“We knew that Season 1 had been canceled before it even aired on Masterpiece, but I knew that it was going to be a huge hit for us, and it was,” explained Susanne Simpson, executive producer of Masterpiece for PBS about Sanditon. Based on the final unfinished novel by Jane Austin, the U.K. production was a massive hit stateside after being slow to catch on across the pond. “Our conversations about how to bring the series back actually started even a little bit before the series was a great success for us. Certainly having the kinds of fans that just really loved the show and were very vocal about it was very important to us. I think that really spurred us on.” During a TCA presentation about the new season, Susanne also shared that a key component to reviving Sanditon was finding a productive partner, which came in the form of ITV and BritBox UK.
(Courtesy of Joss BarraT/Red Planet)
“We kept the hope alive and liaised a lot with all of the actors throughout, even after cancellation,” executive producer Belinda Campbell explained. “While that timeline was playing out and getting the money together, we were also talking to our wonderful cast. Justin was beginning to put down sort of roots for new story ideas. We were working away in the background to try and make it possible. And Theo [James] was a part of that conversation at the beginning because obviously the series had been designed to be a returning series, but then he had other opportunities and decided not to come back.”
“I think we were very, very lucky to get the actors back that we did, quite honestly, because such a time had elapsed between the two shows, so it wasn't surprising that other people weren't available,” writer Justin Young shared about the loss of several characters, including Sidney [Parker], Diana Parker, Lord Babington, [James] Stringer, and Elizabeth Berrington, all due to schedule conflicts for the actors who portrayed them. “We were delighted that so many, many people were. And the people who weren't, we refilled the stories.” Had Sanditon been a more complete novel being adapted, these changes would have been hard to work around. “The starting point obviously was a fragment of a novel, so in some ways, you are borrowing another writer's style. You are channeling Jane Austen. The show has developed its own momentum and the characters have developed their own agency. You are serving the story… We are not just trying to imagine exactly how the novel would have finished. But at the same time, we were trying to create characters recognizably of Jane's world.”
One of the Jane Austin-isms of season two is the arrival of an army, which brings new characters into the world. “I absolutely relished playing Alexander Colbourne,” actor Ben Lloyd-Hughes said of his role in the series. “It was such a gift of a part. I've certainly had ambitions for a while of playing a Jane Austen character and this type of character. I think I was actually completely liberated by the fact that although it's a Jane Austen-inspired piece, it's not a character that exists in a book to the extent that fans across the world would say, ‘Oh, no, that's not Mr. Darcy. That's not how I met him.’ There was a complete freedom to create this character that had little bits of everything. It was a joy from start to finish.”
“I was welcomed by everybody,” Tom Weston-Jones said of the friendly atmosphere on set as a newcomer, playing Colonel Francis Lennox. “Everybody was so warm and welcoming and very open to talk about everything and anything. Justin and Belinda were so good at making you feel like things weren't set in stone. So if I wanted to layer anything into the character, it made me feel so much more comfortable because I knew that it was a team thing. We were building it together rather than me joining and glomming myself onto something that was already moving.”
“Sidney's gone and she's got a new guardian,” returning cast member Crystal Clarke said about her character Georgiana Lambe. “She is very much feeling the pressure of her inheritance and potential suitors trying to win her over and stuff like that. But at the same time, she just had her heart broken. She doesn't want somebody else coming along that's making her feel like the only thing that is of any value or worth about her is her money. I think that becomes something that she starts to really struggle with. But then at the same time, she's gone through all this hurt and this trauma with Otis… She doesn't want to give up on love entirely, but she’s still scared. So we are following her on that journey of trying to figure out who is okay and who is interesting and who is safe to be around and who can help her, just be a guide through her exploration of herself in a similar way that Otis was.”
“The difference was that there were so many people that communicated so generously and openly about how they felt about the show, so there's an element of really wanting to do right by the people that invested in these characters so much,” Rose Williams said about getting a chance to continue as the series lead, Charlotte Haywood. “We had a lot of conversations at the beginning about finding Charlotte again. I was communicating to Charles [Sturridge, director] about initial conversations I had with Olly Blackburn when we really set up the character in the world as we could see Charlotte was, and then lots and lots of conversations about being clear on what emotional space she was in and conversations with other cast members. And I suppose my focus was to try and honor the Charlotte that was the Charlotte we meet in Episode 1 of Series 1 and also come back fresh, with a bit more emotional experience and growth within the time between finishing Series 1 and Series 2. So we all hope that people so enjoy it. I think the important thing is to really hone in and attempt to be true to the characters on the page and the wonderful writing. It is always a collaboration. It is directors, cast members, discussions between me and Justin, Belinda, teamwork. Props make such a difference, the little things on set. It's all huge, enormous teamwork. It is all interlinked. That's why I enjoy the job so much. It is a massive effort. It is an individual journey, but it's also a collective effort.”
Masterpiece: Sanditon returns tonight at 9/8c on PBS, with new episodes airing on Sundays. Fans can rest assured knowing that production is already underway on a third season, which will premiere in 2023.