Cupid or just stupid? 7 heaven treat of the week.

AFTER Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale, Romola Garai is the latest actress to play Emma, Jane Austen's sassy matchmaker.

Although she lives in the 19th century, she is a very contemporary cupid. The makers say we should think of Emma more like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City.

BBC boss Kate Harwood says: "We are taking Austen off the literary shelf and making her seem part of our lives again."

It helps that Romola is joined by a superb cast, with plenty of handsome men in breeches to keep us entertained on Sundays for the next four weeks.

Jonny Lee Miller is Mr Knightley, Emma's neighbour, who doesn't approve of her matchmaking. Then there's a scene-stealing Michael Gambon as her neurotic father, Staffordshire's Rupert Evans as dashing Frank Churchill, Jodhi May as her former governess who marries Mr Weston (Robert Bathurst), and Tamsin Greig as impoverished Miss Bates.

Emma has a busy time poking her nose into everyone's affairs, but that's nothing compared with Romola's packed schedule as she juggles a flourishing acting career with studying for a degree.

It has taken her four years to do a BA in English Literature through the Open University, while also appearing in films like Atonement, Amazing Grace, Inside I'm Dancing and the forthcoming Stephen Poliakoff drama Glorious 39, alongside David Tennant and Bill Nighy.

Romola, who was brought up in Hong Kong and Singapore before moving to England at the age of ten, admits she felt nervous following in the footsteps of Gwyneth Paltrow.

"It did cross my mind that this has been done really, really well previously. This was a source of concern for me, but not enough to turn it down!" says the 27-year-old. "There is no one who can touch Jane Austen for writing female characters and Emma has always been my favourite.

"She is just beautifully flawed and properly fleshed out as a character. She has this horrendous egocentricity and is probably a person you wouldn't want to be friends with, if it weren't for Mr Knightley, the only one who has the power to tell her off. Without him, she would be a spoilt little madam!" Unlike well-read Romola, Michael Gambon admits to never having opened an Austen novel - or even a Harry Potter book, despite playing Dumbledore.

He says: "If you read the book, you might get disappointed about what's been left out. All you have got is the script so I think it's safer just to follow that. That's my excuse!" Emma, BBC1, Sunday, 9pm

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The latest adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma has Romola Garai in the title role with Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley.