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''Pride and Prejudice'' is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name. Jennifer Ehle and
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
starred as
Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...
and Mr Darcy, respectively. Produced by
Sue Birtwistle Susan Elizabeth Birtwistle, Lady Eyre, (born 9 December 1945) is a producer and writer of television drama. Birtwistle has won awards for several of her productions, including '' Hotel du Lac'', ''Pride and Prejudice'' and ''Emma'', and was one o ...
and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC production with additional funding from the American
A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational e ...
.
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...
originally broadcast the 55-minute episodes from 24 September to 29 October 1995. The A&E Network aired the series in double episodes on three consecutive nights beginning 14 January 1996. Critically acclaimed and a popular success, ''Pride and Prejudice'' was honoured with several awards, including a BAFTA Television Award for Jennifer Ehle for "Best Actress" and an Emmy for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special". The role of Mr Darcy elevated Colin Firth to stardom. A scene showing Firth in a wet shirt was recognised as "one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the adaptation "a witty mix of love stories and social conniving, cleverly wrapped in the ambitions and illusions of a provincial gentry". The series inspired author Helen Fielding to write the popular '' Bridget Jones'' novels, and their screen adaptations subsequently featured Firth as Bridget's love interest, Mark Darcy.


Plot


Episode one

Mr. Charles Bingley, a wealthy gentleman from the north of England, settles down at Netherfield estate near Meryton village in Hertfordshire for the autumn. Mrs. Bennet, unlike her husband, is excited at the prospect of marrying off one of her five daughters (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia) to the newcomer. Mr. Bennet claims to have no intention of calling on Mr. Bingley; unless he does so, his wife and daughters are unable to socialise with Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Bennett, perturbed at Mr. Bennett's refusal to make Bingley's acquaintance, declares that she wishes the girls would stop talking about Mr. Bingley all together, as they will never meet him anyway. Mr. Bennet replies that he wishes he would have known that earlier, as he has already paid Mr. Bingley a visit. Mrs. Bennett and all the girls are shocked and ecstatic. Bingley takes an immediate liking to Jane at a local country dance, while his best friend Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, rumoured to be twice as rich, refuses to dance with anyone, including Elizabeth. Elizabeth's poor impression of his character is confirmed at a later gathering at Lucas Lodge, and she and Darcy verbally clash on the two nights she spends at Netherfield, caring for the sick Jane who fell ill after riding in the rain.


Episode two

Mr William Collins, a sycophantic dimwitted clergyman, visits his cousins, the Bennets. As Mr and Mrs Bennett do not have a son, he is the entailed heir of their home and estate, Longbourn. He intends to marry a Bennet daughter as an act of benign goodwill, to reassure Mrs Bennet that she and her unwed daughters would not be rendered homeless once Mr Collins inherits the estate. He therefore invites himself for a two-week visit to get to know the Bennets better and select a daughter to marry. However, the Bennet girls judge Mr Collins to be a rather ridiculous man, an "oddity" with many peculiarities of speech and deportment. They nevertheless treat him civilly and take him to balls and social events in Meryton. One day, while on a walk around Meryton village, they meet members of a newly arrived militia regiment, including Mr George Wickham. At a social event, Wickham befriends Elizabeth and says that his father was the steward for Darcy's late father, and that he originally planned to join the clergy. However, Darcy denied Wickham the "living" (a
curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
) that Mr Darcy's father promised him. At a ball at Netherfield, Darcy asks Elizabeth to dance, which she grudgingly but politely accepts. Mrs Bennet tells Mr Collins that she expects Jane to soon be engaged, so he instead proposes to Elizabeth. She resoundingly rejects him. While Mrs Bennet reacts angrily to Elizabeth's decision, her close friend, Charlotte Lucas, invites Mr Collins to visit at Lucas Lodge.


