A captivating BBC radio dramatisation of Jane Austen's most overlooked novel.

Sent away from her poverty-stricken parents in Portsmouth to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, nine-year-old Fanny Price is abruptly transplanted to a new, luxurious home: Mansfield Park. Overwhelmed by the grandeur of her surroundings, she feels out of place—and as she grows up, her spoiled cousins, Tom, Maria and Julia, never let her forget her humble beginnings. Only her cousin Edmund treats her with kindness, and the two become close companions.

But their lives are turned upside down when Sir Thomas goes away to visit his sugar plantation in the West Indies—and the charismatic Crawfords, Henry and Mary, arrive on the scene. Glamorous, attractive and flirtatious, they shake up the entire Bertram family—and leave Fanny grappling with emotions she's never felt before...

In Mansfield Park, Jane Austen gives us her subtlest and most unusual heroine: a displaced child, shaped by family and adversity, who becomes a quietly resolute young woman with an unshakeable moral code. This enthralling dramatisation focusses on the precariousness of Fanny's life—as a poor relation, unmarried, and living on an estate funded by sugar and slavery—and follows her as she navigates this high-stakes world with courage and conviction.

Production credits

Written by Jane Austen

Adapted by Clara Glynn

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane

Directed by Bruce Young

Fanny Price - Lydia Wilson

Edmund Bertram - Bryan Dick

Mary Crawford - Tala Gouveia

Henry Crawford - Tom Mothersdale

Mrs Norris/Mrs Grant - Janice Acquah

Lady Bertram - Madeleine Worrall

Tom Bertram/William Price - Joshua Riley

Sir Thomas - John Hollingworth

Mr Rushworth- Samuel Valentine

Maria Bertram - Faith Alabi

Julia Bertram - Hollie Burgess

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10-17 July 2022