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Romance resumes at Jane Austen’s seaside town “Sanditon” on MASTERPIECE – March 20 at 9 pm


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Sanditon, Season 2 on MASTERPIECE

Sundays, March 20 – April 24, 2022 at 9pm on PBS

The plot thickens at an English seaside resort in the early 1800s as MASTERPIECE continues its hit series expanding on Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel. Rose Williams (The Power) returns as the high-spirited heroine, Charlotte Heywood, with Crystal Clarke (Ordeal by Innocence) as the independent West Indian heiress,
Georgiana Lambe. Both are on the receiving end of multiple romantic proposals on Sanditon, Season 2, a Co-Production of Red Planet Pictures, MASTERPIECE and ITV in association with PBS Distribution, airing in six episodes on Sundays, March 20 to April 24, 2022 at 9pm on PBS.

medium shot of actress Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood in Sanditon
Charlotte Heywood (ROSE WILLIAMS).
Photographer: Joss Barratt

Critics greeted Season 1 with enthusiasm. “Sanditon comes to life beautifully….MASTERPIECE elegantly fills out Jane Austen’s unfinished final story,” extolled TV Guide, bestowing a near-perfect score of four-and-a-half stars on the series. “Lush and fun,” concurred the New York Times, with IndieWire pronouncing it “perfect escapist fare”.

Viewers were no less fervent and clamored for more. “We’re delighted to bring more Sanditon to such a passionate and devoted fan base,” says MASTERPIECE Executive Producer Susanne Simpson. “We worked with an amazing UK production team, Red Planet Pictures, to make a second and third season as well. Audiences can expect romance, humor, and plenty of drama in the upcoming episodes.”

Commenting on the writing team, Sanditon’s co-executive producer Belinda Campbell, for production company Red Planet Pictures, notes that “Justin Young and Andrew Davies’s sensational scripts are relevant, timely, and captivating. We can’t wait to share all the exciting new developments we have in store for our much-loved characters.”

In addition to Williams and Clarke, the returning cast includes Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax) as Lady Denham, the demanding chief investor in a scheme to turn sleepy, coastal Sanditon into a fashionable holiday getaway; Kris Marshall (Death in Paradise) as Tom Parker, the visionary behind the venture; Kate Ashfield
(A Confession) as Tom’s levelheaded wife, Mary; and Turlough Convery (Killing Eve) as Tom’s amiable and underrated brother, Arthur.

dancers at a ball
Shown: Charlotte Heywood (ROSE WILLIAMS).
Photographer: Joss Barratt
(C) Red Planet (Sanditon 2) Ltd

Ceaselessly plotting for Lady Denham’s legacy are a duo of characters familiar from Season 1: Jack Fox (Riviera) plays Lady Denham’s dissipated nephew, Sir Edward Denham; and Lily Sacofsky (Dalgliesh) is Lady Denham’s niece, Clara Brereton. Also returning on a mission of her own is Charlotte Spencer (Cinderella), as Lady Esther Babington, another relative of the prestigious Lady Denham.

In new principal roles are Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Industry) as Alexander Colbourne, a handsome and enigmatic local recluse; Tom Weston-Jones (Shadow and Bone) as dynamic Colonel Francis Lennox; Rosie Graham (Outlander) as Charlotte’s hopeless romantic sister Alison; Frank Blake (Normal People) as diffident Captain Declan Fraser; Maxim Ays (Still So Awkward) as Captain William Carter; and Alexander Vlahos (Versailles) plays Sanditon’s Bohemian artist, Charles Lockhart.
Season 2 of Sanditon continues Jane Austen’s classic quandary of how independent-minded young women can make their way in patriarchal Regency-era England. Society insists that they take a husband, and some women, such as Charlotte’s sister Alison, can’t wait to find one. But others, notably Charlotte and Georgiana, have mixed feelings about matrimony.
three military leaders at a ball in Sanditon
L-R Captain Carter (MAXIM AYS), Colonel Lennox (TOM WESTON-JONES) and Captain Fraser (FRANK BLAKE)
Photographer: Joss Barratt

Another Austenian theme is the allure of military men. During the Napoleonic Wars, young officers moved around the country with their troops, providing eligible women dashing dance partners, who were usually more romantically experienced than the local lads. Sanditon features just such an enticing encampment of potential husbands and heartbreakers.


Sanditon is filled with other delights as well as pointed social commentary. As the series depicts, English ladies really did organize a sugar boycott to protest the evils of slavery connected to the sugar trade. In Sanditon, Georgiana has more than enough reasons to lead the banner in this cause.