This script has been lightly edited for clarity

 

Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob, and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

As the final episode of Sanditon begins, several lives hang in the balance. For those in Trafalgar House, a long and restless night turns to day as friends and family anxiously wait for any signs of improvement from the grievously ill Mary Parker. 

 

CLIP

Beatrice Hankins: Forgive the intrusion at this early hour.

Mr. Hankins: We have come to offer prayers for Mrs. Parker’s immortal soul.

Dr. Fuchs: I’m afraid your arrival could hardly be more timely Mr. Hankins. I regret, at this moment, what Frau Parker requires is nothing less than a miracle.

 

Meanwhile, Georgiana Lambe faces her own uncertainties. Is Sanditon’s newest arrival — a woman who claims to be Georgiana’s mother — actually who she says she is, or is she just another fortune hunter eager to get her hands on Georgiana’s money? 

 

CLIP

Mary: And she left without saying where she was going? 

Georgiana: She must’ve slipped out while the servants were still asleep.

Charlotte: She’ll have good reason, I’m sure of it.

Mary: You must give her the benefit of the doubt.  

Georgiana: Why? You don’t know her. I barely know her. I question whether she is even my mother at all or a fortune hunter.

Mary: One only has to see the two of you together.

Georgiana: She left as soon as she learned I was to be married, once she realized my fortune would soon be untouchable. I have no need of her anyway, whoever she is. Soon, I will be the duchess of Buckinghamshire. I shall have no need of anyone.

 

And now that Charlotte has broken off her engagement to Ralph and is finally free to pursue the man she loves, it seems as if she is just a little too late. Charlotte discovers that that ship may have already sailed.  

 

CLIP

Charlotte: Georgiana! What is it?

Georgiana: Lady Lydia is engaged. She swore me to secrecy.

Charlotte: Then I’ve missed my chance.

Georgiana: I’m so sorry.

 

Or has it? Could it be that there are happily ever after endings for Charlotte Heywood and Georgiana Lambe?  As we unpack our feelings about the series finale, Sanditon stars Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke join the podcast to share their thoughts on the resolution of Charlotte Heywood and Georgiana Lambe’s stories, and what this series has meant to them as actors.

 

Jace Lacob: And we are back once again for the final time of Sanditon with Sanditon star Rose Williams to talk about the finale. Welcome, Rose.

Rose Williams: Thank you so much for having me again for our final episode.

Jace Lacob: I know it’s crazy to me. Looking at Sanditon as a whole, now, what do you make of Charlotte Heywood’s character arc? Are you, are you happy, or if happy’s not the right word, are you satisfied with where Charlotte ultimately ended up?

Rose Williams: Yeah, I think the Austen fan in me is definitely happy with how things said and did. I think that as we all are, she’s deserving of following her heart’s true wish. And I think that that came to fruition. It’s kind of been so amazing to have the gift of playing a woman navigating through a society that kind of was structured for her not to find her voice and discover herself in the way that she managed to kind of do I think. So, yes, is the answer.

Jace Lacob: For me, I was ultimately pleased that she is able to construct a life that gave her everything that she wanted. She is a wife and a mother, but she has a purpose beyond that, she starts a local school in Sanditon. And what I like about the ending is, it’s not presented as this sort of binary where Charlotte has to choose between love or duty, but she navigates her own path in the end and builds a life that she could only have built herself.

Rose Williams: Exactly. That’s what I really, really appreciate. Yes.

Jace Lacob: You played Charlotte for three series during some extraordinary circumstances. There was a series cancellation and then a resurrection, there were cast departures, there was a global pandemic. The list goes on and on and on. This is, in many ways, the little show that could. I mean, what have you taken away from your experience playing Charlotte Heywood through all of that, that happened?

Rose Williams: Oh my goodness. So much. So much. I mean, it was like, kind of totally life changing, playing Charlotte. The experience of leading a show, the experience of working with an incredible crew and cast, delving into the world of Austen, which I’ve said before and I sincerely will forever hold dear, is the fact that I hadn’t really explored what her legacy kind of meant, until stepping into the shoes of Charlotte in my mid-twenties, which was really amazing for me.

