Fanny Price a Tart?

Well, I don’t think so … not in the wildest stretch of the imagination could Jane Austen’s most prim and proprietous heroine be considered a woman of loose morals, yet Billie Piper the actress who portrayed Fanny in the 2007 adaptation of Mansfield Park is being tagged a tart by her elderly country neighbors in Midhurst, West Sussex where she lives with her husband, actor Laurence Fox (Mr. Wisley in Becoming Jane) and their young son Winston.

Mail Online is reporting that in an interview for the February issue of Marie Claire magazine, the 27-year old actress revealed that "A few of the older locals actually believe I'm a whore," because of her role in ITV’s and Showtime’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl based on the exploits of a real-life call girl Belle de Jour.

"They love Laurence because he's in Lewis (Inspector Lewis in the US), and his fan club are basically in their mid-sixties and upwards. (Ouch – that made his fans who are not senior citizens feel rather ancient). They love him. It's sickening. They follow him around, they want to mother him. I mean, there are places he can't go - like Mecca Bingo or the bowling green - but he loves it. Then they look at me and are like, "That slag! How could you dirty yourself with her? She's corrupted you.""

I guess Billie needs to send her neighbors the DVD of Mansfield Park to redeem her reputation. Fanny Price has been accused of being a prig, but never a tart!

Cheers, Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Masterpiece Mystery Inspector Lewis Concludes with The Point of Vanishing on Sunday

The second season of the Inspector Lewis mysteries concludes with ‘The Point of Vanishing’ on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET on PBS. It’s been a great run of detective drama and dishy DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox), but unfortunately we have come to the seventh episode and must patiently wait another year for series three. *sigh* So fellow Gentle Readers and detective mystery fans here is a final brief description of the episode from the Masterpiece Mystery website. I wonder if it will be a cliff hanger or elude to more mysteries of the two detectives personal lives. This episode has a religion slant, and of course murder!

Steven Mullan is found dead in his bathtub, the scalding water indicative of the white-hot rage that motivated the murder. Lewis recognizes Mullan as having been recently released from prison after having tried to kill celebrity atheist Tom Rattenbury while driving drunk. Mullan's sentence may be over, but have the scars healed for the Rattenburys, especially daughter Jessica who remains in a wheelchair from the incident? Lewis and Hathaway find a postcard at the crime scene of a Renaissance painting inscribed with the words, "It was no dream." But the case is about to take a surreal, dream-like twist, leaving Lewis and Hathaway drowning in questions about crimes of the past and the present.

Read the full synopsis (spoilers ahead)
Read the full cast and crew listing

Last week’s episode ‘The Quality of Mercy’ revealed who killed Inspector Lewis’s wife! After five plus years of Lewis searching for clues, the killer virtually fails into DS Hathaway’s path in an round-about way. The developing relationship between the two detectives is quite interesting and makes this drama more than just a whodunit. If you missed this episode, you can watch it online on the PBS website through Sunday, October 18th, 2009, ET.

Really sad to see the series end. The combination of Oxford University locations, detective drama and literary connections makes this series a cut above in my book and definitely my favorite series of the Masterpiece Mystery season.

Cheers, Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Masterpiece Mystery Inspector Lewis: Series II Preview

Masterpiece Mystery continues with seven new episodes of Inspector Lewis: Series II premiering on Sunday, August 30th on PBS. Kevin Whately (Inspector Morse) returns as Inspector Lewis for a second season. The much-loved Oxford policeman is joined once again by Laurence Fox (Becoming Jane) as his young partner DS Hathaway. As the relationship between inspector and sergeant grows and develops, the viewer sees new sides to the inimitable duo.

There are several actors with Austen connections in the series: Tom Riley (George Wickham in Lost in Austen), Neil Pearson (Richard Finch in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason & Bridget Jones’ Diary), Pippa Haywood (Frankie in Lost in Austen), Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr. Lushington MP in Miss Austen Regrets), Ian McNeice (Quizmaster in Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason), Richard McCabe (Captain Benwick in Persuasion 1995) Jason Watkins (Rev. Clarke in Miss Austen Regrets & Charlie Parker-Knowles in Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason), Tom Mison (Charles Bingley in Lost in Austen) and Adrian Lukis (George Wickham P&P 1995).

Here is preview of the coming season:

'And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea'
Sunday, August 30, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

Stolen rare books and the murders of a brilliant Oxford fine arts student and a library maintenance engineer lead Lewis and Hathaway to a treatment center for gambling addicts and two talented painters. Can Oxford’s finest trace the killers before they claim their next victim? Pictured (l-r): DI Lewis (Kevin Whately), Philip Horton (Tom Riley) and DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox).

'Music to Die For'
Sunday, September 06, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

The worlds of no-rules boxing, Oxford dons and Cold War intrigue surround the death of a prominent Oxford don. Consequences from the investigation hit Lewis surprisingly close to home, leading to revelations about the loss suffered by Lewis since the death of his wife. Pictured: Jack Roth (Bradley James) taking part in an underground boxing match.

'Life Born of Fire'
Sunday, September 13, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

A serial killer seems to be targeting a religious group, “The Garden,” which claims to give guidance to lost souls. As he learns more about the group and its true purpose, Lewis’ trust in Hathaway wavers when he finds that his young sergeant has his own dangerous personal connections to “The Garden.” Pictured (l-r): DI Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) rescues Hathaway (Laurence Fox) from a fire.

