Sanditon

My dear, I think we're going the wrong way.

Oh. Nonsense, my dear, this is the way.

You'll see I'm right.

CARRIAGE RATTLES

Hold tight, dear. That's the way.

Look, Charlotte.

Who can that be?

They need to slow down. They're going too fast for that track.

SHE SHRIEKS

Quick, Alison. Quickly, boys!

HORSES NEIGHING

Are you all right?

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

HORSES NEIGHING

Good boy.

Is anybody hurt?

Here we are.

No harm done.

Careful, Charlotte.

Steady. Here, let me help.

Thank you, miss.

- Very kind of you to risk yourself. - Not at all, ma'am.

This is the most exciting thing to happen in Wellington for years.

I'm fine, thank you, miss.

HE GRUNTS

There we are. Neat as ninepence.

Argh!

Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all.

Give me your arm, sir. Our house is close by.

Well, thank you, miss.

What kindness. I see we have fallen amongst friends.

This really is so kind of you.

We were in search of a physician, you know, sir.

For Sanditon.

Is Sanditon a relative, sir?

No, no, a place.

And what a place.

Sanditon is, or very soon will be,

the finest seaside resort on the whole of the south coast.

Then I should very much like to see it, sir.

And so you shall. I just...

Argh.

Thank you.

What a glorious sight it is.

You see, Miss Heywood,

hotel here, shops,

new terraces here.

Cliff walk and the assembly rooms... here.

Do you plan to have dancing there, sir?

We are holding our first ball next week.

- You're really building all this? - I am.

Well, causing it to be built.

Mr Heywood, our carriage is quite repaired now,

and I insist you must come

and sample the delights of Sanditon without delay.

Forgive me, sir, I make it a principle

never to go more than five miles away from home.

Ah, but for Sanditon, sir.

For Sanditon, with all its charms, you must make an exception.

My husband is ever the enthusiast.

Nothing wrong with that, madam, but he cannot tempt me.

Then one of your daughters perhaps, in return for your kindness.

- Papa, might I go? - Really, Charlotte.

Forgive my eldest daughter's presumption,

- Mr Parker. - Not at all.

Nothing could delight us more. Of course she can come.

Stay as long as she likes. Can she not, Mary?

If you permit, we will be very happy, sir.

Charlotte.

Yes, Papa. Just a word, my dear. Just a word.

Now, these seaside resorts can be odd places.

No-one quite knows who anyone else is,

where they come from

and what they're up to.

That sounds... stimulating.

Yes, well, I suppose it is.

But...

the normal rules of conduct tend to be relaxed

and sometimes altogether flouted.

But if I'm with Mr and Mrs Parker, nothing bad can happen, can it?

Just...

Just be careful.

That's all.

Careful of what, Papa?

Everything.

- Bye, Charlotte. - Bye-bye, Charlotte.

- Be good. - Bye!

CHORUS OF GOODBYES

CHILDREN LAUGHING

Bye, Charlotte, bye!

Now we are coming near.

Do you feel a difference in the air, Miss Heywood?

Sea air.

Better than any medicine or tonic.

And there, there is the sea itself.

Oh, yes. I see it.

Doesn't it make your spirits soar?

Tom, you can't expect Charlotte

to be as excited by a glimpse of salt water as you are.

Stuff and nonsense. I'll wager that within a few days

she'll be as keen as mustard on it.

Indeed, Mrs Parker. I needed to see everything.

Ah, now we are just coming up to Sanditon House.

Lady Denham's place. Now, she is the great lady of the town.

Very rich.

And very much involved, as I am, in the future of Sanditon

as a first-class bathing resort.

You see, just coming into view now.

Shall we call upon her this very minute, my dear?

I should like Miss Heywood to meet her

and I have business matters to discuss with her.

Before we see our own children, Tom?

No?

Well, perhaps you're right.

Indeed you are right, always.

Trafalgar House and the children it is.

This is civilisation indeed.

Here we are!

- Have you been good? - Yeah.

KISSING

Children!

- Ha-ha-ha. Papa's home! - Papa, so glad you're home.

Miss Heywood,

allow me to introduce you to Alicia, Jenny, Henry

and baby James.

- Say how do you do to Miss Heywood. - How do you do?

Well, in we go.

After you, Miss Heywood.

Come in, Mum. Come in, come in.

That is a portrait of Sidney, my younger brother.

We're expecting him down from London for the ball.

We're counting on his help to make Sanditon fashionable.

- What is his occupation? - Good question.

He's a man of affairs, a man of business,

importing, exporting. He's here, there and everywhere.

You can ask him yourself when you meet.

Let me show you to your room, Charlotte.

I hope you'll be comfortable here.

Thank you.

I'm sure I shall.

I've never had a room of my own before.

Come down for tea as soon as you've settled in.

A governess and her school, is that really the best we can muster?

What about the rest of our empty houses?

They will be taken up soon enough, Lady Denham. Mark my words.

So you keep saying, but by whom?

You promised me a quick return

on my investment.

I can assure you the ball will change everything.

My brother Sidney is bringing a crowd

of his most well-connected friends.

Once they start spreading the word of Sanditon's delights,

we shall be overrun.

From what I know of your brother, I won't hold my breath.

And if this ball is so vital,

why have you not been here to arrange it?

Instead you hare off

in pursuit of a doctor we have no need of

and return with nothing more than a sprained ankle

and another young lady. What is the use of that?

We have enough young ladies here,

unless she brings a fortune with her.

Does she?

- Miss Heywood is a very charm... - Tom.

Oh.

So, this is the young lady.

Lady Denham, may I present Miss Charlotte Heywood.

- How do you do? - Hmm.

Very prettily done, my dear.

Lady Denham's ward, Miss Clara Brereton.

- Good day. - Well, she's a fine, healthy-looking girl.

Though nothing remarkable as to looks.

What is your father, Miss Heywood?

He has a small estate in Willingden, ma'am.

And farms it, I suppose?

That won't do any more. Land is not what it used to be.

Industry and enterprise, that is the future.

Indeed it is.

How many brothers and sisters have you?

11, ma'am.

11?

Oh, you will need to marry well.

And no doubt they've sent you

to Sanditon to find yourself a fortune.

Not at all, ma'am. Lady Denham...

Nonsense. Of course they have.

There is no shame in that. I married very well myself.

Any children, ma'am?

No, we were not blessed.

Sir Harry Denham was elderly and in poor health.

And now, do you see,

everybody is waiting for me to shuffle off this mortal coil

so they can have my money.

What do you say to that, Miss Heywood?

If you have no direct heirs, Lady Denham,

I suppose you can leave it where you please.

Quite right. You're a sharp one, Miss Heywood.

But my relations all think they have a claim on it.

The Breretons, as I was a Miss Brereton.

Clara there is one of many Breretons.