And there were lots of things that I was going through personally that I could connect to in Jane’s writings, learning about the Regency period and connecting now to then. The experience of filming, the experience of wearing the beautiful costumes, the experience of working with such a talented cast, the experience of working with Andrew, especially in season one, and really having to deeply think about this woman’s journey and what it means to be of marriageable age in the Regency period and kind of my relationship with what it means to be a woman in the world. I mean, it’s just been the most incredible gift. It’s brought me a lot of joy and I’m so grateful that it’s been enjoyed by people and I’m just so grateful for the experience of working with such amazing people.

There were quite a few crew members from the first season that came onto the second and third. And then to meet new people working in front and behind the camera across season two and three, I mean, incredible. And also to see the town expand, like the kind of seasons of the show expanding the construction of the promenade everyone was very excited about. It’s like that, that excitement that Tom Parker had. So it was echoed kind of throughout us all. I remember walking up to it being constructed with Charles and him saying, look, look, this is the promenade.

Those kinds of moments where the characters were excited about events in the town, such as the balloon in season two, or various balls. You know, that’s kind of echoing real life. Like, walking into the set, dressed for Gerogiana’s party in episode one, we were all really kind of blown away by the beautiful production design and how the art department had dressed it all. It was emotional shooting the wedding.

Me and Ben were so happy with how our characters came together at the end through the thick and thin of series two and series three and all the ups and downs between Colbourne and Charlotte. There was a real joy that Ben and I shared in having that kind of bow neatly and beautifully tied at the end. We very much enjoyed that as an experience playing those characters.

Jace Lacob: I am curious what you took with you from Charlotte, and I don’t mean physically though, maybe you did take a memento with you as well from the set. But I mean, did you take Charlotte’s confidence with you once the show wrapped? Did you take any qualities that you imbued in this character with you into your personal life?

Rose Williams: That’s a really good question. As Charlotte’s world was expanded by meeting the Parkers and going to Sanditon and falling in love with Sydney, Rose’s world was expanded through the experience. It was the first time I’d done a project where I’d worked every day, basically all hours, every day. So you really, really get to know people. And, by nature of being challenged and being stretched in any job, you know, doesn’t matter if, me being an actress or somebody working in retail or somebody being a teacher or somebody being a cleaner, when you really have to apply yourself in a new job with things that you haven’t had to do before, I think that always stretches one as a human being.

So I think that expansion of world, and then the confidence that comes with it, yeah. I guess the main thing, and like this might sound really corny, that I take away from it, is just really grateful. I’m just really grateful for the experience. I’m really grateful for how it challenged me. I’m really grateful for how it stretched me. I’m really grateful for the people that I met. But when it comes to a character trait, I think I always kind of did share that headstrong spirit, and if anything it kinda made it a bit stronger, ultimately.

Jace Lacob: You be headstrong Rose Williams, be headstrong.

Rose Williams: Sometimes I’m not Jace. Sometimes I’m not. It’s a really special experience that will always mean a lot to me.

Jace Lacob: Charlotte and Georgiana both contemplate entering into loveless marriages out of necessity. But in seeing the love between Tom and the ailing Mary, Charlotte says,

 

CLIP

Charlotte: What a privilege it was to witness, the love they bare each other.

Georgiana: Tom would be quite lost without her.

Charlotte: Is that not what a marriage should be?

 

Jace Lacob: Is this the moment that ultimately spurs her to take the action of calling off her wedding, to finally admit that she doesn’t love Ralph in that way?

Rose Williams: Absolutely. I think a combination of seeing Tom and Mary’s love, and also having watched her dearest friend Georgiana make decisions out of necessity, but through kind of transactional convenience or having to strategize and not following what her heart really wanted and seeing her friend having to do that, I think they kind of mirror it in that sense.

So a combination of being near to her friend, navigating the world in different ways, but also that connection of, of having to veer away from the heart’s wishes and seeing Tom and Mary definitely gave her the kind of confidence to just take the leap of faith and do the very difficult thing in telling Ralph.

Jace Lacob: And breaking his heart utterly. But, uh, poor Ralph.

Rose Williams: It was really hard to do that scene. It was really hard to do. Poor Ralph.

