Sanditon finally made its return to British screens on Friday night, after a more than two-year wait. In that time, the period drama based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel was cancelled, tirelessly campaigned for by fans and eventually renewed for not one but two more seasons.
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However, those tuning in to watch the first episode of season two - which aired in the US earlier this year and is already available on BritBox over here - were left a little disappointed after discovering that ITV had ruthlessly cut scenes in order to make room for adverts.
WATCH: See the trailer for Sanditon season two
It appears that since the show was revived for its new run by US network PBS Masterpiece and the streamer, the episodes run slightly longer than ITV can accommodate for, at around 53 minutes each.
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According to ITV, during an hour of television, there are usually four advertisement breaks that last just under four minutes. As a result, around 14 minutes of the show were cut from broadcast.
Sanditon is finally airing in the UK after being released in the US and on BritBox earlier this year
Taking to Twitter, one fan complained: “Watching Sanditon on ITV and the ads come over the programme? No break? It cuts in the middle of a conversation and comes back at a totally different scene. Missing key moments of the show?”
Meanwhile, plenty of viewers who were watching the episode for the second time after tuning in to watch on BritBox earlier this year were quick to point out that an entire scene had been cut out of the episode.
Fans were left unimpressed after ITV cut out whole scenes from episode one
One said: “WTF are ITV cutting bits from the episode?? No Lina following Charlotte out of the office. Why?! #Sanditon,” which prompted another to write in reply: “If they are prepared to cut that scene, I hate to think what they butcher in the following episodes!”
MORE: Theo James's real wife also starred in Sanditon - did you spot her?
Someone else added: “So seeing that @ITV saw fit to add in as many adverts as they could & cut the Luna scene, I wonder what will ITV cut from the other eps? The ad breaks are awful. They break the flow so much.”
Did you tune in to watch the first episode? It sees the show’s heroine Charlotte Heywood, played by Rose Williams, return to the coastal town with her sister Alison to reunite with friend Georgiana Lamb to compare the endless proposals of marriage they have been turning down.
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