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Jane Austen fans and lovers of period dramas are in for a treat asBBC iPlayer is home to one of many masterpiece adaptations, meaning viewers can watch it at no cost at all. The series, made up of an easy six episodes, was released in 1983 and is based on Jane Austen's 1814 novel of the same name.

This serial was the first adaptation and is considered to be the only "faithful" adaptation of the novel. The "tale of virtue and vice" follows Fanny Price (played by Sylvestra Le Touzel and Katie Durham-Matthews), who arrives at the elegant country estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram (Christopher Villiers).

She is cast aside by everyone, with the exception of her cousin Edmund (Nicholas Farrell), as she attempts to earn acceptance by her snobbish relatives. The series in question, Mansfield Park, sees Fanny rejecting a marriage proposal from handsome philanderer Henry Crawford (Robert Burbage), which does not go down well with her uncle.

However, her worth is eventually recognised following a series of unfortunate events impacting the Bertram family. Fans took to IMDb reviews to share their thoughts, with ludovica36 hailing it "the best ever" adaptation.

They added: "This is unquestionably the best ever adaptation of this book, faithful to the text and faithful to the feeling of the book. Sylvestra le Touzel is appropriately mouse-like and really embodies the real Fanny Price, (one of my favourite Austen heroines).

"She displays that transcendence of flesh that Austen uses as a metaphor for stability in an increasingly precarious situation, both for the estate and for the individuals associated with it. More recent adaptations have tried to make Fanny more capricious and human... but that is not what she is about."

Mary_Anderson added: "I LOVE this version of Mansfield Park. I understand that it isn't to everyone's taste due to the low budget and the length but I thoroughly enjoy watching it (and I have seen it a number of times). I am a huge fan of period dramas and this is one of my favourites.

"It is the third version of Mansfield Park that I saw (although the first made) and after seeing this version, I cannot stand how inaccurate the other two versions are."

TheLittleSongbird called it "the best version, in fact the only version worth caring about", adding: "This 1983 Mansfield Park is neither one of the greats or the disappointments regarding Jane Austen adaptations. It's not perfect, with a slow start and some stiff camera work, but it's still leagues ahead of the other two adaptations of the book.

"The 1999 version I disliked but had one or two decent things and the 2007 version I hated with a miscast Fanny Price and no actual sense of the era. This Mansfield Park has beautiful scenery and interiors as well as some handsome costumes, not only did I get a sense what era it was supposed to be set but also Mansfield Park itself didn't actually look like a fortress.

"The series is lengthy and the pacing leisurely, but considering the length of the book both were necessary and apart from at the start the adaptation benefits from these."

Twilby called the series "the best version by far", explaining: "I liked the actress playing Fanny-she grew on me and did a good job changing from nervous mouse to a little more self-assured, but always unassuming and deferring as the character was.

"Anna Massey was great and so is Angela Pleasance and the rest of the cast. The Frances O'Conner version was entertaining, but missed the book entirely, not only by changing the story and adding all the current socially relevant commentary, but by its half-hearted, after the fact, leaving out the main theme Austin was exploring-maybe not so popular in our time, but perhaps more relevant in our cynical times."

The synopsis reads: "When Fanny Price arrives at her snobbish Uncle's country estate, she is treated more like a servant than a niece. The one person she can turn to is her cousin Edmund. But when Miss Crawford arrives in Mansfield Park, Fanny's love for Edmund seems doomed."

Mansfield Park has been adapted less frequently than Jane Austen's other novels, but it is regarded as her first mature work and one of her most profound.

Mansfield Park is on BBC iPlayer