Jace Lacob: So Charlotte intends to tell Colbourne of her feelings for him, but she learns erroneously as we later discover that Lady Lydia is engaged to Colbourne. She doesn’t end up confessing her love, even if he had been engaged to Lady Lydia, which he’s not. And then she says she’s going to go to stay with Alison and Declan before she becomes a teacher, which is her true calling. But I love the final confrontation that occurs between Charlotte and Lady Denham, in which she urges Lady Denham to invest in the school to consider her legacy.

 

CLIP

Charlotte: What about your legacy, my Lady? How you’ll be remembered?

Lady Denham: Why are you still here? Weren’t you supposed to be marrying a farmer?

Charlotte: I was. But I reconsidered.

Lady Denham: Oh, well. I don’t suppose I can criticize you for that. You were always a strange, outspoken young lady. What will become of you, I wonder?

Charlotte: I shall find a way to live my life on my own terms, Lady Denham. Just as you have.

 

Jace Lacob: What did you make of this final scene with Anne Reid?

Rose Williams: That might be my favorite scene that I shot actually.

Jace Lacob: Oh, really? I love that scene.

Rose Williams: Anne and I said how much it meant to us that there was this kind of undercurrent of kindredness that had always been there. And it made us think back to scenes from series one and bumping heads, so to speak, with each other.

I also love a scene that we have when on the promenade on the day of the parade and Lady Denham says something like “oh, you again”. There’s been this very comedic connection, but also, it’s really quite deep.

Jace Lacob: To me that scene, it sort of contains the entire key to understanding Charlotte’s character—that she’s plucky, she’s outspoken, she’s brave, and she stands up to power and privilege in a very smart and meaningful way. And, and she says, “I shall find a way to live my life on my own terms, Lady Denham, just as you have”.

I mean, it’s Charlotte at her best, and she, even if she doesn’t necessarily respect Lady Denham as a person, there is, as you say, sort of weird kinship between these two women that have created their own paths. And this is the moment where these two women can finally stand and face each other on equal footing, in a very unexpected way.

Rose Williams: Yeah. I think that Lady Denham maybe, Anne might correct me, but maybe quite likes the fact that Charlotte has challenged her and had the audacity to stand up against her ignorance. That felt very much like a true nod to the beginning of the show and a full circle to where we find Charlotte and Lady Denham at the end of season three. That was a great round off for their relationship I thought.

Jace Lacob: We finally get the proposal we’ve been waiting for as Charlotte leaves Sanditon only to be stopped at the last possible moment by Colburn who stops her carriage on horseback.

 

CLIP

Colbourne: You bewitched me from the very first moment we met. And ever since my affections have not wavered. Indeed, they have only grown deeper with every second that I have spent in your company. I cannot imagine how fathomless they will be once we have shared a lifetime together.

 

Jace Lacob: What was it like shooting this incredibly pivotal scene with Ben Lloyd-Hughes?

Rose Williams: Oh, that was a tough one. It was such a meaningful one. And I’ll tell you a little secret. It was so windy up on the cliff that day, I believe that day, it rained. It must have rained after we were up there. I think the heavens opened and it poured with rain that afternoon, if I remember correctly or that week. And, me and Ben got told that we might have to reshoot that scene because the wind was so extreme and I was beside myself. I was like, no! Ben was so heartbreaking. He really moved me, we really connected, we felt like we really tapped in. And we didn’t re-shoot it in the end. That was the pure, it was like it added to it—the stakes, the emotion, the swirling winds, the swirling hearts.

Jace Lacob: Ralph’s tears.

Rose Williams: Ralph’s tears!

Jace Lacob: Those were Ralph’s tears coming down from the heavens.

Rose Williams: Yeah, that was a really important scene, really moving, really special to do it on the same location that all of the prominent cliff top scenes have been at.

Jace Lacob: I love that scene. We talked about Charlotte’s ending earlier, but I do want to bring things back around to the future that we see at the end of series three, a Charlotte who’s found a role as a teacher, as a mother, as a wife. And her final line of dialogue for the entire series is so full of promise.

 

CLIP

Colbourne: Are you filling young girls’ heads with ideas again, Mrs. Colbourne?

Charlotte: I hope so.

