‘Sanditon’ Star Rose Williams Says She and Theo James Got “Emotional” Watching Their Episode 6 Dance

Sanditon Episode 6 on Masterpiece on PBS features what may be the dreamiest moment in the series so far. After hurrying to London to track down a woefully kidnapped Georgiana Lamb (Crystal Clarke), Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) finds herself spirited into one of London’s glittering balls. She attends this ball with Tom (Kris Marshall) and Sidney Parker (Theo James), and while she feels awkwardly out of place, a chance encounter with a society grand dame helps her realize that she is actually in love with Sidney. And it seems Sidney has fallen for Charlotte, too.
Sidney asks Charlotte to dance with him, and when she insists that she doesn’t want him to do so out of politeness — “There are so many other ladies here that you could ask” — Theo James drops a romantic compliment worthy of Jane Austen. He simply says, “But I don’t want to dance with them,” and, yes, our hearts all exploded.
Sanditon star Rose Williams told Decider that she and co-star Theo James also felt all the proverbial feels when they first saw the scene. “Me and Theo both had quite an emotional reaction to seeing the video of the two dances showcasing the choreography,” she said, adding that across the board, the Sanditon production team thought, “‘Oh, wow, there’s something quite special about this.'”

Williams told Decider that the emotional power of the scene was thanks to a Herculean behind-the-scenes effort. She said that Sanditon composer Ruth Barrett worked with choreographer Sam Murray to craft a dance that told “the story of the moment when Charlotte realizes she loves Sidney.”

She added that Sanditon production designer Grant Montgomery came up with the idea to make the ballroom a glittering gold. Williams said, “So there was this very specifically designed theme, tone, feeling through all of the different creative departments to essentially tell the story of these two people realizing that perhaps they are in love with each other.”

Williams also said that she enjoyed shooting all of Sanditon Episode 6, as the pace of the episode only helped build up the slow burn of Charlotte and Sidney’s relationship. “It was great fun to shoot all of those London scenes in the street when it’s quite chaotic and we’re not really sure what is happening,” Williams said, “and the dance at the end is quite peaceful and pulled it all together and was all about the emotion.”
Of course, the emotion soon shifts from true love to uncertainty. After Sidney and Charlotte share their romantic dance, a specter from Sidney’s past arrives at the ball. Sidney’s first love, Eliza (Ruth Kearney) enters the scene throwing Charlotte and Sidney’s chances in doubt. Still, they’ll always have that dance…

“It was really all about the dance for me, Episode 6, and I loved shooting it,” said Williams.
You can stream Sanditon on PBS.org or on the Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. PBS Passport subscribers can binge the whole season right now, while Masterpiece Prime Video Channel subscribers will be able to stream all episodes on February 23, 2020.

Where to stream Sanditon