Last night's TV: Austen world, minus the pride

Published on Wednesday 3 September 2008 20:31

Lost In Austen, STV Who Do You Think You Are? BBC1

WHY bother coming up with original ideas when you can steal someone else's? This, I am reliably informed, is the governing maxim at ITV, a place where proven formats go to die.

Their latest exercise in lazy plagiarism is Lost In Austen, a flimsy time-travelling comedy/drama which pilfers the pockets of Life On Mars, Back To The Future and, of course, the BBC's esteemed 1990s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (and by association, Bridget Jones' Diary). Its sheer brazenness almost merits a standing ovation.

Writer Guy Andrews would doubtless argue that his tale is an affectionate homage to these works. But he'd be lying. Lost In Austen is a cynically contrived confection which labours under the misapprehension that period drama + time travel > giving the people what they want.

So to the plot, for what it's worth: Amanda (Jemima Rooper) is a romantically frustrated modern-day Austen obsessive who yearns to return to a time of courtliness and gentility. Fortunately for her, Pride and Prejudice heroine Elizabeth Bennett (Gemma Arterton, who appears to be everywhere at the moment) materialises in her bathroom one evening to show her a secret door into Austen's fictional paradise.

Naturally enough, Amanda's presence upsets the novel's narrative, meaning that she has to ensure that the various threads unfold as originally written. Elizabeth, meanwhile, has locked herself in Amanda's world, with which she's evidently fascinated, suggesting that soon we may be treated to scenes of her getting smashed on vodka mules and dancing to Abba.

Upon realising that she hadn't been press-ganged into some kind of Austen-themed reality show, Amanda seemed to take it more or less in her stride. The meddling Mrs Bennett aside, Elizabeth's family also accepted their 21st-century visitor with unlikely alacrity. Andrews didn't seem remotely interested in – or capable of – rooting his fantasy within any kind of acceptable internal logic. Imaginative storytelling is to be encouraged, but if the characters don't behave convincingly within their far-fetched context, then it's impossible to buy into.

As you'd expect, the humour (such as it was) revolved entirely around Amanda making anachronistic comments in front of bamboozled period characters (Ha! She's putting lipstick on before meeting Mr Darcy! How frightfully witty). Back To The Future and Doctor Who get away with such schtick because they're charming and inventive. This isn't either.

Still, it was almost worth it if only to hear Elizabeth tell Amanda: "I have my fleshy envelope, as you yours." I've considered typing this into Google to discover whether it's an actual quote from Austen's novel, but frankly I'm terrified of what I might find.

In the latest Who Do You Think You Are? , Esther Rantzen seemed positively cock-a-hoop that her great grandfather, a solicitor, apparently absconded to America with the modern equivalent of 250,000 of a client's money. "This is terrible!" she hooted, as though she'd just won the lottery. She was equally tickled to discover that he had earlier accidentally shot and killed a servant. Perhaps this mild hysteria is how Esther copes with such revelations: it made her look slightly bonkers, though.

The tears only came as she surveyed a car park in Warsaw where the Jewish ghetto once stood. Had her great grandfather not fled for London when he did, then perhaps the Rantzens wouldn't have survived. As ever with this casually effective programme, it was difficult to feel cynical in the face of such personal epiphany.