Episode three

Elizabeth is stunned and appalled to learn that Charlotte Lucas has accepted Mr Collins' marriage proposal. When the Netherfield party departs for
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in autumn, Jane stays with her modest London relatives, the Gardiners, but she soon notices that the Bingleys ignore her. After befriending Mr Wickham, Elizabeth departs for the Collins' home in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in the spring to visit Charlotte. They live near Rosings, the estate of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt. Elizabeth meets Darcy several times. Elizabeth learns of Darcy's direct responsibility for Jane and Bingley's separation. Soon after, Darcy unexpectedly tells her that he admires her and loves her, so much that in spite of her greatly inferior social standing, he proposes marriage. Elizabeth flatly rejects him, noting his arrogant, disagreeable, and proud character, and for his part in her sister's failed romance and Mr Wickham's misfortune.


Episode four

Darcy justifies his previous actions in a long letter to Elizabeth: he misjudged Jane's affection for Bingley, and he exposes Wickham as a gambler who once attempted to elope with his young sister, Georgiana, to obtain her inheritance. Back at Longbourn, Mr Bennet allows Lydia to accompany the militia to Brighton as a personal friend of the militia colonel's wife. Elizabeth joins the Gardiners on a sightseeing trip to
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...
and visits
Pemberley Pemberley is the fictional country estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy, the male protagonist in Jane Austen's 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. It is located near the fictional town of Lambton, and believed by some to be based on Lyme Park, sout ...
, Darcy's estate, during his absence. Greatly impressed by the immense scale and richness of the estate, Elizabeth listens to the housekeeper's earnest tales of her master's lifelong goodness, while Darcy refreshes from his unannounced journey home by taking a swim in a pond. After an unexpected and awkward encounter with Elizabeth, a damp Darcy is able to prevent the party's premature departure with an unusual degree of friendliness and politeness.


Episode five

Elizabeth and the Gardiners receive an invitation to Pemberley, where Darcy and Elizabeth share significant glances. The next morning, Elizabeth receives two letters from Jane, revealing that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. As Elizabeth is about to return to Longbourn, Darcy arrives and offers help, but upon hearing the bad news about Lydia, becomes disturbed and leaves in haste. Elizabeth supposes she will never see him again. The Bennets are all dismayed by the scandal, until Mr Gardiner writes that Lydia and Wickham have been found. They are not married, but soon will be under the Gardiners' care. The Bennets are relieved, but Mr Bennet wonders what it cost Mr Gardiner to get Wickham to marry a girl with no fortune. Elizabeth tells Jane of her last meeting with Darcy, including her ambivalent feelings for him.


Episode six

After Lydia carelessly mentions Darcy's involvement in her wedding, Mrs Gardiner enlightens Elizabeth: Darcy found the errant couple and paid for everything, including a large payoff to Wickham. When Bingley and Darcy return to Netherfield in the autumn, Darcy apologises to Bingley for interfering in his relationship with Jane and gives his blessing for the couple to wed. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who intends for Darcy to marry her sickly daughter, Anne, has heard rumours of an engagement between Darcy and Elizabeth. She calls on Elizabeth, demanding that she deny the engagement and renounce Darcy forever. Elizabeth confirms that there is no engagement, but refuses any pledge for the future. When Elizabeth thanks Darcy for his role in Lydia's marriage, he says that Lady Catherine's story had encouraged him to reconfirm his feelings for Elizabeth. Elizabeth admits the complete transformation of her feelings and agrees to an engagement, taking her family by surprise. The series ends with a double winter wedding: Jane to Bingley, and Elizabeth to Darcy.


