On January 20, 2022, with only 59 days (but, who’s counting?) until the March 20 premiere of Sanditon Season 2, Masterpiece PBS released the first official trailer. Although the short preview doesn’t clarify any of the storylines already revealed in the initial casting announcement, it does provide fans with moving images – in both senses of the term – of the new season.
If the trailer is any guide, fans will definitely need tissues on hand during Episode 1 of Sanditon Season 2. The image of a horse-drawn carriage once again gliding over the clifftops instantly hits the tender spot in our hearts left by the final scenes of Episode 8 of Season 1. This opening image combined with melancholy music and a cut to Charlotte Heywood’s (Rose Williams) anxious but expectant face appears to provide a coherent continuation of the story.
A quick shot of a smiling Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke) moving about unaccompanied in the streets of Sanditon seems to promise more freedom for her. This hopeful instant of anticipation provides a brief reprieve from heartache. In a visual throwback to Season 1, we see a carriage pulling up to Trafalgar House (presumably), and Charlotte’s slow wide-eyed entrance into the house. This time, however, a sense of unease replaces the joy and wonder of last season.
All is not sad, however, as we get fleeting glimpses of old friends like Arthur Parker (Turlough Convery), Mary Parker (Kate Ashfield), and the Parker children during Charlotte’s arrival. In a voiceover, Charlotte affirms that she is “extremely fond of Sanditon and the people in it” just as we see a smiling Tom Parker (Kris Marshall) and Arthur along with the curious Heywood sisters as they all watch the militia parade into town.
The mood and music shift as Georgiana and Charlotte are apparently reunited for the first time. Their enthusiastic embrace provides an excellent transition between old and new seasons of Sanditon as the rest of the preview introduces new characters and relationships.
The second half of the Sanditon Season 2 preview, with soaring music, teases period drama lovers with all the visuals we love. Women in ball gowns dance with red coats and men in formal attire, including images of Charlotte and Alison Heywood (Rosie Graham) with their respective suitors. Charlotte is shown partnered with Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) and Colonel Francis Lennox (Thomas Weston-Jones), while Alison is shown with Captain William Carter (Maxim Ays) as Captain Declan Fraser (Frank Blake) appears to look on, ignoring his own partner.
Carriage rides and formal party settings, including one in which we discover the intriguing Charles Lockhart (Alexander Vlahos), combine with sweeping views of the seaside and the clifftops to give Sanditon its familiar feel.
The Sanditon Season 2 trailer seems to tease sibling and friend relationships as much as courtship, with scenes devoted to Charlotte and Alison and to Georgiana and Alison figuring equally as prominently as intriguing encounters that may (or may not) lead to romance.
And, there’s the ever present memory of love. The preview ends with Charlotte on a solitary cliff walk and the voiceover “Love is not as simple as you seem to think.”
Looking back and moving forward – if the preview is an accurate taste of the new seasons, Sanditon will allow fans who desire it to do both.
Watch the trailer below and come discuss your thoughts with us.