'Sanditon' Season 2's New Photos are a Portrait of Charlotte Heywood

When ITV and PBS debuted Sanditon, based on Jane Austen's final unfinished novel, in 2019/2020, it seemed much like most Austen novels. Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) was the plucky heroine looking for love. Sidney Parker (Theo James) was the hero she would clash with until she realized what a goodhearted man he was. In proper Austen form, the two would declare their love and live happily ever after. Except that didn't happen. Instead, believing the show had Season 2 in the bag, Sidney got engaged to a woman he didn't love because he desperately needed to support his family; the series put Charlotte on a carriage to roll home alone, single, and sobbing.

A different ending, to be sure, but one that left many viewers upset, especially since ITV had already declared the show canceled. Thankfully, in the wake of Bridgerton's smash success on Netflix, Masterpiece and BritBox UK decided to revive the series, giving fans of Austen a completely new scenario. What happens when the true love that was supposed to happen doesn't?

It couldn't be a Persuasion-like scenario either, where true love kept apart finds itself coming together despite other people's interference. Unlike Anne Elliot's Captain Wentworth, Sidney Parker wasn't coming back — Theo James is starring in HBO's The Time Traveler's Wife.