Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1472" height="828" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Keeley-Hawes.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36346" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Keeley-Hawes.jpg 1472w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Keeley-Hawes-800x450.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Keeley-Hawes-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Keeley-Hawes-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1472px) 100vw, 1472px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Keeley Hawes stars as Cassandra Austen in Miss Austen. Pic: BBC.</figcaption></figure>



This year marks the landmark 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. To celebrate, there are Jane Austen 250 events happening all around Hampshire in 2025 (check out my handy roundup <a href="https://hants.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/jane-austen-250/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>).



Perfectly scheduled in a cosy, Sunday night period drama telly slot, new four-part drama Miss Austen also&nbsp;airs on BBC One this Sunday 2 February. Here’s what we know about it so far!



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-miss-austen-about">What’s Miss Austen about?</h2>



Miss Austen is an adaptation of Gill Hornby’s best-selling&nbsp;novel of the same name by the BAFTA-winning writer Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth is Missing, Mayflies). BAFTA-nominated Line of Duty’ actress Keeley Hawes stars in the lead role as Jane&#8217;s sister, Cassandra.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1472" height="828" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Synnove-Karlsen-and-Patsy-Ferran.jpg" alt="Synnøve Karlsen and Patsy Ferran in Miss Austen BBC series Jane Austen" class="wp-image-36347" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Synnove-Karlsen-and-Patsy-Ferran.jpg 1472w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Synnove-Karlsen-and-Patsy-Ferran-800x450.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Synnove-Karlsen-and-Patsy-Ferran-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Synnove-Karlsen-and-Patsy-Ferran-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1472px) 100vw, 1472px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Synnøve Karlsen as young Cassandra with Patsy Ferran as Jane in Miss Austen. Pic: BBC</figcaption></figure>



The plot reimagines the literary mystery of why Cassandra notoriously burned her sister Jane’s&nbsp;letters. “The story begins in 1830, many years after Jane has died. Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) rushes to visit Isabella (Rose Leslie), the niece of her long-dead fiancé, who is about to lose her home following her father’s death. 



&#8220;Cassandra is ostensibly there to help Isabella. But her real motive is to find a hidden bundle of private letters which, in the wrong hands, she fears could destroy Jane’s reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1472" height="828" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-women-lineup.jpg" alt="Miss Austen BBC Jane Austen period drama stars Patsy Ferran, Madeleine Walker, Synnøve Karlsen and Liv Hill" class="wp-image-36348" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-women-lineup.jpg 1472w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-women-lineup-800x450.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-women-lineup-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-women-lineup-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1472px) 100vw, 1472px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">L-R &#8211; Patsy Ferran, Madeleine Walker, Synnøve Karlsen and Liv Hill. Pic: Miss Austen/BBC.</figcaption></figure>



“Miss Austen takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine.”&nbsp;[BBC]



<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jan/17/keeley-hawes-interview-on-fame-frocks-and-feminism" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Interviewed by Michael Hogan in The Guardian</a>, Keeley Hawes said: “It feels like a classic costume drama, in the vein of Colin Firth in&nbsp;Pride and Prejudice. Modern takes like&nbsp;Bridgerton&nbsp;are brilliant but this feels like part of the Austen canon, so her fans will be pleased. I read it and thought: ‘Why hasn’t this story been told before?’”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-else-stars-in-it">Who else stars in it?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1472" height="828" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Calam-Lynch.jpg" alt="Miss Austen star Calam Lynch BBC One" class="wp-image-36344" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Calam-Lynch.jpg 1472w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Calam-Lynch-800x450.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Calam-Lynch-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Miss-Austen-Calam-Lynch-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1472px) 100vw, 1472px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bridgerton actor Calam Lynch plays the young Cassandra&#8217;s love interest, Tom Fowle. Pic: BBC.</figcaption></figure>



Miss Austen features some pretty recognisable faces. Among them, Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Vigil) as Isabella and Patsy Ferran (Living, Hot Milk) as Jane. Jessica Hynes (Life After Life, Years and Years), Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder, Harry Potter) and Calam Lynch (Bridgerton, Archie, Sweetpea) also star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-was-it-filmed">Where was it filmed?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Rye.jpg" alt="Rye East Sussex" class="wp-image-36345" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Rye.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Rye-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Rye-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/hants/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/01/Rye-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



Not all the locations have been confirmed but we know for sure that Miss Austen was filmed in the Home Counties. <a href="https://www.ryenews.org.uk/news/jane-austen-comes-to-town" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crews were spotted in the cobbled streets of Rye</a> in Sussex (above) and the town’s historic church. Sources also suggest some of the scenes were shot at Hampshire’s <a href="https://janeaustens.house/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jane Austen’s House Museum</a> in Chawton.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-want-a-sneak-peek-here-s-the-miss-austen-trailer">Want a sneak peek? Here’s the Miss Austen trailer!</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Miss Austen: A story of love and losses ❤️ | Official Trailer - BBC" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KH5axuNJvig?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027dzc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miss Austen</a>&nbsp;airs on BBC One on Sunday 2 February at 9.05pm.

All about Miss Austen! Everything we know about the new TV series

You may also like