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Miss Austen star Keeley Hawes is on this week's Radio Times cover
Why did Jane Austen's sister burn her letters? Keeley Hawes on the author's greatest love story.
BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky
- Shem Law
Published: Tuesday, 4 February 2025 at 12:01 am
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Our cover story this week is about Miss Austen - not the celebrated Jane, but her older sister, Cassandra. Any TV or film adaptation of one of Jane Austen's six novels will always attract a huge audience. However this BBC series is based on a book by Gill Hornby and is much more intriguing.
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Cassandra has long been vilified for burning most of the letters that the sisters wrote to each other. Now Hornby and the star of the drama, Keeley Hawes, want to restore her good name. Hornby tells us that, "It's a love story between two sisters."
In the few letters that do survive, it's obvious that Jane was devoted to her big sister. As the only two girls among six brothers, it's hard not to agree with Hornby's premise. Every Austen fan will enjoy the chat between Hornby and Hawes, and the four-part drama.
Elsewhere you'll find a feature on Virdee, a new detective drama set in Bradford, and the return of ITV's hit cold-case drama Unforgotten.
And don't miss the report on our annual night with the stars - the Radio Times Covers Party, hosted by Sir Lenny Henry. I only wish you could have all been there to meet everyone from Dame Sarah Storey to Tony Blackburn and the heroes who graced our D-Day covers last June.
The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here.
BBC/Bonnie Productions/MASTERPIECE/Robert Viglasky
Also in this week's Radio Times:
- The star of One Day and Prime Target, Leo Woodall, tells us what it's like being a sex symbol.
- Dame Joanna Lumley and Lucy Punch are playing the mother-daughter relationship for laughs in new comedy Amandaland.
- Comedian Katherine Ryan shares the view from her sofa and discusses her new reality show At Home with Katherine Ryan.
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Authors
Shem Law
Shem Law is the brand editor of Radio Times, and the 20th person to hold that esteemed position in over 100 years. He wasn't allowed a television growing up, but over the years he has rather overcompensated for that fact.
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