Leonora: Do you really think a girl can be a lawyer?

Tess: Or a doctor?

Augusta: Or a writer?

Charlotte: I think a girl can be whatever she chooses to be.

 

Jace Lacob: What do you make of that?

Rose Williams: Yeah. I really fought for that! There were a lot of versions of what that final line was going to be, and countless, countless, countless discussions. And I was very pleased with the end result, because I think choice is the utmost freedom. And I think that that is the message that I felt Charlotte’s parting words should absolutely be, and it totally reflects her and Jane, I think.

Jace Lacob: I think so. I mean, it underlines, the sea change that happens in this final episode with Colbourne’s insistence that Tom and Mary build a school to educate everyone in Sanditon, that it’s vital that every young woman be learned as well as accomplished. It pays tribute, as you say, to Jane Austen, but to Charlotte Heywood to the notion of headstrong women forging their own paths across the centuries. And it sort of becomes this final moment of this final journey for Charlotte Heywood, and I think it perfectly encapsulates all of that, that she has been through, over the course of three series. What were you fighting for in terms of that line?

Rose Williams: I mean, I was just over the moon with that line, Jace. I was so happy. It felt like such a perfect as you just so beautifully put, such a perfect way to encapsulate everything that Charlotte Heywood represents, choice. And as you said earlier, she is working and she’s had a baby and she’s married for love and she’s able to support her family. And she’s existing in Sanditon alongside her dearest friends, all through choice. Painful, but worth it.

Jace Lacob: So three series, countless scenes, love and heartbreak, friendship and loss, dancing, romance. We mentioned the scene where Charlotte stands up to Lady Denham, but is that ultimately sort of your favorite scene from across the entire run of Sanditon? Can you pick one scene that is your favorite?

Rose Williams: That’s so tough. Oh my goodness. There’s so many scenes. I suppose the opening scene with her wielding a rifle paired with the final scene would be my favorite combo because there’s two clear pictures of who this woman is and all that she achieved and created for her life, but in context of where she’s come from. I like the opening first, first, first ever scene lined up next to the final scene. I think that’s quite a wonderful circle.

Jace Lacob: Let’s push those two book ends together. I love it. I love it. Unrelated to Sanditon, I have to say I have not encountered a character as hilariously odious as Pamela Penrose in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris in a very long time, opposite the always amazing Lesley Manville, who we had on a couple months ago. What was it like playing Pamela?

Rose Williams: Oh my goodness. That was so fun. We shot that at the end of 2020 and I just kind of wafted in, getting to play this character inspired by some of my favorite blonde bombshells, such as Diana Dors and Jayne Mansfield. And our director Tony and I just had such a good time talking about the period and talking about the late fifties and all that the character represented. And it was just such a feel good film and I’m so grateful to have been a little part of it in a time when I think people kind of really were craving something that was full of lightness, in a way that Sanditon is full of lightness and joy. Mrs. Harris is in a different way, and I’m really, really grateful to be part of that film. And the costumes. Oh my god, Jenny Beavan is just an absolute icon.

Jace Lacob: She is. She’s always amazing. All of her work.

Rose Williams: Oh my goodness me, that fitting, I’ll never forget. It was just absolutely brilliant. So thank you. That was a fun one. Very different to Charlotte Heywood, wasn’t she?

Jace Lacob: Yeah. I mean, I’ve never wanted to scream at Charlotte as much as I wanted to scream at Pamela.

Rose Williams: Yeah, Charlotte would absolutely loathe her.

Jace Lacob: By the time this comes out, I believe you’ll be wrapped on Locked In, which is your new Netflix psychological thriller. So I’m curious, what is next for you, Rose Williams?

Rose Williams: What is next for me? That’s a very good question. The horizon’s kind of open. I just finished on Locked In and we’ll see where the seas take me. I’m quite interested in being creative in different ways. I’m kind of experimenting with visual arts, so I’m kind of in a place where I’m excited for the next chapter. I’m excited to see what job comes next, but I’m also excited to explore different avenues of creativity. That’s my new chapter.

Jace Lacob: I will say like Charlotte Heywood, be that headstrong navigator, Rose Williams, Forge your own path.

Rose Williams: Thank you.

