Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen’s gentle parody of gothic fiction features a young romance addict’s visit to a country house that appeals to her most lurid fantasies in Masterpiece “Northanger Abbey.” The program, which is the second installment in Masterpiece’s series of Austen adaptations, airs Sunday, Jan. 20 at 9/8 p.m. CT on KET1 and Thursday, Jan. 24 at 9/8 p.m. CT on KET2.

Felicity Jones (Meadowlands) plays Catherine Morland, who’s invited to a looming medieval country house, where she begins a romance with the younger son on the estate, Henry Tilney (JJ Feild, “The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton”).

Catherine, who has read too many Gothic novels, expects the abbey to be large and somewhat frightening, and Henry encourages her fears in order to tease her. Her first night there is very stormy; she discovers mysterious manuscripts in her bedroom, and her candle suddenly goes out. The next morning, she reads the papers and discovers they are only laundry lists and is disappointed that Northanger Abbey is pleasant and positively un-Gothic. There is, however, a mysterious suite of rooms that no one ever enters –– the chambers of Mrs. Tilney, who died nine years earlier.

With her overactive imagination, the girl decides that since General Tilney does not seem affected by his wife’s death, he must have been indifferent or perhaps hostile to her. Maybe he even murdered her — or could she still be alive and imprisoned in the house?

Masterpiece “Northanger Abbey” is produced by WGBH/Boston.