It is a truth universally acknowledged that if ever a novelist deserved a three-hour documentary deploying all the experts, all the excerpts from book and screen, all the re-enactments, all the life, all the literature, every bell and whistle, it is Jane Austen in the year 2025, the 250th anniversary of her birth.
So, here it is – Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius. It’s a title that doesn’t mess around and neither does the programme, a prestigiously-bound triple-decker narrated by Juliet Stevenson that takes us through Austen’s birth, background, personal life, creative imagination, publishing history, private and professional setbacks and successes, with all the care and close attention a fan could wish for.
