With only 35 days (but again, who’s counting?) until the March 21 UK premiere of Sanditon Season 2, Britbox surprised viewers with a new trailer on Valentine’s Day. Where previous teasers left fans hungry for new details of the upcoming season, Britbox served up a more substantial appetizer.
The one-minute trailer promises the variety of absorbing stories that made Sanditon Season 1 more than simply a Regency rom-com. Offering viewers scenes of old rivalries and new schemes, this trailer suggests the strong ensemble cast will be put to good use.
Offering viewers scenes of old rivalries and new schemes, this trailer suggests the strong ensemble cast will be put to good use.
Like the January Masterpiece PBS teaser, the new Britbox Sanditon Season 2 trailer opens with a seemingly wistful Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams). We see the now familiar scene of Charlotte entering Trafalgar House, observing all that has changed since her first visit. The overlay of Allison Heywood’s (Rosie Graham) excited voice and a cut to the two sisters in a carriage approaching Sanditon immediately suggests a contrast in their reasons for coming.
“As sure as eggs are eggs.”
The trailer, then, shifts to outdoor panoramas. A view of the new beach promenade reassures viewers that Sanditon has indeed risen from the ashes as Tom Parker (Kris Marshall) promised it would at the end of Season 1. Charlotte walking along the same clifftop path where she first met Sidney Parker reminds viewers what Sanditon’s resurrection truly cost.
Lady Denham’s (Anne Reid) hallmark bluntness and Tom’s trademark ambition will comfort Sanditon viewers hoping for some continuity between the first and new seasons. If you don’t chuckle at the unveiling of Tom’s new Sanditon Flyer, rewind and pay attention to all the goofy energy Kris Marshall brings to the role. The contrast with the sober-faced soldiers is comical.
A Tom Parker voiceover accompanies scenes of Charlotte and Allison discovering the newer, shinier Sanditon and Arthur Parker (Turlough Convery) and Tom apparently working together to develop new schemes for the “most desirable destination on the south coast.” We’re only 19 seconds in!
Fortune or Freedom?
At this point, we first hear, then see Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke) objecting to being “besieged by fortune hunters.” Georgiana looks beautifully exasperated in a carriage next to a presumed fortune hunter just before the word “Fortune” appears in elegant hand-styled gold letters on the screen.
The Heywood sisters return to the screen wearing ball gowns in a lavish setting, with Charlotte even carrying a flute of champagne. We begin to discover the contrast between the two sisters, with Allison wanting to attract a rich husband. In the next snippet, Charlotte seeks to “avoid all that” while another hand-styled golden word appears, “Freedom.”
“Fortune or Freedom”? This question raises further questions that hopefully Sanditon Season 2 will explore: Are these two options mutually exclusive? Is Georgiana’s fortune a gilded cage? Is Allison sealing her own fate in her quest for a rich husband? Will Charlotte’s insistence on remaining “free” cost her more than money?
“No one chooses to be a spinster.” Do they?
Still, 30 seconds to go! As Esther Denham (Charlotte Spencer) looks on with her characteristic smirk, Lady D harangues Charlotte for remaining “stubbornly unwed” just before images of red-coated soldiers shooting in a field and parading into town appear. Next comes Charlotte’s voice announcing: “I have a job as a governess,” over scenes of her dancing with her charges while her employer Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) happens by. His pause and side step to “hide” outside the door suggest either a man keenly interested in the education of his wards or already intrigued by their governess.
Other familiar scenes from the Masterpiece PBS Sanditon teasers show Georgiana observing that she’s “never possessed such power” before transitioning to her and Allison entering a ballroom looking up as the artist Charles Lockhart (Alexander Vlahos) looks down smugly from a balcony.
In a quick succession of scenes, we see Georgiana and Allison laughing in a carriage, Lady D continuing her diatribe against spinsterhood, a smiling Colonel Francis Lennox (Thomas Weston-Jones) taking Charlotte’s hand at a dance, and army horses galloping on the beach.
Up and Away
Amidst this visual flurry, a first look at the Sanditon Flyer in action invites a closer look. We see a fascinated Charlotte and seemingly frightened Colonel Lennox aloft with a seagull in the background as if to emphasize the altitude. Tom is truly taking Sanditon to new heights.
Over scenes of a disdainful Esther literally looking down on a red coat clad Edward Denham followed by Captain Declan Fraser (Frank Blake) twirling Allison at a dance, we hear Tom’s voice inquiring about Colonel Lennox’s first impression of Sanditon. In Captain Edward’s smirk at Esther and Colonel Lennox’s very direct response, we get hints of two very different officers: one still a sneak and one very candid.
As Colonel Lennox says, “I was struck by its natural beauty,” he directs an insistent gaze at Charlotte clearly declaring his interest. Charlotte seems uncomfortable with this interest, and the trailer cuts sharply to a scene of Georgiana chiding Charlotte by saying, “You can’t recapture what you had with Sidney” – the name that has remained in the air but unspoken in previous teasers. This verbal invocation of Sidney Parker raises a new question: is Charlotte seeking freedom or rather locking her heart away?
The Promise of New Adventures
In the final scenes of the Britbox trailer, we see Charlotte at a dance spinning into the arms of Colbourne then Lady Denham at a garden party, provocatively suggesting to Colonel Lennox that he has a rival. Another turn of the dance floor for Charlotte and Colbourne precedes Charlotte’s now recognizable phrase: “Love isn’t as simple as you seem to think.”
A final golden title card in the Sandtion Season 2 trailer promises us that “New adventures await.” As we watch a giddy Georgiana pull Charlotte and Allison forward by the hands, we can’t help but hope this promise is true.
The Britbox Valentine’s surprise gives Sanditon viewers eager to reunite with old friends (and enemies) and to scrutinize the new seaside residents much to look forward to for March 20 (US Masterpiece PBS) and March 21 (Britbox).
Watch the Sanditon Season 2 trailer below and tell us your thoughts in the comments.