Jace Lacob: Always a pleasure, Rose Williams. Thank you so very much.

Rose Williams: Thank you so very much. Thank you.

 

Midroll

 

Jace Lacob: And this week we are once again joined by Sanditon star, Crystal Clarke. Welcome.

Crystal Clarke: Hello. Hello. Hello.

Jace Lacob: We are talking about the finale of Sanditon, the finale, finale. The end.

Jace Lacob: I want to step back, and look at Sanditon as a whole. What do you, Crystal Clarke, make of the narrative arc for Georgiana Lambe? Are you satisfied? Are you happy by where Georgiana ultimately ends up?

Crystal Clarke: Yeah, we took Georgiana on a journey I don’t think I would have known she was going to go on from the very beginning. Definitely not. And within that, there were questions asked of herself and her identity and her family and so on that like, were tough questions that like, I wasn’t sure for a second we were going to get, and we got them. And so I’m very pleased. And to top it all off, it’s a happily ever after.

Jace Lacob: She does get her happily ever after. I mean Georgiana, she attempts to find independence and love. As this wealthy woman of color, she has her heart broken repeatedly. She experiences betrayal. She discovers the truth about her mother and her father. She marries Otis Molyneux in the end. And if we look at Sanditon in terms of the education of Georgiana Lambe, what do you think she ultimately learns over the course of these three seasons?

Crystal Clarke: Gosh. She learns how to find happiness. And it’s never been straightforward. It’s not just, get your money, be in charge of your money. It’s not just, get the guy. It’s all of the questions and the discovery that come along with growing up, and looking those things straight in the eye and taking accountability for maybe your shortcomings, or the things that you haven’t seen that you need to look more closely at.

She has really been put through the adulting test and she has learned how to move through it gracefully, I think, and come out the other end a happy camper.

Jace Lacob: You played Georgiana for three seasons and I have to say, I think that this cast in particular has sort of gone through anything and everything that a cast can go through. You went through a series cancellation. It was then resurrected. You had cast departures. You were acting during a global pandemic.

Crystal Clarke: Yo, who can say that?

Jace Lacob: I mean, it is crazy to me that we are sitting here today actually talking about this because it is the craziest thing. You wrapped on Sanditon a while ago at this point, but what did you take away from that experience, from the craziness of that, from all of these things going on outside of the show while playing Georgiana? What did you take away?

Crystal Clarke: I actually took away the importance of knowing when to just sit still. And I took away being able to tap into myself and understand more what I need, in terms of my mental health, and boundaries, and boundaries when it comes to work and what’s important in life.

I was in the UK for six months filming Sanditon. I didn’t have my cat. It was covid, so I wasn’t flying back and forth to see family or anything. And I found that really difficult. And what it reminded me of was just how important family is to me. And how important just the everyday of life is and how much I value being able to just live life any day. I love acting and I love my job and my job is great, but it’s just so good to be reminded of how important the everyday is and how important your family and your loved ones are. It’s so important and I feel like that’s something the pandemic taught all of us.

Jace Lacob: Absolutely. To me, the cancellation ended up perhaps having a benefit in that there was a sort of pause in this story. Do you feel like it helped crystallize or reset, if not the series, then perhaps Georgiana’s storyline itself, having that time?

Crystal Clarke: Yes. Yes. I also think that like, let’s be real, Theo kind of like made space for a lot of people’s stories to have room to flourish. While it was sad to see him go, it was actually a positive that came out of his departure. It created space for us to see like all of these new characters, and I’m not really sure there would’ve been as much of a hunger to dive into other characters’ stories, and other characters’ love stories. Like, I’m also really thinking of Arthur.

Jace Lacob: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Crystal Clarke: I loved that storyline so much. And I’m not sure that’s the direction we would’ve gone in if we had this overarching romantic dynamic that felt like the only center point to the show.

Jace Lacob: So you mentioned Arthur. I have to ask, one of my favorite elements is of course, the friendship between Georgiana and Arthur Parker. They experienced some tension in season two because of Lockhart, but it sort of boils over into a full-blown love triangle in season three between Georgiana and Arthur and Harry Montrose. What did you make of this love triangle of sorts, between the three of them?