Cast

* Jennifer Ehle as
Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...
*
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
as Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy * Adrian Lukis as Mr George Wickham *
Alison Steadman Alison Steadman (born 26 August 1946) is an English actress. She received the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film '' Life Is Sweet'' and the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as ...
as Mrs Bennet * Benjamin Whitrow as
Mr Bennet The Bennet family is a fictional family created by the English novelist Jane Austen, in her 1813 novel, ''Pride and Prejudice''. The family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and their five daughters: Jane, Mary, Catherine, Lydia, and Elizabeth, ...
*
David Bamber David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
as
Mr William Collins Mr William Collins is a fictional character in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. He is the distant cousin of Mr Bennet, a clergyman and Benefice, holder of a valuable living at the Hunsford parsonage near Rosings Park, the es ...
*
Susannah Harker Susannah Harker (born 26 April 1965) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in '' House of Cards''. She played Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of ...
as Jane Bennet *
Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...
as Lydia Bennet * Polly Maberly as Catherine (Kitty) Bennet *
Lucy Briers Lucy Jane Briers (born 19 August 1967) is an English actress. Her film, stage and television roles have included appearances in '' Pride & Prejudice'' (1995) and sitcom ''Game On''. Early life Briers was born on 19 August 1967 in Hammersmith, ...
as Mary Bennet * Crispin Bonham-Carter as Mr Charles Bingley * Lucy Scott as Charlotte Lucas *
Anna Chancellor Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is a British actress who has received nominations for BAFTA and Olivier Awards. Background and early life Chancellor was born in Richmond, England to barrister John Paget Chancellor, eldest son of ...
as Caroline Bingley * Lucy Robinson as Mrs Hurst * Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh *
Anthony Calf Anthony Calf (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor. He studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He has recurring roles in the television medical drama ''Holby City'', as Michael Beauchamp, and '' New Tricks'' as ...
as Colonel Fitzwilliam *
Joanna David Joanna David (born Joanna Elizabeth Hacking; 17 January 1947) is an English actress, best known for her television work. Life David was born in Lancaster, England, to Davida Elizabeth (''née'' Nesbitt) and John Almond Hacking. In 1971, she ...
as Mrs Gardiner * Tim Wylton as Mr Gardiner *
Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
as Georgiana Darcy * Bridget Turner as Mrs Reynolds * David Bark-Jones as Lt Denny * Lynn Farleigh as Mrs Phillips * Lucy Davis as Maria Lucas * Christopher Benjamin as Sir William Lucas *
Rupert Vansittart Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ...
as Mr Hurst *
Marlene Sidaway Marlene Sidaway (born 1937) is a British television, film and theatre actress best known for playing Brenda Taylor in the long-running soap opera '' Coronation Street''. Early life Sidaway was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire. On leavi ...
as Hill *
Roger Barclay Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
as Capt Carter * Kate O'Malley as Sarah, the maid * Norma Streader as Lady Lucas * Paul Moriarty as Col Forster * Victoria Hamilton as Mrs Forster * Nadia Chambers as Anne de Bourgh *
Sarah Legg Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious ...
as Hannah * Christopher Staines as Lt Sanderson *
Tom Ward Tom Ward (born 11 January 1971) is a British film, stage and television actor. Early life Tom Ward was born in Swansea, Wales, the son of poet and academic John Powell Ward, and Sarah Ward OBE, a farmer. Ward was sent to the Dragon School i ...
as Lt Chamberlayne *
Alexandra Howerd Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "pr ...
as Mary King * Peter Needham as Fencing Master * Sam Beazley as Vicar at Longbourne


