he (all of a sudden!) begins to mumble and stammer during the famous "talk about his education". Why the change?Finally, the scene with Marianne's sickness is much less dramatic. It seemed that the director wished to get her quickly to her happy ending, so, although she's raving in fever, there is always a feeling that there is no real danger. I think that this miniseries is a wonderful adaptation for those who are already familiar with the plot. Somehow it's like a big fanfiction in the "missing scenes" genre. It's for people who want to see Elinor not so rational and Edward not so shy; Colonel Brandon and Marianne's romance developing earlier and, well, less subtly; Willoughby the Villain from the beginning etc.But I wouldn't recommend it to these who don't know the novel or other movies based on it. Spoils all the intrigue, especially in the case of Marianne and her suitors.

This television dramatisation was broadcast in three one hour episodes on BBC1 between Tuesday 1st January 2008 and Sunday 13th January 2008. In the interview featurette on this DVD, Andrew Davies explained that he wanted to avoid this television serial being a longer version of the film and so he attempted to give this adaptation a fresh slant. Therefore, he dramatised a number of scenes that are referred to in the novel, but are not directly described by Jane Austen. So, at the start of the first episode we have Mr Willoughby's seduction of Miss Williams, in the second part we are shown Marianne's visit to Allenham with Mr Willoughby, and in episode three, there is Colonel Brandon's scene with Miss Williams and her new born baby. Furthermore, in the same interview Ann Pivcevic, the producer, stated that the production team had deliberately sought out a young cast for the major roles in order to reflect the age of the characters in the book. Elinor Dashwood, for instance, is only nineteen years old. Consequently, a couple of relative newcomers were cast in the two central roles, but fortunately both Hattie Morahan (Elinor) and Charity Wakefield (Marianne) gave excellent performances as the two Dashwood sisters, and they were ably supported by the likes of Janet McTeer as Mrs Dashwood, Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars and David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon. Interestingly, Marianne becomes engaged to Colonel Brandon before Elinor is betrothed to Edward Ferrars in this adaptation, whereas in the novel, Marianne does not become engaged until after Edward and Elinor are married.The DVD includes a picture gallery. Another bonus feature is an interview, which last approximately half an hour, in which Ann Pivcevic, the producer, and Andrew Davies, the screenwriter, talk about the making of the television series. This short film is interspersed with clips from the TV dramatisation chosen to illustrate a number of the points made in the interview. The DVD also includes an audio commentary recorded by Ann Pivcevic, the producer, John Alexander, the director, Hattie Morahan, who plays Elinor, and Dan Stevens, who plays Edward. Charity Wakefield (Marianne) and Dominic Cooper (Willoughby) also take part in the commentary for Episode 2. The commentary was recorded with them together as a group, and they clearly got on well because it is very chatty and good humoured.

The best thing for me in this version is David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon. So often he plays villains and nasty pieces of work, so it is good to see him in another kind of role.Other than that, what does this 'Sense and Sensibility' have that the 1981 and 1995 versions don't? Marianne is good in all three - Lucy Steele is appalling in this version (what was going on with the accent?). Willoughby just doesn't look right, somehow, although Edward Ferrars is less silly than Hugh Grant made him in the film version.Really, this TV version is superfluous, but it is watchable, and perhaps the best of the four adaptations of Austen made in 2007/8. It looks as if it benefits from a reasonable budget and has some locations befitting the period. Ultimately it may just feel a bit too modern to be successful.