Screenwriter Andrew Davies has been honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Quite an honor for the bonnet drama King of the UK – and the world.Davies can thank Jane Austen for really putting the shine on his career. I still think that after fifteen years his adaptation of Pride and Prejudice still reigns supreme primarily because he did not muck about with Austen’s dialogue or plot too much and he had five hours to unfold the narrative. Having Mr. Darcy dive into the Pemberley pond did not hurt matters either, even though it was completely his invention.
The BBC announced last January that they had axed future plans for bonnet drama's in favor of contemporary fare. Davies has expressed his opinion decidely about period drama's going downmarket. None-the-less, he is presently working on a new screenplay for Middlemarch which he previously adapted in 1994. Now that the BBC has put a nix on future bonnet dramas, he must feel like a man without a country, forced to rehash a novel that he dramatised before. How sad and a bloody waste of talent. I think that the BBC has lost their heads and are running scared, hoping to appeal to a different audience. I hope that they find their footing again before Davies is gone. I am still patiently waiting for a great adaptation of Quality Street, anything by Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth or Georgette Heyer and top on my list is Lady Susan. What great classics would you like to see on tellie?
Congrats Andie! Thanks for the hours of great entertainment.
Cheers, Laurel Ann, Austenprose
