Anthony Head

(...)

You’re much better off at PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre, where one durable brand name bolsters another, as The Complete Jane Austen gets under way. First up: a smart new 90-minute version of the emotionally intense Persuasion that’s as economical in scope as Comanche Moon is swollen. (The series continues with new films of Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and a two-part Sense and Sensibility, plus an original biopic titled Miss Austen Regrets and acquisitions of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma.)

Sally Hawkins is appropriately and heart-rendingly dour as Persuasion’s pensive heroine, Anne, a 27-year-old spinster whose family’s falling fortunes make the situation even more awkward when she is reunited by chance with the dashing naval officer she once unwisely spurned. “We love longest when all hope is gone,” she says, trapped by social conventions and obligations that forbid her to speak her mind until it’s almost too late.

In the supporting cast, check out Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Anthony Head as her preening buffoon of a class-obsessed father. His is the most comic turn in this quietly moving romance.

Strike, schmike. This winter, my favorite TV writer may just be the immortal Miss Austen.

Persuasion airs Sunday, Jan. 13, on PBS; check local listings.