The impoverished parents of a headstrong young woman decide to send their daughter to live with wealthy relatives, ensuring her a brighter future. As she grows up, she becomes a keen observer of human nature, investigating attitudes to marriage and social status, while honing her skills as an author. Drama, based on Jane Austen's novel, starring Frances O'Connor, Harold Pinter, Embeth Davidtz, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Hugh Bonneville and James Purefoy. First in a run of Jane Austen-related programmes.

Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford.