Hold on to Your Bonnets: ‘Sanditon’ Renewed for Two Seasons on PBS, Theo James Won’t Return
It’s wild when a fan movement works, isn’t it?
On Thursday, Masterpiece on PBS announced that it had renewed “Sanditon,” the ITV series based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel, for not one — but two — seasons.
The news comes after an extensive fan driven online campaign for the show, starring Rose Williams as the heroine Charlotte Heywood, to be continued. It just goes to prove that greenlighting a show for a single season and ending with a bodice-ripping cliffhanger (“What do you MEAN she just rides off in the carriage after he came after her?!?”) can sometimes be a smart business decision.
Theo James, however, will not be returning to show in the role of Sydney Parker. In a statement provided to IndieWire, James said: “Although I relished playing Sidney, for me, I’ve always maintained that his journey concluded as I wanted it to. The broken fairy-tale like ending between Charlotte and Sidney is different, unique and so interesting to me and I wish the cast and crew of Sanditon every success with future series.”
Other cast for the two new seasons has yet to be revealed, but the behind-the-scenes crew is in place. According to the announcement: “Sanditon, the fan favorite drama based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel and developed by Emmy® and BAFTA-Award winning writer Andrew Davies, has been renewed with the double order following its successful run in the U.S. on Masterpiece. BritBox UK has boarded the show as a co-producer and will premiere the series as a BritBox Original in the UK. The new seasons of Sanditon have been acquired by ITV, which originally launched the first series in 2019, and will air on the channel following the premiere window on BritBox UK.
Justin Young (“Death in Paradise,” “Ripper Street”), who wrote four episodes of the first season of ‘Sanditon’, will develop the new seasons and take the role of lead writer and executive producer. Andrew Davies, who originally created the series, will also return to write several episodes and executive produce.”
“We are absolutely delighted to announce a second and third season of Sanditon, a show that has inspired such a passionate and devoted fan base,” says Masterpiece executive producer Susanne Simpson said in a statement. “Audiences can expect romance, humor and plenty of twists and turns in these new seasons of Sanditon.”
According to Masterpiece, filming will begin later this year around Bristol, in England.
