TELEVISION REVIEW : ‘Anne’ Miniseries Inspire Weekly Series ‘Avonlea’

The Disney Channel’s two Emmy Award-winning miniseries, “Anne of Green Gables” and “Anne of Avonlea,” have spawned “Avonlea,” a rewarding, hourlong weekly series for all ages, beginning tonight at 8.

Based again on the books of Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Avonlea” is the story of privileged 10-year-old Sara Stanley, who must come to rustic Prince Edward Island to live with relatives when her widowed father encounters financial trouble.

She’s unhappy at first, but spirited (naturally), and quickly becomes the ringleader of adventure and mischief among the town’s children, disarming and exasperating the adults at the same time.

In the lead is wide-eyed, gap-toothed Sarah Polley, one of the most beguiling child actors around (her credits include “Ramona,” the Canadian TV series based on the Beverly Cleary books, and Terry Gilliam’s film, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”). She shares the small screen with a marvelous cast. Among the many actors playing unforgettable characters in the first three episodes are Jackie Burroughs (who plays Aunt “I’m just doing my duty” Hetty); Frances Hyland as Sara’s prim nanny, horrified by the primitive town, and R.H. Thomson as a painfully shy, reclusive genius.

Colleen Dewhurst and Patricia Hamilton are another plus, reprising their “Anne of Green Gables” roles as Marilla Cuthbert and Rachel Lynde.

Executive producer Kevin Sullivan, who was the creative force behind the “Anne” miniseries, here offers family programming filled with warmth and charm and more: It’s stunningly filmed, with the kind of expansive outdoor vistas and attention to authenticityrarely seen on weekly television.