Sense & Sensibility / Persuasion Collector's Set

Jane Austen has inspired the hearts and minds of millions with her timeless novels. For the first time ever, her first and last novels are available in this wonderful deluxe edition!

Sense and Sensibility (2008) - Adapted by acclaimed writer Andrew Davies, Jane Austen's first published novel tells the story of two sisters with similar fates but opposite approaches to love.

Persuasion (2007) - This newest adaptation of Jane Austen's last and most admired novel captures the regret and nostalgia of the powerful story about a woman who gets a second chance at love.

Sense and Sensibility (2008)
Episode 1 – Mrs. Dashwood is devastated when her beloved husband dies. The late Mr. Dashwood's estate and fortune are bequeathed by law to his son from a previous marriage, John Dashwood, to the delight of John's rapacious wife, Fanny. Mrs Dashwood and her daughters are forced to move to a tiny cottage on a cousin's estate in Devonshire, to start their lives again. It is perhaps Elinor, the eldest daughter, who is most upset to leave her childhood home. She has fallen in love with Fanny's brother, the kind and unassuming Edward Ferrars. However, Mrs Dashwood's cousin, Sir John Middleton, ensures that the family settles into life in Devonshire. Before long, Elinor's younger sister, Marianne, finds that she has an admirer in Sir John's friend, Colonel Brandon. However, a rival soon emerges in the form of the dashing young neighbour, Willoughby, who rescues Marianne after a fall. As Elinor eagerly awaits a visit from Edward, Marianne realises that she has two suitors to choose from…

Episode 2 – Colonel Brandon is called away on urgent business and Marianne and Brandon's rival, Willoughby, are left to fall blissfully in love. Elinor finally receives her visit from Edward, but his behaviour is so odd and distant that she is far from reassured. Sir John's nieces, the Miss Steeles, come to Devonshire and Elinor receives the shock of her life when Lucy Steele confides in her that she is secretly engaged to Edward. Elinor's heart is broken but she's true to her word and keeps Lucy's secret, even from her sister, Marianne. Marianne receives a horrible shock of her own when Willoughby suddenly takes off for London, declaring that he's unlikely to ever return. The girls however are invited to London themselves to stay with Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings. Marianne sets off for London full of hope of being reunited with Willoughby. Little does she know how much Willoughby's plans have changed since his happy days with her in Devonshire

Episode 3 - Marianne learns the full extent of Willoughby's betrayal and wrongdoing from Brandon, who reveals that Willoughby was disinherited by his aunt after getting a young girl (Brandon's own ward) pregnant then ran off to London to - successfully - find himself a rich heiress to marry. The shock of this news is severe for Marianne and her health begins to deteriorate. When Elinor learns that Edward intends to honour his engagement to Lucy Steele, even though this means being disinherited by his mother, she and Marianne decide to leave London. They are both heartbroken. They stay with Mrs Jennings's daughter, Charlotte Palmer, in Cleveland where Marianne falls gravely ill. Brandon helps Elinor to nurse Marianne back to health and they finally return, with great relief, to their mother's home in Devonshire. With Willoughby and Edward both seemingly gone, all looks lost for the Dashwood girls, until a surprising turn of events...

Persuasion (2007)
At the age of nineteen, Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne's family were against the match and persuaded her to break off the engagement. Now twenty-seven, Anne has lived to regret her decision. She has never stopped loving Wentworth, and when he returns from sea having made his fortune and reputation, she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet. Has he forgotten the girl he left behind? And can he forgive her for listening to her family instead of her heart?

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Written by Jane Austen
Screenplay by Andrew Davies
Directed by John Alexander
Produced by Anne Pivcevic
Executive Produced by Sally Woodward Gentle

Persuasion (2007)

Written by Jane Austen
Screenplay by Simon Burke
Directed by Adrian Shergold
Produced by David Snodlin
Executive Produced by Murray Ferguson

Persuasion (2007)
“The film is beautiful, much more like an independent European film than the pretty, sundrenched versions we have come to associate with British costume dramas. The dark scene in which Penry-Jones gets drenched, for example, has made it.” -Daily Telegraph

“Jane Austen for grown-ups with a terrific starring performance by Sally Hawkins … while some terrific actors aid director Adrian Shergold in capturing the social niceties and hypocrisies of the time … Cinematographer David Odd captures beautifully the locations at Bath and Lyme Regis, while David Roger's production design and Andrea Galer's costumes are equally handsome. Head's witty performance as Sir Walter is memorable, as are the contributions by Stockley as empty-headed Mrs. Clay, Krige as presumptuous Lady Russell and Hale as the crybaby Mary. 'Snoops' star Penry-Jones makes a dashing and sympathetic Wentworth. The film, however, belongs to Hawkins … She makes Anne not only intelligent and wise but also beautiful, and it's impossible not to cheer her on when she decides to make a dash along Bath's Royal Crescent in order to win her love.” -Hollywood Reporter

“… a drama with real emotional depth. Sally Hawkins had the tricky job of playing Anne Elliot … It's famously hard enough to grip an audience with someone as indestructibly nice as Anne. (Even Austen said about Persuasion that 'the heroine is almost too good for me.') Here, Hawkins was faced with the added difficulty of having to spend so much time looking deeply pensive and tragic without getting on our nerves. Fortunately, she fulfilled both challenges with such unforced aplomb that we were soon cheering her on … One of the great qualities of Simon Burke's script, however, was that it didn't try to modernise anything - especially the emotional reticence of the characters. Heroically enough, it even resisted the temptation to make Anne feisty. Of course, this subtle approach added greatly to the programme's power. Less predictably, it also made Anne and Wentworth's behaviour more recognisable.” -Daily Telegraph

“All round great casting … but it's the direction that makes this the best of ITV1's newly commissioned period dramas. Cold colours, unhelpful gossip and perpetual driving rain can't quite extinguish Anne's passion, while Rupert Penry-Jones smoulders as convincingly as if steam was rising from within his frock coat … excellent dramatisation…” -Guardian

“…there was real, buttoned-up emotion slowly unbuttoning between Captain Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones) and Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins). The couple apart, the star turn was from Anthony Head as Sir Walter Elliot, a snob of outstanding repellence.”-Sunday Times

"...delightful in it's nuance, relying less on dialogue and more on expresson, clearly catching the melancholy acquiescence of ite heroine Anne Elliot, played impeccably by Sally Hawkins (Little Britain.)" - Michelle Dutson, The British Canadian