Casting

When
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...
the many characters of ''Pride and Prejudice'', the producer
Sue Birtwistle Susan Elizabeth Birtwistle, Lady Eyre, (born 9 December 1945) is a producer and writer of television drama. Birtwistle has won awards for several of her productions, including '' Hotel du Lac'', ''Pride and Prejudice'' and ''Emma'', and was one o ...
and director Simon Langton were looking for actors with wit, charm and charisma, who could play the
Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
period. Their choices for the protagonists, 20-year-old
Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...
and 28-year-old Mr Darcy, determined the other actors cast. Hundreds of actresses between 15 and 28 auditioned for the younger female characters, and those with the right presence were screen-tested, performing several prepared scenes in period costumes and makeup in a television studio. Straight offers were made to several established actors. Jennifer Ehle was chosen from six serious candidates to play Elizabeth, the second Bennet daughter, the brightest girl, and her father's favourite. At the time in her mid-20s, Ehle had read ''Pride and Prejudice'' at the age of 12 and was the only actor to be present throughout the whole filming schedule. Sue Birtwistle particularly wanted
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
, a relatively unknown British actor in his mid-30s at the time, to play the wealthy and aloof Mr Darcy.''Pride and Prejudice – The Making of...''. DVD featurette. Universal. 1999. Birtwistle had worked with him on the mid-1980s comedy film ''
Dutch Girls ''Dutch Girls'' is a 1985 film, released by the London Weekend Television Company, produced by Sue Birtwistle, directed by Giles Foster, and written by William Boyd. The film is about a group of teenage boys who go to the Netherlands to play hoc ...
'', but he repeatedly turned down her offer as he neither felt attracted to Austen's feminine perspective nor believed himself to be right for the role. Birtwistle's persistent coaxing and his deeper examination of the Darcy character finally convinced him to accept the role. Firth and Ehle began a romantic relationship during the filming of the series, which received media attention only after the couple's separation. Benjamin Whitrow was cast to play Mr Bennet, Elizabeth's distinguished but financially imprudent and occasionally indulgent
gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
father. BAFTA-nominated
Alison Steadman Alison Steadman (born 26 August 1946) is an English actress. She received the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film '' Life Is Sweet'' and the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as ...
was cast to play the
parvenu A ''parvenu'' is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb ''parvenir'' (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something). Origi ...
Mrs Bennet, Elizabeth's mortifyingly affected social-climbing mother. Steadman was offered the role without auditions or screen tests. Elizabeth's four sisters, whose ages ranged between 15 and 22, were cast to look dissimilar from each other.
Susannah Harker Susannah Harker (born 26 April 1965) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in '' House of Cards''. She played Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of ...
portrayed Elizabeth's beautiful older sister Jane, who desires to only see good in others.
Lucy Briers Lucy Jane Briers (born 19 August 1967) is an English actress. Her film, stage and television roles have included appearances in '' Pride & Prejudice'' (1995) and sitcom ''Game On''. Early life Briers was born on 19 August 1967 in Hammersmith, ...
, Polly Maberly, and
Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...
played Elizabeth's younger sisters – the plain Mary, the good-natured but flighty and susceptible Kitty, and frivolous and headstrong Lydia. Being 10 years older than 15-year-old Lydia, Julia Sawalha, of ''
Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, " Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saun ...
'' fame, had enough acting experience to get the role without screen tests.
Joanna David Joanna David (born Joanna Elizabeth Hacking; 17 January 1947) is an English actress, best known for her television work. Life David was born in Lancaster, England, to Davida Elizabeth (''née'' Nesbitt) and John Almond Hacking. In 1971, she ...
and Tim Wylton appeared as the Gardiners, Elizabeth's maternal aunt and uncle.
David Bamber David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
played the unctuous clergyman, Mr Collins, a cousin of Mr Bennet. Lucy Scott portrayed Elizabeth's best friend and Mr Collins's wife, Charlotte Lucas, and David Bark-Jones portrayed Lt Denny.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 15–21. The producers found Crispin Bonham-Carter to have the best physical contrast to Firth's Darcy and gave him his first major television role as the good-natured and wealthy Mr Charles Bingley. Bonham-Carter had originally auditioned for the part of Mr George Wickham, a handsome militia lieutenant whose charm conceals his licentiousness and greed, but Adrian Lukis was cast instead.
Anna Chancellor Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is a British actress who has received nominations for BAFTA and Olivier Awards. Background and early life Chancellor was born in Richmond, England to barrister John Paget Chancellor, eldest son of ...
, of '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' fame, played Mr Bingley's sister Caroline Bingley. (Chancellor is also Jane Austen's six-times-great-niece) Mr Bingley's other sister and his brother-in-law were played by Lucy Robinson (Louisa Hurst) and
Rupert Vansittart Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ...
(Mr Hurst). Casting the role of Darcy's young sister, Georgiana, proved hard as the producers were looking for a young actress who appeared innocent, proud and yet shy, had class and could also play the piano. After auditioning over 70 actresses, Simon Langton suggested
Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
, the real-life daughter of Joanna David (Mrs Gardiner), for the part. Barbara Leigh-Hunt was cast as Darcy's meddling aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, without auditions or screen tests.


