Sense and Sensibility (film) side of Edward and Brandon, as they become father or brother figures to her. The film omits the characters of Lady Middleton and her children, as well as that of Ann Steele, Lucy's sister. When adapting the characters for film, Thompson found that in the novel, "Edward and Brandon are quite shadowy and absent for long periods," and that "making the male characters effective was one of the biggest problems. Willoughby is really the only male who springs out in three dimensions." Several major male characters in "Sense and Sensibility" were consequently altered significantly from the novel in an effort
Sense and Sensibility (film) membership increased by fifty percent. The popularity of both "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" led to the BBC and ITV releasing their Austen adaptations from the 1970s and 1980s onto DVD. As the mid-1990s included adaptations of four Austen novels, there were few of her works to adapt. Andrew Higson argues that this resulted in a "variety of successors" in the genres of romantic comedy and costume drama, as well as with films featuring strong female characters. Cited examples include "Mrs Dalloway" (1997), "Mrs. Brown" (1997), "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), and "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001). In 2008, Andrew