 In comparison to its adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s , the BBC provided increased funding for many of its productions in the 1990s . Persuasion consequently benefited , allowing it to frequently film on @-@ location in places including Lyme Regis and Bath , and in the south @-@ eastern English countryside . Both Lyme and Bath are prominent locales in Austen 's novel . Dear desired the opening sequence be on board a Royal Navy ship of the period , but the only authentic vessel available was the HMS Victory . It was dry docked as part of a museum in Portsmouth , and filming was only possible during short periods when the vessel was closed to the public . The final shot , in which Anne and Wentworth gaze into the ocean , was taken from the 1984 historical film The Bounty . The film 's low budget also resulted in one of the opening shots , depicting Admiral Croft 's ship on the ocean , being taken from The Bounty . 
