While staying in India with her wealthy father, Sara Crewe is struck with an illness and the only remedy is to move to a milder climate. So, Sarah’s father sends her to England where she attends Miss Minchin’s school for young ladies. For a time all is well, and the girl begins to make a full recovery whilst enjoying all the comforts that wealth brings. But tragedy strikes when her father dies leaving her penniless.
Minchin puts Sara to work as a servant among the people who used to wait on her and she must find a way to cope with the humiliation. She does this by pretending to be a little princess.
This was the fourth adaptation for television of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1905 novel, A Little Princess: The Story of Sara Crewe. Born in 1849, Burnett was a prolific author of novels for adults but is best remembered for her work for children: in particular for the immensely popular Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), and for The Secret Garden (1911).
The first two TV presentations (BBC television 1951 and 1957) went out under the title Sarah Crewe, whilst the third and fourth (BBC 1973 and LWT 1987) as A Little Princess. This latter version boasted an all-star cast with Maureen Lipman as Miss Minchin, Miriam Margoyes as Miss Amelia and Nigel Havers as Carrisford. Amelia Shankley starred as Sara. Jeremy Burnham adapted the story for television and Carol Wiseman directed.
The series was released on video in the UK but deleted in 1993 and in the USA as a 150-minute compilation.
6 episodes of 30 minute duration. LWT. 1987
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