Make this historical BBC drama your perfect cosy winter night binge watch

On the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, BBC’s Miss Austen is a poignant tribute to the mysterious life of the author behind some of literature’s greatest love stories. 

Ill-fated love, gentlemanly chivalry, burning desire and societal intrigue are the cornerstone of many of Austen’s novels like Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility. 

And the richness with which Austen pens these worlds, and the romances within them, makes them as relevant today as they were all those years ago – minus the corsets. 

But what we know about this prolific writer’s life outside her fiction is sparse largely due to her sister Cassandra who (two years before her own death) burned around nearly all the letters written by Jane to her closest confidants to preserve both Jane and her own legacy. 

Since that fateful day, Cassandra has been painted as a villain in many Austen-loving circles and become the subject of immense fascination for historians trying to piece together Jane’s life and the motives Cassandra might have had to destroy such a treasure trove of insight. 

Enter Gill Hornby’s 2020 novel, Miss Austen, which takes a leaf out of our classic author’s book and imagines what could have been in this private correspondence. 

Miss Austen features a star-studded cast (Picture: BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky)

As a nation, we love a literary mystery – whether pondering Agatha Christie’s 11-day disappearance or questioning whether Wuthering Heights’ Emily Bronte had a real-life love fuelling her impassioned words – and this is another to add to the fold.

It’s no easy task to replicate the voice of a generation. Still, Hornby conjures up a realistic world of characters – some real, some imagined – and turns Austen into the heroine of the story through the eyes of literature’s most misunderstood character – Cassandra Austen. 

The four-episode adaptation has what the BBC does best – a talented ‘Best of British’ cast, authentic costumes and a comforting aesthetic that draws you in and allows you to lose yourself in the past for a few hours. 

The show is split into two timelines, the first in the 1840s where Cassandra (played by Keeley Hawes) travels to the home of the Fowle family in Kintbury to rescue Jane’s letters before they fall into the wrong hands. 

The four-episode show is split between two timelines (Picture: BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky)

Here we meet various characters such as the daughter of the house Isabella (Rose Leslie), Cassandra’s insufferable sister-in-law Mary Austen (Jessica Hynes), and the local physician with a soft spot for Isabella, Lidderdale (Alfred Enoch).

As Cassandra reads the letters in a harried state we are transported into the past to the engagement between a young Cassie (Synnove Karlsen) and Tom Fowle (Calam Lynch), who plans to go on a voyage to earn some money before returning to marry the love of his life. 

Thus the stage is set for us to blur the lines between truth and fiction as we uncover the woes that may have befallen the Austen sisters and why their lives panned out the way they did.

It’s a beautiful ode to sisterhood, Jane’s (Patsy Ferran) fulfilling writing career, and the enduring power of love from one generation to the next.

As put by Patsy: ‘Cassandra and Jane aren’t just sisters, these two women are best friends, soulmates and the loves of their lives.’

And it peppers in several nods to Austen’s esteemed works, so for lovers of Mary Bennett’s sour temperament, Mr Bennett’s soft heart, Darcy’s quiet yearning and the complex moving pieces of 19th century polite society – you can’t go far wrong. 

The show explores all forms of love with plenty of Jane Austen motifs (Picture: BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky)

At times, the plotting does get convoluted as we flit between the present and the past, making it difficult to keep track of who is who, how they are connected and what exactly is happening, so this is definitely not casual viewing.

It requires viewers to put down the phone for a few hours, grab a cup of tea, cuddle up in a blanket and perhaps have a pen and paper on hand to draw a family tree. 

And, at times, the pacing is slow, dwelling on certain plots and moments just long enough to lose some interest before picking up again with a renewed sense of urgency. 

At times the pacing can be convoluted and slow putting its place as an instant classic to question (Picture: BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky)

Of course, with such a powerhouse set of actors – also starring Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan and The Crown’s Kevin McNally – the show is in good hands as they all flex their mastery of the period drama. 

Whether it will become a rewatchable classic like BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice, however, remains to be seen.

By the end, you’ll be ready to go down a rabbit hole into the mystery behind Austen’s letters and perhaps even have your own theories. 

But, in a world so consumed by the intimate details and minutiae of everyone’s lives – whether through social media or the paparazzi – it’s a refreshing reminder that there are some things that we simply may never know. 

Miss Austen lands on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on February 2, 2025.

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