Critical Legacies and Contemporary Audiences

Abstract

In 2009, on the back of a number of Jane Austen adaptations, ITV premiered its most recent screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights. This two-part television serial was first broadcast in January of 2009 in the US, and aired on ITV1 in the United Kingdom in August 2009 (Wuthering Heights, 2009). During its air-time and subsequent release on DVD in September of 2009, it received a considerable amount of attention online from fans and critics alike. The vast majority of reviews have highlighted the proliferation of film and television adaptations of classic literature in the recent decade, undoubtedly boosted by the popularity of the heritage cinema boom of the previous decade. Yet the recent decade has seen adaptations being made with greater frequency and a more acute awareness of the adaptation market as television networks and film companies capitalise on an already established and popular screen genre.