Inside ‘Sanditon’ Season 2 With the Cast & Creators: ‘This Is Really Charlotte’s Story’
Preview
Sand, seashells…and an airplane hangar? Welcome to the set of Sanditon, outside Bristol, England, where the 19th and 21st centuries collide. Not that viewers will notice when the long-awaited new season of the Masterpiece series premieres on PBS on March 20. But when the cast filmed scenes at a specially made beach last year, a huge aircraft shed where the Concorde was constructed sat where the water should be. The sea was digitally added later.
The set is just one new element of the resurrected romantic drama, inspired by Jane Austen’s unfinished novel. Also painfully new: the absence of leading man Theo James as Sidney Parker, especially since the first season didn’t deliver the Austen-style happy ending for cherished pair Sidney and Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) that fans had hoped for. Instead, Sidney announced that he was marrying his former fiancée, whose money would keep his brother Tom (Kris Marshall) out of debtor’s prison.
By the time Sanditon premiered in the U.S., in January 2020, it had already been canceled by its British broadcaster, and it took a year for producers to secure the financing to rescue the show. When two more six-episode seasons were announced, James dashed hopes that Charlotte and Sidney would find happiness with the news that he wouldn’t be returning. “We’ve heard from a lot of fans that they are going to greatly miss Sidney,” says Masterpiece executive producer Susanne Simpson. “What we hope is that they’ll give the series a chance because this is really Charlotte’s story.”
Maxim Ays, Tom Weston-Jones and Frank Blake (Joss Barratt/Red Planet)
And when Miss Heywood returns to the seaside resort town of Sanditon in the summer of 1820, nine months after Season 1, she discovers a whole new world. Simpson credits director Charles Sturridge, whose period drama work dates back more than 40 years to Brideshead Revisited, with the idea to create a promenade connecting town to beach where characters “would all walk right against the beach and the sea. It gives an opportunity for a beautiful backdrop and chance meetings.”
On the chilly November day when TV Insider took a virtual tour of the fictional Sanditon, the actors were working on sets that had been built inside the hangar. We traveled down a deserted street where exteriors were shot, past a grocer’s, a florist’s, and a bookshop. The house of local visionary Tom Parker looked smashing from the front, but — surprise! — the door opened into an empty corridor. Even the trees weren’t what they seemed. Their leaves were held in place by wires — making them easier to remove and reattach depending on the season of the scene. Flexibility was necessary because Seasons 2 and 3 were shot back to back from July to December 2021.
“It’s gorgeous, and the attention to detail that’s gone into it is beautifully done,” Marshall says about the new town. “You feel really immersed in what you’re doing.”
Rosie Graham, Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke (Joss Barratt/Red Planet)
As for storylines, the creative team aimed for a balance between “escapism and relatability,” according to executive producer Belinda Campbell: “It is really important to us that they have contemporary resonance with the audience’s lives today.”
And while Sidney may be gone, Charlotte hasn’t forgotten him, and she’s sadder and wiser as a result. “My focus was to try and honor the Charlotte that was the Charlotte of Episode 1,” says Williams, “and also come back fresh, with a bit more emotional experience and growth.” She’s the opposite of her younger sister Alison (Rosie Graham), who joins her on this journey and can’t wait to find a husband.
Heiress Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke), meanwhile, has been keeping busy fending off fortune hunters after getting her heart broken last season. “She doesn’t want to give up on love entirely, but she’s still scared,” explains Clarke.
Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Joss Barratt/Red Planet)
The young women make the most of their Sanditon summer, encountering plenty of handsome eligible men along the way. Bohemian artist Charles Lockhart (Alexander Vlahos, who’s also in the current season of Outlander) takes a shine to Georgiana, while Charlotte catches the eyes of both Francis Lennox (Tom Weston-Jones), a handsome army colonel, and wealthy recluse Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes). Charlotte becomes governess to his rebellious young daughter Leo (Flora Mitchell) and sassy teenage niece Augusta (Eloise Webb).
Of course, any love interest for Charlotte would invite instant comparisons to Sidney. “We knew that once we got rid of Sidney, we couldn’t bring in a new love interest right away,” says head writer Justin Young, who replaces Andrew Davies. “We thought: Let’s make sure that Charlotte was adamant that she doesn’t want a new lover, and then let’s bring in two men and keep them an open question about if either of them would be with her.”
