The ‘Gone With The Wind’ Sequel That Time Forgot

SCARLETT, Joanna Whalley, Timothy Dalton, 1994 — RHI Ent./Everett Collection

What To Know

In 1994, CBS aired Scarlett, a four-part miniseries sequel to Gone With the Wind, based on Alexandra Ripley’s novel and starring Joanne Whalley and Timothy Dalton.
The series followed Scarlett O’Hara’s journey to reclaim her roots and win back Rhett Butler, earning strong initial ratings but receiving mixed critical reviews for its melodrama and character changes.
Despite winning two Emmy Awards for Art Direction and Hairstyling, Scarlett is now largely forgotten and is mainly remembered as an ambitious but ultimately underwhelming follow-up to the original classic.

Whether you’ve seen the classic film or not, just about everyone knows about 1939’s Gone With the Wind. However, many may not realize that, decades later, there was a sequel. When Scarlett aired on CBS in November 1994, it came with high expectations: the four-part miniseries aimed to continue the story of Scarlett O’Hara (Joanne Whalley) and Rhett Butler (Timothy Dalton). John Erman directed, and William Hanley wrote the teleplay, based on Alexandra Ripley’s 1991 novel Scarlett, which served as a sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s original 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. The project ran for six hours over four nights, from November 13 to 17.

SCARLETT, US advance poster, top, from left: Timothy Dalton, Joanne Whalley; bottom, from left: Sean Bean, Brian Bedford, Stephen Collins, John Gielgud, Annabeth Gish, George Grizzard, Julie Harris, Colm Meaney, Esther Rolle, Jean Smart, Paul Winfield, Ann-Margret, 1994

RHI Entertainment/Everett Collection

What happened in the sequel to Gone With the Wind?

The story began right after Rhett left Scarlett and followed her from Atlanta to Savannah, then Charleston, and eventually Ireland, as she searched for her family’s roots and tried to win Rhett back. CBS marketed the series as a major television event, relying on the legacy of Gone with the Wind to draw viewers. The first night earned a 21.4 rating, putting it among the week’s top shows, though later episodes saw a decline.

How did audiences react to the series?

Critics were divided. Variety thought the production was rather melodramatic and criticized how Scarlett’s character had changed. Entertainment Weekly said, “Scarlett’s romanticism is absurdly exaggerated, while its realism is the grim stuff of contemporary problem-of-the-week telefilms.” Some reviews noted that Whalley and Dalton had chemistry, but the performances could not escape comparison to Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. Despite the mixed reception, many viewers admired the lavish costumes and sets.

SCARLETT, Julie Harris, Timothy Dalton, Joanne Whalley, aired November 13-17, 1994

Sven Arnstein/CBS/Everett Collection

Scarlett went on to win two Primetime Emmy Awards for Art Direction and Hairstyling, and received a nomination for Costume Design. The strong ratings on its first night helped CBS lead the week in prime time. Yet many felt the sequel could not capture the power or emotion of the original film.

Today, Scarlett is rarely mentioned, remembered mainly as a high-budget experiment that could not live up to the original. It showed how powerful the Gone with the Wind name still was, but also how difficult it is to recreate a story that most people already considered complete.