Production


Conception and adaptation

Jane Austen's novel ''
Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
'' had already been the subject of numerous television and film adaptations, including BBC television versions in 1938, 1952, 1958, 1967 and 1980. In the autumn of 1986, after watching a preview of Austen's ''
Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's '' The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first ...
'',
Sue Birtwistle Susan Elizabeth Birtwistle, Lady Eyre, (born 9 December 1945) is a producer and writer of television drama. Birtwistle has won awards for several of her productions, including '' Hotel du Lac'', ''Pride and Prejudice'' and ''Emma'', and was one o ...
and Andrew Davies agreed to adapt ''Pride and Prejudice'', one of their favourite books, for television.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. v–viii. Birtwistle in particular felt that a new adaptation on film would serve the drama better than the previous
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
d ''Pride and Prejudice'' television adaptations, which looked too "undernourished" and "unpoetic". The needs of TV scheduling forced Davies to change his original plan of a five-episode adaptation to six. Birtwistle and Davies then offered the first three scripts to ITV in late 1986 to build on the guaranteed BBC audience, but the recent TV adaptation led to a delay. When ITV announced its renewed interest in 1993, Michael Wearing of the BBC commissioned the final scripts with co-funding from the American
A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational e ...
. Director Simon Langton and the art department joined pre-production in January and February 1994. Although Birtwistle and Davies wished to remain true to the tone and spirit of the novel, they wanted to produce "a fresh, lively story about real people", not an "old studio-bound BBC drama that was shown in the Sunday teatime slot". Emphasising sex and money as the themes of the story, Davies shifted the focus from Elizabeth to Elizabeth and Darcy and foreshadowed Darcy's role in the narrative resolution. To portray the characters as real human beings, Davies added short backstage scenes such as the Bennet girls dressing up to advertise themselves in the marriage market. New scenes where men pursue their hobbies with their peers departed from Jane Austen's focus on women.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 1–13. The biggest technical difficulty proved to be adapting the long letters in the second half of the story. Davies employed techniques such as
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...
s, flashbacks, and having the characters read the letters to themselves and to each other. Davies added some dialogue to clarify events from the novel to a modern audience but left much of the novel's dialogue intact.


Filming

Director of photography John Kenway used
Super 16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...
film, which has a slightly smaller widescreen aspect ratio than 16:9, but the series was originally broadcast 4:3
pan and scan Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focu ...
. The budget of about £1 million per episode (totalling US$9.6 million) allowed 20 shooting weeks of five days to film six 55-minute episodes. Production aimed for 10.5-hour shooting days plus time for costume and make-up.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 27–34. Two weeks before filming began, about 70 of the cast and crew gathered for the script read-through, followed by rehearsals, lessons for dancing, horse-riding, fencing, and other skills that needed to be ready ahead of the actual filming. Filming took place between June 1994 and 1 November 1994 to reflect the changing seasons in the plot, followed by post-production until mid-May 1995. Scenes in the same place were grouped in the filming schedule. Twenty-four locations, most of them owned by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, and eight studio sets were used for filming.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 35–43.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 73–78. Reflecting the wealth differences between the main characters, the filming location for Longbourn showed the comfortable family house of the Bennet family, whereas Darcy's
Pemberley Pemberley is the fictional country estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy, the male protagonist in Jane Austen's 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. It is located near the fictional town of Lambton, and believed by some to be based on Lyme Park, sout ...
needed to look like the "most beautiful place", showing good taste and the history of the aristocracy. The first location that the producers agreed on was
Lacock Lacock is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its entir ...
in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...
to represent the village of Meryton. Luckington Court nearby served as the interior and exterior of Longbourn. Lyme Hall in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
was chosen as Pemberley but management problems forced production to film Pemberley's interiors at
Sudbury Hall Sudbury Hall is a English country house, country house in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England. One of the country's finest Restoration style, Restoration mansions, it has Grade I listed building status. The National Trust Museum of Childhood is housed ...
in Sudbury, Derbyshire.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 22–26. The producers found
Belton House Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1688 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading t ...
in
Grantham, Lincolnshire Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...
the best match for Rosings, Lady Catherine de Bourgh's estate, which needed to appear "over-the-top" to reflect her disagreeableness. Old Rectory at
Teigh Teigh is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the village was 48 in the 2001 census. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and was included with the civil parish ...
in
Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest l ...
was chosen as Hunsford parsonage, Mr Collins's home.
Edgcote House Edgcote is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Chipping Warden and Edgcote, on the River Cherwell in south-west Northamptonshire, England. The parish was bounded by the river to the north and by one of its tributaries to t ...
in south-west
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
served as the interior and exterior of Bingley's Netherfield, along with
Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a neo-classical country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart fr ...
in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire as the Netherfield ballroom. The
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
streets were filmed in
Lord Leycester Hospital The Lord Leycester Hospital (often known simply as the Lord Leycester) is one of the best preserved examples of medieval courtyard architecture in England and is a charity supporting ex-servicemen. It is located in Warwick, England, next to th ...
in Warwick, Warwickshire. Wickham's and Georgiana's planned elopement in
Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populatio ...
was filmed in the English seaside resort
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmi ...
in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
. Wickham's wedding takes place in St Paul's in Deptford, London.