'The Great and the Good'
Sunday, September 20, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

When a teenage girl is assaulted, Lewis and Hathaway track down a possible suspect — only to find he has a seemingly watertight alibi provided by three pillars of the Oxford community. When the suspect is suddenly murdered, Lewis untangles a web of intrigue to expose the Oxford elite. Pictured: Kevin Whately as DI Robert Lewis.

'Allegory of Love'
Sunday, October 04, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

Literary whimsy becomes murderous reality with the death of a Czech barmaid. The scene of the crime yields two puzzling clues: a bloodstained note and a broken antique mirror. To find the killer, Lewis and Hathaway must uncover the hidden connections between the victim and a prominent Oxford professor, a literary society and a book by Oxford’s hottest new author. Pictured (l-r): DS James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), Norman Deering (James Fox) and DI Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately).

'Quality of Mercy'
Sunday, October 11, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

When a young actor is murdered during a student Shakespeare production, Lewis (Kevin Whately, shown) and Hathaway sift through the motives of several suspects — from a jealous thespian to an Oxford dropout to a playgoer only too anxious to use his ticket stub as an alibi. As the duo tracks down the truth, they unearth a dark secret that hits Lewis eerily close to home.

'The Point of Vanishing'
Sunday, October 18, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET

The murder of a small-time criminal leads Lewis and Hathaway to a prominent Oxford don-turned-celebrity atheist who years earlier had been the intended target of a botched murder attempt. Could these isolated incidents be connected? As the pair investigates further, they uncover a web of deceit and a case of mistaken identity that will lead them to their killer. Pictured (l-r): DS James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), DI Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) and Hope Ransome (Zoe Boyle).

Cheers, Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Austen Actors Highlight New Masterpiece Mystery Season

Reserve your summer Sunday evenings for the newly redesigned Masterpiece Mystery hosted by none other than Mr. Elton (Alan Cumming) as master of ceremonies introducing each of the four new series starting on June 22 and continuing through September 28.

Fans of Masterpiece Classic and The Complete Jane Austen series on PBS will recognize several familiar faces throughout the Mystery season. The new host of the series is Tony Award winning British actor Alan Cumming, who stared as Mr. Elton in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, directed by Douglas McGrath and co-staring Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse. It will be interesting to see what direction he takes hosting each of the series in comparison to his predecessors Gene Shalit 1980, Vincent Price 1981-1989, and Diana Rigg 1990 -2003. The series began airing without a host in the 2004 season, so this return to its original hosted format is a traditional move by executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

Alan Cumming as Mr. Elton and Juliet Stevenson as Mrs. Elton in Emma (1996)

This season’s Mystery lineup includes The Men of Mystery beginning on June 22 with three episodes each of the return of Inspector Lewis and Foyle’s War starting on July 13, and six episodes of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries on August 10. The series concludes with a reprieve of two episodes of Sally Lockhart staring Billie Piper (Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007) and JJ Feild (Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey 2007).

Laurence Fox as DS James Hathaway and Kevin Whatley as DI Robbie Lewis in Inspector Lewis

Inspector Lewis opens the season on Sunday June 22 with three new episodes staring Kevin Whatley (The English Patient) who returns as Detective Inspector Robbie Lewis in this spin-off to the popular Inspector Morris series. Also returning is his younger sidekick, the cool, cerebral Detective Sergeant James Hathaway played by Austen actor Laurence Fox. Janeites will remember his performance as Jane Austen’s (Ann Hathaway) unsuccessful suitor Mr. Wilsey in last summers movie Becoming Jane, whose amorous pursuits had him in more than one embarrassing situation and uttering such great lines as “Sometimes affection is a shy flower that takes time to blossom.”

Ann Hathaway as Jane Austen and Laurence Fox as Mr. Wisley in Becoming Jane (2007)

Mr. Fox comes from an accomplished acting family. He is the son of British actor James Fox, nephew to actors Edward Fox, Joann David (Mrs. Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice 1995 and Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility 1971) and producer Robert Fox, and cousin to fellow Austen actor Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 1995). He married British actress Billie Piper (Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007) on New Years Eve in 2007. If he had anymore Austen connections, he would have to be related!!!

Laurence Fox and his wife Billie Piper

The Inspector Lewis series includes three episodes and features additional actors that share Jane Austen connections; 1.) Whom the Gods Would Destroy – June 22, Anna Madeley (Lucy Steele in Sensibility 2007), and Anna Massey (Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park 1983); 2.) Old School Friends – June 29, David Glover (Foot the butler in Sense and Sensibility 2008); and 3.) Expiation - July 6, Lucy Robinson (Louisa Hurst in Pride and Prejudice 1995, Mrs. Elton in Emma 1996 and Janey in Bridget Jones the Edge of Reason 2004), Julia Joyce (Young Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007), Pip Torrens (Edward Austen-Knight in Miss Austen Regrets 2008 and a Netherfield butler in Pride and Prejudice 2005), and Phoebe Nicholls (Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion 1995).

Anna Massey as Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park (1983)

I have always enjoyed the Masterpiece Mystery series, and am glad to see so many Austen actors finding work with such a venerable series. I hope that you enjoy the opening episode!

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose