Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility

Limited Series 2008 · 3 eps · ★ 7.5 · Drama

Ended

Sense and Sensibility is a 2008 British television drama, based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, who said that the aim of the series was to make viewers forget Ang Lee's 1995 film version. As such, this series was more overtly sexual than previous Austen adaptations, and Davies included scenes featuring a seduction and a duel that are suggested in Austen's novel but absent from the feature film. A story of two sisters attempting to find happiness in the tightly structured society of 18th century England. Elinor, disciplined, restrained and very conscious of the manners of the day, represents sense. Outspoken, impetuous, emotional Marianne represents sensibility.

Created by Andrew Davies

Network: BBC One

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Hattie Morahan Elinor Dashwood
Charity Wakefield Marianne Dashwood
Dan Stevens Edward Ferrars
David Morrissey Colonel Brandon
Lucy Boynton Margaret Dashwood
Janet McTeer Mrs. Dashwood
Linda Bassett Mrs. Jennings
Claire Skinner Fanny Dashwood
Mark Williams Sir John Middleton
Rosanna Lavelle Lady Middleton
Dominic Cooper Willoughby
Mark Gatiss John Dashwood

More from Andrew DaviesSee all →

Consuming Passions

Consuming Passions · 1988

Consuming Passions

Adapted from a play written by two Monty Python vets, this toothy satire launches with a tragic accident at Chumley's chocolate factory when hapless manager Ian Littleton accidentally knocks several employees into a huge chocolate vat. The tragic mishap at the chocolate factory results in candy lovers getting an unexpected 'extra' in their sweets.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice · 1995

Pride and Prejudice

Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth.

Bleak House

Bleak House · 2005

The generous John Jarndyce, struggling with his own past, and his two young wards Richard and Ada, are all caught up, like Lady Dedlock, in the infamous case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, which will make one of them rich beyond imagination if it can ever be brought to a conclusion. As Tulkinghorn digs deeper into Lady Dedlock's past, he unearths a secret that will change their lives forever, and which is almost as astounding as the final outcome of the Jarndyce case.

House of Cards

House of Cards · 1990

SeriesWar & PoliticsComedy

Frustrated at a new moderate Conservative government and deprived of a promotion to a senior position, chief whip Francis Urquhart prepares a meticulous plot to bring down the Prime Minister then to take his place.

House of Cards

House of Cards · 2013

Betrayed by the White House, Congressman Frank Underwood embarks on a ruthless rise to power. Blackmail, seduction and ambition are his weapons.

Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit · 2008

Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.

Falling

Falling · 2005

MovieDramaThriller

Television drama based on the novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Author Daisy Langrish buys a tranquil country cottage as a bolt-hole from the pressures of her busy London life, but doesn't expect her new home to come complete with a would-be suitor. The day she moves in, local gardener Henry Kent is immediately on hand to help and offer his friendship, but are his intentions sinister?

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair · 1998

In early 19th-century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society.

Sanditon

Sanditon · 2019

The spirited and impulsive Charlotte Heywood moves from her rural home to Sanditon, a fishing village attempting to reinvent itself as a seaside resort.

War and Peace

War and Peace · 2016

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

Educating Marmalade

Educating Marmalade · 1982

Educating Marmalade

SeriesComedyFamily

Marmalade Atkins is the naughtiest girl in the world. In fact, she's so wicked that her parents and social worker decide that the only thing to do with her is to blast her into space. But, knowing Marmalade, it's not going to be that easy!

A Ghost Story for Christmas

A Ghost Story for Christmas · 1971

A Ghost Story for Christmas

A strand of annual British short television adaptations of classic ghost stories, referencing the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. First broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and revived in 2005 on BBC Four.

Les Misérables

Les Misérables · 2018

Les Misérables

France, 1815. Jean Valjean, a common thief, is released from prison after having lived a hell in life for 19 years, but a small mistake puts the law again on his trail. Ruthless Inspector Javert pursues him thorough years, driven by a twisted sense of justice, while Valjean reforms himself, thrives and dedicates his life to good deeds. In 1832, while the revolution ravages the streets of Paris, Valjean and Javert cross their paths for the last time.

Wives and Daughters

Wives and Daughters · 1999

Wives and Daughters

The life of doctor's daughter Molly Gibson changes gradually after her widowed father chooses to remarry. The union brings into her once-quiet life an ever-proper stepmother and flirtatious stepsister, Cynthia, while a friendship with the local squire brings about an unexpected romance.

Filipina Dreamgirls

Filipina Dreamgirls · 1991

Filipina Dreamgirls

MovieDramaComedy

Several men from Wales travel to the Philippines on an arranged tour to meet Filipina women for romance and possible marriage. None of the women are the ideal Asiatic beauties the men imagined, but by the end of the tour, most of the Englishmen return with a new bride.

Omnibus

Omnibus · 1967

SeriesDocumentary

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.

More Like This

Still Shining

Still Shining · 2026

A man and a woman whose lives are shaped by loss and time drift apart in youth and reunite a decade later, discovering that the bond they once shared remains a guiding light through love, grief, and growing up.

Without Breast There Is No Paradise

Without Breast There Is No Paradise · 2006

Without Breast There Is No Paradise

A woman decides to become a "pre-paid" prostitute to raise the required money for a surgery to increase her breast size, and that way, change her poor-life-style, her present and her future.

One Day

One Day · 2024

After spending graduation night together, Emma and Dexter go their separate ways — but their lives remain intertwined.

Legend of the Female General

Legend of the Female General · 2025

Legend of the Female General

A female general with a gentle appearance but a strong inner spirit, and a male general with a cold exterior and internal but with stronger martial prowess. The two join forces to combat deceit, assist the weak, and eliminate external threats.

Giri/Haji

Giri/Haji · 2019

SeriesCrimeDrama

Family duty sends a lawman to London to look for his mob-assassin brother as a yakuza war threatens to engulf Tokyo. Trust is even tougher to find.

Scarpetta

Scarpetta · 2026

SeriesDramaCrime

Renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns to her position as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, where she investigates a haunting murder with eerie reminders from her first big case decades ago. In 1998, Scarpetta works alongside Detective Pete Marino and FBI Agent Benton Wesley as they investigate a series of brutal stranglings. Based on the best-selling novels by Patricia Cornwell.

How is it so far?

Your ratings make Midnight smarter