The series is told from Lizzie’s point of view, through her vlog. She is a grad student living in California with her parents are two sisters. Already we have several differences from the novel: Lizzie is a student (it’s 2012! Women can learn things!), she’s American, and she is one of 3 daughters, not 5. All of these differences help shape the story for the modern era and change just enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, even if their copies of Jane Austen have well-worn spines.

Mrs. Bennet’s focus on marriage for her daughters is stil rooted in money: the Bennet’s are having plenty of financial difficulty and the girls also have plenty of student loans to pay. But other things obviously have to be changed, Mr. Collins can’t exactly turn up and ask Lizzie to marry him if they’ve never been on a date. I won’t spoil they way the dealt with that storyline, as it was one of my favorite surprises and changes.

And there are plenty of changes: it’s a vlog, and people in the story know they’re on camera and they can watch Lizzie’s videos. First off, this means we never meet Lizzie’s parents, as she doesn’t exactly share that she has a vlog with them. Instead, Lizzie, her friends and sisters dress up and reenact different events for the camera. “Costume Theater” ends up being a perfect match to the book. One of the main characteristics of the novel is that Elizabeth is an unreliable narrator, and that she sees what she wants to see. So main events are still told through Lizzie’s point of view and we know how she feels about them. We also have the added benefit of Charlotte and Jane speaking up when they think Lizzie is exaggerating or missing out on something, giving a little more development than other adaptations.

As of today, the series has 63 episodes of about 4-5 minutes each. I’m dying to know how things are adapted from this point on. What is going to happen with the Lydia/Wickham storyline? How will that make sense in a modern context? How is it possible that I’m left wondering about a story I’ve read at least 20 times?

Mostly, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a new exciting way of storytelling. The idea of “web series” has been around, but this is the first that I know of that is a retelling of a classic story. It also uses the internet more than any other I’ve seen. The main story takes place on Lizzie’s YouTube channel, but it continues on Lydia’s vlogs, the character’s Twitter handles and their Tumblr accounts. It means the storyline can be interactive, you can watch the latest video then head over to Lizzie’s twitter account a ask her a question and get a response. You can watch the story develop on Twitter too, Darcy follows Lizzie, Lizzie unfollows Wickham and characters all tweet at each other in time with the story, adding a whole new dynamic. Plenty of viewers got excited when they saw this tweet from the Darcy character: knowing it meant his famous letter was coming up soon in the series. How that played out was enjoyable to watch, and this adaptation is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I’m really enjoying the series and I can’t wait to see how is plays out. What about you? Do you watch any web series? What do you think of it as a way of storytelling? Do you like that its more interactive?

You can watch and catch up on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries here. (where you can also find links to the relevant Twitter and Tumblr accounts).