There’s no rush. One luxury the writers had this time was a two-season guarantee. “We were able to plot a really long arc,” Young explains. “There are elements in Episode 1 of Season 2 that pay off in the final episode of Season 3.”
Sanditon, Season 2 Premiere, Sunday, March 20, 9/8c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org)
Rose Williams
Anne Reid
Kris Marshall
Kate Ashfield
Jack Fox
Charlotte Spencer
Crystal Clarke
Lily Sacofsky
Turlough Convery
Alexandra Roach
Mark Stanley
Matthew Needham
Elizabeth Berrington
Kayleigh-Paige Rees
Adrian Rawlins
Sarah Belcher
Mollie Holder
Tom Weston-Jones
Frank Blake
Maxim Ays
Eloise Webb
Flora Mitchell
Ben Lloyd-Hughes
Alexander Vlahos
Rosie Graham
⨁Full Cast & Crew
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R
I hope charlotte falls in love!!!!!
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P
Sidney can go suck an egg. Who needs him?
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O
No don't say that. He need to come back and Marry Charlotte .I don't think he is Dead . He told her he did not love Liza. And Charlotte bring out the Best in him. And maybe Miss Lambe Boyfriend will show up and they will get together. What goes around might come around..
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C
Theo James decided he wanted no part of Sanditon Season 2 so instead of recasting the role of Sidney management opted for new characters. They knew fans would always be looking for Sidney’s return so they decided the character would die. In interviews, the writers have said Sidney is NOT coming back. There’s two potential love interest for Charlotte in S2/S3. Many fans will never accept that Sidney is not coming back, but the reality is…he’s NOT!
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Women and men fall in and out of love all the time. When one door closes (Sydney) another opens (Colbourne and Lennox). I personally feel that the architect, who was so attracted to Charlotte series 1, deserves her. I love her independence and determination. Sydney missed his chance....but I'll miss Theo's good looks.
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I want to see a worthy HEA for Charlotte after all the trials she goes through. Let her fall in love again but it can never match her first love, Sidney. The producers better reunite Sidlotte in the end or it won’t do Austen any justice! If Theo won’t return for season three ( fractured fairytale my eye!) recast him with a doppelgänger. We can’t let go of the amazing chemistry the two main characters had in season one! End Sanditon with an Austen worthy touch and the fans will be appeased. I may finally be able to rewatch the ball, boat and cliff scenes without resorting to my box of tissues.)
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The Parkers do not have a body to actually know if Sidney really is dead. The man shown writing the letter to the Parkers was only seen from the rear, so we do not know
who he is. All somewhat odd. It could be the writers are leaving a small opening for Sidney to come back in season 3 to find his wife remarried thinking he is dead . Then he could come back to Charlotte. Sidney’s suppose death could be tied into men wanting Miss Lamb’s fortune so they had to make it look like Sidney was dead since he was her guardian . More will be revealed as we go along . I really want Charlotte and Sidney to have another chance , they are meant to be together.
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I hate it. The attraction between those two just dropped off the characters. I can’t accept a lesser match for her. Find someone fabulous or forget it. I do t like feeling a he grief with her. I wish he had come back. That’s all I want.
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It's Charlotte's story now. Austen's story was about the town, the Parker family and the Denhams. Charlotte was a visitor. Davies' series focused heavily on Sidney and Charlotte (or maybe their screen presence was just dominating and electrifying). Should be an interesting trajectory, but personally I'd have toned down all the love triangles and soldiers, allowed Charlotte to deal with her disappointment (keeping Sidney alive, offscreen, semi-happily married like many other Austen men) and then let her gradually come to a second love with one man, like a Colonel Brandon type - or even better, bring back young Stringer as a successful architect. They had a connection and it would have been more comforting for fans to see her with Stringer than to have all these slightly underwhelming guys we know very little about. And the Jane Eyre / Rochester vibe - where on earth did that come from? Charlotte Bronte disliked Austen's novels. Could have drawn on Gaskell instead - she was a fan of Austen and her social realism would fit better with the new entrepreneurial world Austen was hinting at in her fragment. I don't know. Anything but kill off Sidney Parker! 🙁
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