Crystal Clarke: I thought it was so progressive. And I was so pleased. I was like, yes, you guys. It’s obviously not great how Georgiana went about it, but I was honestly just so happy to see those elements incorporated into the story because I was not expecting it at all.

Jace Lacob: I love the fact that she proposes this arrangement where Arthur comes to live with them and Chawley and Arthur and Harry could continue their romance while they have this fiction going of Georgiana’s and Harry’s marriage.

 

CLIP

Georgiana: Arthur, I’ve been thinking. It is not a perfect solution but Chawley is vast. There would be ample room for you to live with us, would there not Harry?

Harry: Ample, if the arrangement would be agreeable.

 

Jace Lacob: It is like this sort of perfect solution that might actually work. It’s, as you say, it’s sort of very modern and progressive for an Austen heroine to suggest this sort of arrangement. But Georgiana I think does it because she truly loves Arthur, not in that way unfortunately, but she truly loves him and wants to make him happy, and thinks that this is a solution that could work for all of them. But, it doesn’t.

I love the fact that it’s Georgiana’s mother Agnes, who saves Georgiana from this sort of loveless marriage, and reunites her with Otis. And considering she’s a former slave, she’s able to take this very active role and have this sense of agency even when she comes up against the money and influence of the Montroses. Did you feel like this was a fitting conclusion to Georgiana and Agnes’s story?

Crystal Clarke: Yeah, definitely. Because it’s, I feel like that the whole time they’re still working on building trust. There’s still a question of building that connection that they’ve not been able to explore for so long, that they’ve not had for so long. And I think there’s no better way for her to be able to prove…it wasn’t her intention to prove anything, but there’s no better proof for Georgiana that that is her mama and she is there for her. And I think, yeah, it’s a great way to tie things together. And to have the inclusion of Otis and her mom being like, that’s the one, is just the best.

Jace Lacob: It is, it is the best. Georgiana has long been a fire brand. I think about the pineapple scene at Lady Denham’s in season one all the time, and her sugar boycott. To me it’s only fitting she should end up with someone that has the same aims as her, namely abolitionist Otis, rather than in a family who profited from slavery, that she would be sort of tying her fate to. Do Georgiana and Otis ultimately make the most sense as a pair, even given what happened in their past?

Crystal Clarke: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And I think it’s just so great that he challenges her in a way. It’s not just simple. And he is always going to put her to the test in terms of like, who she is and what she believes. And she’ll do the same for him.

Jace Lacob: Aw. Their wedding isn’t this lavish flower-festooned society affair, but it’s a simple ceremony in a London Church. It’s attended only by Agnes. What does the simplicity of their wedding say about Georgiana and how far she’s come as a character, that this event wouldn’t be a sort of performative act, but instead it’s sort of a really deeply personal one?

Crystal Clarke: It’s a culmination of every of the biggest lessons she’s learned in terms of what is important to her and who she is. And the intimacy of that wedding is just a culmination of all of that and her realizing what’s truly important to her and what is enough for her, more than enough.

Jace Lacob: Ultimately Georgiana finds her mother, her sense of self, her fortune, and true love. Is this the idealized ending that you would’ve chosen for your character?

Crystal Clarke: One of them definitely. Listen, there are so many options, but definitely it’s up on the list. You know, personally, if Georgiana had gone to Antigua in season two, I wouldn’t have hated that because that would’ve been a really nice work/vacation for Crystal, you know? So, many options, but very happy, very pleased with the one that we got.

Jace Lacob: That’s amazing. Georgiana was the first and only character of color written by Jane Austen. With this episode, we finally get a conclusion to her story—one that feels rightly earned and has her in charge of her own destiny finally. What do you hope that viewers take away from Georgiana Lambe’s story and her struggle over these three seasons?

Crystal Clarke: When you’re watching something, you’re always going to connect easier to one character, or some characters rather than others. Or you might be able to understand some character’s perspective more than others. And what I hope that Georgiana’s story does is I hope that it’s a way of opening people’s perspectives and having them maybe connect in a way or to a character that they might not normally, or have them ask questions that they might not have asked. Yeah, I think just an opening up of perspective.

