I have to disagree with your take on Tamsin Grieg’s Miss Bates, although I’m not sure I saw the depth the first time I watched this production. She is not muttering to herself as she leaves Hartfield after the wedding–if you listen to her, she is having a one-sided conversation with her mother. She is very lonely, with no one to talk to at home since her mother is withdrawn and silent (a departure from the book, I think, but it added depth to this production). After she calls to Harriet and Emma to come and listen to the letter from Jane, and they say they can’t because they’re going to visit the poor, we see her alone with her mother and the letter, but no one to really share it with. This portrayal of Miss Bates makes Emma’s treatment of her at Boxhill seem even more cruel and shows us what Mr. Knightly tries to tell Emma, what it means that Miss Bates has come down in the world.

Finally, I thought this Emma adds a poignant twist, and if it’s not in the original, perhaps it should have been. Throughout most of four episodes, I’m convinced, as everyone else is, that this is a love story about Emma and Mr. Knightley. But when Emma goes to say goodbye to her father before leaving on her honeymoon trip, I suddenly found myself crying, and realizing that this has also been a story about the love between a daughter and her father. The opening way back at the beginning of episode one explained why her father wanted her so close–”he always expected the worst, and one day the worst did happen.” Already an over anxious man, he now lives in fear of losing his daughters as he did his wife. This is really the only version that, to me, explains why Emma can’t leave him and why Mr. Knightley will move to Hartfield “for as long as necessary.” The scene between Mr. Woodhouse and Emma at the Donwell strawberry party is very moving, too.

So this is really two love stories–the love between a man and woman, Mr. Knightley and Emma, and the love between a father and a daughter. And I cry every time she has to say good bye to him (“two weeks–it’s an eternity!”. Oh, and by the way, he reminds me so much of my own father who was almost fifty when I was born and who loved me very much.

Initially I thought episode 1&2 were very slow and almost boring but after viewing the entire series and then viewing those episodes again I found really enjoyed it all. I thought Garai overplayed Emma a bit and some of her facial expressions are a little silly but overall I really liked her as Emma. The whole adaption was so full life and energy it was hard not to love it!! Basically I can’t stop watching it over and over… and over. : )

Hi Kali! Glad you liked it.