Explore a nearly centuries-old literary mystery with a first look at Masterpiece‘s Miss Austen. The upcoming series will star Keeley Hawes and Rose Leslie. Miss Austen has begun filming in the UK, and has released new images of the cast in period-appropriate costume for its 1840s setting.

The series, which is an adaptation of Gill Hornby‘s 2020 novel of the same name, will star Hawes (Bodyguard, Orphan Black: Echoes) as Cassandra Austen, the sister of Jane Austen, as well as Leslie (Game of Thrones, The Time Traveler’s Wife) as family friend Isabella, Jessica Hynes (Spaced) as Jane’s sister-in-law Mary, and Mirren Mack (The Witcher: Blood Origin) as Isabella’s servant, Dinah. The series will explore Cassandra’s mysterious decision to destroy most of her sister’s personal letters decades after Jane’s death. Says Masterpiece executive producer Susanne Simpson, “Miss Austen is a beautifully told story about the loves and losses of the Austen sisters. I’m thrilled that this heartfelt, romantic, and funny adaptation is in the hands of a remarkable ensemble cast led by the incredible Keeley Hawes.”

Who Was Cassandra Austen?

Keeley will be starring in Miss Austen, an adaption of the best selling novel by Gill Hornby📺🖤

Coming to BBC 📺✨#keeleyhawes #MissAusten pic.twitter.com/2HTaxeukBm

— K_HawesFan (@KHawesfan) December 7, 2023

Born in 1773, Cassandra Austen was Jane Austen‘s older sister. Of the eight Austen children, Cassandra and Jane were the only girls, so they remained especially close throughout their lives. She was an amateur watercolor painter, and produced two paintings of her sister that are the only known images of the legendary novelist produced during her lifetime. Like Jane, she never married; at one time, she was engaged to a former pupil of her father’s, but he died of yellow fever on an expedition to the Caribbean before they could wed. Jane died in 1817; decades later, in 1843, Cassandra burned most of Jane’s personal correspondence, an act that has been pondered over for centuries. She herself died of a stroke in 1845, at age 72. She has been portrayed on screen a handful of times in biopics of her sister; most recently, she was played by Anna Maxwell Martin in 2007’s Becoming Jane, alongside Anne Hathaway as Jane.

In addition to Hawes, Leslie, Hynes, and Mack, Miss Austen will also star Patsy Ferran (Living), Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away With Murder), Max Irons (Condor), Calam Lynch (Archie), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey), Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen). The script was written by Andrea Gibb; all four episodes will be directed by Aisling Walsh, and produced by Stella Merz.

Miss Austen began filming in the UK last month, and has not yet set a release date. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

via Collider