Jace Lacob: I like that. So we got three seasons. If we were to watch them all, it would take almost an entire day. Countless scenes of love and heartbreak, and friendship and loss, and runaway carriages and rotten pineapples. Can you choose a favorite Georgiana scene from the entire run of Sanditon. Is there a scene looking back now that you are most proud of?

Crystal Clarke: I feel like the one that lives in my mind, rent free is the cliff scene from season one. That was a starting point I feel like, to Georgiana’s story and I feel like I was so happy with tonally where we got that, that it set us up for the rest of it really, yeah. I think about that and I think about all of the isolation and the emotion and the darkness of that moment that was encapsulated in that moment. And how if we played it differently, it could’ve been different or maybe not as effective or something, you know? So I’d say that is probably my fave.

Jace Lacob: I mean, that’s a good choice. I like that choice. We’re talking, this episode’s going out on the night that the final episode is airing in the States. You filmed this a while ago, but the story of Sanditon has been going for quite some time in your life. What does it feel like to say goodbye, as it were, to Georgiana Lambe at this point as the final episode goes out over broadcast?

Crystal Clarke: Wow. Oh my gosh. I feel very appreciative. I feel appreciative of the fans. I feel appreciative of where Georgiana’s story has gone. It’s such a bittersweet thing. It’s also just kind of like, it came out of nowhere. Because I already thought it was over, and then bam, we were back again. So I was just kind of like, I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting it. But I feel very grateful for the experience. And I was so happy that I was able to, I did like a little competition on my Instagram to like, give the scripts away from season one. I don’t have any season two and three scripts to give out. I’m sorry guys, because the script changed so much, so I apologize. But I wanted to do something to just show my appreciation to the fans. It doesn’t always feel like enough to just be like, “thank you for your support.” And it was just something that I felt like I could do and I’m glad that I got to do and I hope people enjoyed that.

There was a card that people made for me right before I was coming back for season two and three, and that just meant so much to know that there were people that supported me and understood that it wasn’t an easy decision for me to make, or the easiest of positions to be in. And so I feel very grateful for this experience. I’ve learned a lot as Georgiana, a lot, for myself included.

Jace Lacob: I have to ask, you’re too young to remember Ross Kemp on EastEnders, but for many of us of a certain age, he is Grant Mitchell, even more than being a documentary filmmaker. You are acting opposite Ross in Blind Spot for Channel Five. What can you tell us about that series?

Crystal Clarke: Blind Spot is a very different series to Sanditon.

Jace Lacob: Also based on a book by Jane Austen, though.

Crystal Clarke: Yeah, based on a thriller by Jane Austen. I’m very excited about it. There’s some stunts. I did a stunt. Whoa. It’s all very, not scary, but it’s all very thrilling stuff. Mysterious. And it was refreshing to be able to do something where I wore clothes that people would maybe actually wear today.

Jace Lacob: So you’re not, you’re not in a corset? No corset this time?

Crystal Clarke: I’m not in a corset!

Jace Lacob:  Whoa. Crystal.

Crystal Clarke: I know.

Jace Lacob: So you finished Blindspot, Sanditon is wrapped, it’s aired. What is next for you?

Crystal Clarke: We don’t know yet. We just have to wait and see.

Jace Lacob: Well, Crystal Clarke, you are one of those actors that I come across and I only want the very best for you.

Crystal Clarke: Thank you.

Jace Lacob: I think you are fantastic. Crystal Clarke, thank you so, so very much.

Crystal Clarke: Thank you so much. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

 

And with that, we’ve reached the end of our little show that could. While Jane Austen never had the chance to finish her fragment, this Sanditon—once canceled and then resurrected—fortunately managed to conclude its story and send its heroines off to their happily ever after endings. As we say farewell to Sanditon, we look ahead to a brand new MASTERPIECE miniseries full of sunshine and joy—the delightful romantic comedy Tom Jones. 

 

CLIP

Sophia Narration: Everyone loved the squire, even his servants. But no one loved him better than a boy from nowhere—a boy without parents, a boy called Tom, my Tom Jones.

 

Join us next week as we talk with Tom Jones screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes for a behind the scenes look at the creation of this lighthearted miniseries, available Sunday April 30, wherever you get your podcasts.