Eliot or a Jane Austen novel. ...Edith Wharton was not at her stylistic best here; that made it easier for me". 1995 miniseries Independently of Mainwaring's completion, screenwriter Maggie Wadey was commissioned to adapt and finish the novel for a television version co-produced by the BBC and American PBS broadcaster WGBH; it was screened on BBC 1 in the UK and in the Masterpiece Theatre series in the United States during 1995. This serial adaptation was directed by Philip Saville and executive-produced by Phillippa Giles. Wadey's version of The Buccaneers, with the inclusion of homosexuality as well as its romantically dramatic showiness and seemingly "happy ending", received widespread criticism from both the BBC viewing public and Wharton fans and scholars alike. The general protest was that Wadey's development was far too unrealistic and stereotypically "Hollywood" in its closing development and end, as Guy Thwaite and the Duchess, Annabel "Nan", literally go riding off into the sunset to live happily ever after. This is starkly different from the ending of every one of Wharton's previous novels, which all have markedly realistic and distinctly solemn endings for all of their characters and plot lines. Many viewers felt that in using this ending, the BBC was "selling out" to Hollywood. While Wadey's BBC ending was at the heart of the controversy, both Mainwaring's and Wadey's endings were heavily criticized for their "sensationalism" and perceived lack of "trueness" to Wharton's style of work, and both writers independently made the claims that they sought to romanticize and "Americanize" the story, despite it having been penned by Wharton to explore the intersections and clashes of class, commerce, and marriage in Old and New World cultures and high society. A companion book to the BBC series was published by Viking in 1995 (). For this book, Angela Mackworth-Young revised and completed the novel based on Maggie Wadey's screenplay. Cast and characters Annabel "Nan" St. George – Carla Gugino Virginia "Jinny" St. George – Alison Elliott Conchita "Connie" Closson – Mira Sorvino Elizabeth "Lizzy" Elmsworth – Rya Kihlstedt Mabel "Mab" Elmsworth Laura Testvalley, governess – Cherie Lunghi Miss Jacqueline March – Connie Booth Ushant, the Duke of Trevenick (Julius, Duke of Trevenick) – James Frain Guy Thwaite (Guy Thwaite) – Greg Wise Lord Richard Marable – Ronan Vibert Lord Seadown – Mark Tandy Hector Robinson – Richard Huw Mrs. St. George – Gwen Humble Colonel Tracy St. George