Radio Head - Mary, Mary by Martin Sorrel Radio Review

I'm always amazed by the number of Jane Austen spin-offs.

Apart from the obviously ironic ones, it's interesting that people can't let even the smallest characters go. There's even an anecdote from her family that they asked Austen what happened to Kitty after the end of Pride and Prejudice. I think she replied that Kitty married a clergyman. But even her family couldn't quite let go.

As part of my Austen immersion, I listened to an old radio play I had recorded - Mary, Mary by Martin Sorrel, that explored the life of Mary, the most ignored Bennet daughter, during the events of Austen's novel.

It was definitely clever - there are numerous references to things like de Clérambault's syndrome (Mary believes the men in P&P are all madly in love with her), and the treatment of female psychiatric disorders in Georgian Britain (yes, it's a comedy), but it felt a bit hollow for me.

Clever, I thought, but not good.