Did anyone watch "Death Comes to Pemberley" on PBS this past Sunday?

[Tenebrae]

This was a dramatization of the novel by P.D. James in which she used the characters from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and involved them in a mystery story. I watched it, but I didn’t like it. I don’t think authors ought to take well-loved characters from somebody else’s work and do things with them which the original author never intended.

 

[Della]

I too thought it was a wasted effort. After all, Jane Austen wasn’t a mystery writer and her characters really aren’t suited to being sleuths. P. D. James turned Elizabeth into a waspish shrew, D’arcy into a stiff shirt, and robbed Lady Katherine of her bite. Then Wickham, although still a neer-d-well with the women, comes out smelling like a rose when everyone who knows the original story could see how he’d end up badly. Most modern authors can’t seem to grasp the subtleties of true character development. They’re too motivated by pop psychology to get at the heart of what drives human nature–that of sin and redemption.

 

[GEddie]

I thought it was ok.

It goes without saying that the nuances of early 19th-century society will be missed by an early 21st-century sequelist.

I’d put it on the shelf in my mind next to “Scarlett,” the late-1900s sequel to Gone with the Wind.

ICXC NIKA

 

[triumphguy]

Whatever the merits of this work P.D. James is an exceptional writer in her own right.

She’s a definite must-read for anyone who likes British mysteries.

 

[Havard]

Whatever the merits of this work P.D. James is an exceptional writer in her own right.

She’s a definite must-read for anyone who likes British mysteries.

I enjoyed one of her other novels. Haven’t read Death Comes to Pemberly though. In my mind, P&P ended just right.

 

[asia53]

I watched it. I have to agree it was OK. Though I do have to say, Lydia’s character was true to form. Would I ever watch it again? No.

The costumer needs to never do another 19th century production. The mens’ costumes were OK. It was the women’s costumes. Poor sewing, poor construction, ill fitting, eeeeeeck drab—this was an opulent age for men and women of wealth.

 

[marytk]

I just watched part two today. I know I never like this continuations that well but I am a sucker since I do always wonder “what did their life turn out like?” I don’t expect it to be as good as the original. I read this book and did enjoy it. It was SO much better than another Jane Austin turn into a mystery that I read some years ago.

I enjoyed the show. It was better than most things on TV. this isn’t a ringing endorsement.