Sanditon is a Red Planet Pictures production for ITV in the United Kingdom, co-produced with Masterpiece PBS in association with BBC Studios Distribution. It first aired on August 2, 2019, consisting of eight episodes. Subsequently, it aired on Masterpiece PBS on January 12, 2020. However, before it even made it across the pond, ITV canceled, with this statement:
We would have loved it to return, but unfortunately we just didn’t get the audience that would make that possible for us, which is heartbreaking for everybody involved in this wonderful adaptation.
In fact, since that time, ITV has announced they are walking away from period dramas altogether.
ITV has called time on period dramas. After a string of ratings flops, including Vanity Fair, Sanditon and The Singapore Grip, truly one of the worst things broadcast in 2020, it’s turning its back on series set in the past, at least for the foreseeable future.
Independent.i.e. – “ITV Plans to do criminal damage as period dramas get the shop. (Read More)
It’s hard for me to believe that the British are bored with period dramas when across the pond we drool for every story. Perhaps it’s a case of poor marketing on their part. Whatever the reason, Sanditon was a casualty of ITV’s failure to give it the life it deserved.
In February of 2020, PBS confirmed there were no plans for a second season. The fans, however, would hear none of it, so the campaign began to bring back this beloved show started with the Sanditon Sisterhood being born.
Watch the preview for Season 1.
I thought the reason Sanditon season -1 failed in UK was its total lack of Austen vibes.
It was a combination of things, including the fact it aired at the same time slot as another popular show in the UK that had a high viewing audience. S2, which is now airing, doesn’t have much competition at the current time slot; however, they are deleting multiple scenes as much as 14 minutes an episode to air commercials.