BBC Literary Archive

Advanced Level Studies | English: Jane Austen: Letters to Alice, On First Reading Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Two | 1985 | 19'55''

Through letters to her niece, novelist Fay Weldon illuminates the life and work...

Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors

BBC Two | 2017 | 58'59''

Lucy Worsley explores the different houses in which Jane Austen lived and stayed, to discover just how much they shaped Jane's life and novels.

Omnibus | Celebrating Jane Austen

BBC One | 1975 | 49'05''

Program celebrating the birth of the author Jane Austen, who was born 200 years ago on the 16th December 1775. With readings by Joanna Davi...

World Book Club | Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice | BBC World Service | 2013 | 52'50''

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is 200 years old, but the story still resonates. Why?

Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius

BBC Two | 2025 | 59'22''

At 17, Jane Austen is growing up in a small English village. She starts to write stories, culminating in Pride and Prejudice.

You’re Dead to Me | Jane Austen: the life of a Regency literary icon

BBC Radio 4 | 2025 | 27'29''

Greg Jenner is joined in Regency England by historian Dr Lucy Worsley and actor Sally Phillips to ...

BBC News at One | Jane Austen Appreciation Society of Pakistan

BBC One | 2018 | 2'17''

Jane Austen Appreciation Society of Pakistan meet at the Dorchester to promote their book Austenistan.

BBC News at Six | Unfinished Jane Austen Manuscript

BBC One | 2011 | 2'27''

An item on a Jane Austen unfinished manuscript which sold for just under one million pounds - continuing proof of a stron...

Horrible Histories | Jane Austen in Historical Love Island

CBBC | 2019 | 2'50''

English novelist Jane Austen introduces the Love Island villa to the rules of Georgian courtship, much to personal...

Novels That Shaped Our World | Jane Austen

BBC Two | 2019 | 1'49''

A discussion of Jane Austen's style of novel writing.

Omnibus | Presumption: The Life of Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice | BBC One | 1995 | 48'47''

Discussion of Austen's works with writers, academics and experts. Includes references to TV adaptations.

Word for Word | Jane Austen’s Birthday

BBC Two | 1978 | 7'06''

Literary entertainment prog pres by Robert Robinson and Vicky Payne. An item on Jane Austen is included.

Night Waves | Landmarks – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Radio 3 | 2013 | 44'19''

Anne McElvoy presents a Landmark edition examining Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

More or Less | How Rich was Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy?

Pride and Prejudice | BBC World Service | 2017 | 9'00''

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

Miss Austen Regrets

BBC One | 2008 | 1'25'12''

Drama based on the life and letters of Jane Austen. Approaching her fortieth birthday, Jane appears happily unmarried, displaying all the assured wit and...

Miss Austen

BBC One | 2025 | 52'34''

A letter arrives at Chawton Cottage, where Cassandra Austen has lived alone for many years since the death of her sister Jane.

Becoming Jane (2007)

BBC Two | 2009 | 1'51'03''

Dramatised biography of the young Jane Austen, chronicling her romance with a young Irishman and how the experience came to have an influence on her wri...

My Friend Jane

BBC Two | 2017 | 28'58''

Documentary following Jane Austen's modern-day superfans as they reveal what a vicar's daughter from Hampshire means to them.

Emma (2009)

Emma | BBC One | 2009 | 57'29''

Four-part adaptation of the Jane Austen classic. Emma Woodhouse persuades new friend Harriet Smith that she is too good for her suitor, the farmer Robert Martin.

Mansfield Park (1983)

Mansfield Park | BBC Two | 1983 | 50'36''

First of six of this dramatisation of the classic novel by Jane Austen. Fanny Price (Sylvestra Le Touzel) is removed from her impoverished Portsmouth h...

Pride and Prejudice: From Page to Screen

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Two | 1995 | 29'05''

Discussing Pride and Prejudice, it's story, characters and language, and how it was adapted for television while remaining faithful ...

BBC Breakfast | Sanditon

Sanditon | BBC One | 2019 | 7'06''

Sanditon: the novel Jane Austen never managed to finish before her death in 1817 - 'Sanditon' was finally published 100 years later and now it's bee...

Pride and Prejudice Revisited | Characterisation in ‘Pride and Prejudice’

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Four | 2008 | 2'16''

A discussion of the various character archetypes Jane Austen has employed in 'Pride and...

Pride and Prejudice Revisited | Plot devices in ‘Pride and Prejudice’

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Four | 2008 | 4'07''

A discussion of how Jane Austen structured the plot of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

The Learning Zone | Sense and Sensibility: From Text to Text

Sense and Sensibility | BBC Two | 1996 | 29'05''

Discussion about Sense and Sensibility, the story, character and themes, and how the story was adapted for film ...

Doctors | S15E117: Austenland – Part 1

BBC One | 2013 | 28'06''

Jas deals with a patient suffering from selective mutism, who would rather live in her Austen-inspired fantasy world than face r...

Pride and Prejudice (1980)

Pride and Prejudice | BBC Two | 1980 | 53'25''

Five-part television series adapted from Jane Austen's classic novel. When Mr Bingley comes to live in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet considers him...

Screen 2 | Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey | BBC Two | 1987 | 1'29'25''

Jane Austen's classic story of a young girl whose head is full of romantic and melodramatic notions about the world.

Screen 2 | Persuasion

Persuasion | BBC Two | 1995 | 1'42'12''

Film adaption of Jane Austen's novel about the enduring power of love. England 1814. Having been ''persuaded'' several years earlier to reject the prop...