Costumes and make-up

Because ''Pride and Prejudice'' was a period drama, the design required more research than contemporary films. The personality and wealth of the characters were reflected in their costumes; the wealthy Bingley sisters were never shown in print dresses and they wore big feathers in their hair. As the BBC's stock of early 19th century costumes was limited, costume designer Dinah Collin designed most of the costumes, visiting museums for inspiration while trying to make the clothes attractive to a modern audience (although some costumes, mostly worn by extras, were re-used from earlier BBC productions or hired). Elizabeth's clothes had earthy tones and were fitted to allow easy and natural movements in line with the character's activity and liveliness. In contrast, Collin chose pale or creamy white colours for the clothes of the other Bennet girls to highlight their innocence and simplicity and richer colours for Bingley's sisters and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Colin Firth participated in the wardrobe decisions and wanted his character to wear darker colours, leaving the warmer colours for Bingley.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 47–60. The producers imagined Darcy to be dark despite no such references in the novel and asked Firth to dye black his light-brown hair, eyebrows and lashes; they instructed all male actors to let their hair grow before filming and shave off their moustaches. Three brunette wigs were made to cover Ehle's short, blonde hair and one wig for Alison Steadman (Mrs. Bennet) because of her thick, heavy hair. Susannah Harker's (Jane) hair was slightly lightened to contrast with Elizabeth's and was arranged in a classic Greek style to highlight the character's beauty. Mary's plainness was achieved by painting spots on Lucy Briers's face; her hair was greased to suggest an unwashed appearance and was arranged to emphasise the actress's protruding ears. As Kitty and Lydia were too young and wild to have their hair done by the maids, the actresses' hair was not changed much. Makeup artist Caroline Noble had always considered Mr Collins a sweaty character with a moist upper lip; she also greased David Bamber's hair and gave him a low parting to suggest baldness.


Music and choreography

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...
had been writing scores for BBC adaptations of classic novels since the mid-1970s and approached Sue Birtwistle during pre-production. Aiming to communicate the wit and vitality of the novel and its theme of marriage and love in a small town in the early 19th century, he used contemporary classical music as inspiration, in particular a popular
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
of the period, as well as a theme strongly reminiscent of the finale of Beethoven's
Emperor Concerto The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, known as the Emperor Concerto in English-speaking countries, is a concerto composed by Ludwig van Beethoven for piano and orchestra. Beethoven composed the concerto in 1809 under salary in Vienna ...
. For control over the sound, the music was recorded in six hours by a group of up to 18 musicians and was then fed into tiny earpieces of the screen musicians, who mimed playing the instruments. The actresses whose characters played the piano, Lucy Briers (Mary) and Emilia Fox (Georgiana), were already accomplished pianists and were given the opportunity to practice weeks ahead of filming. Among the songs and movements that were played in the serial were
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his train ...
's "Air con Variazioni" from Suite No. 5 in E Major HWV 430 and " Slumber, Dear Maid" from his opera '' Xerxes'' (in 1813 these works by Handel would have been considered quite old-fashioned, adding to the perception that Mary's tastes are a bit out of fashion),
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's "
Rondo alla turca The Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 / 300i, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a piano sonata in three movements. The sonata was published by Artaria in 1784, alongside Nos. 10 and 12 (K. 330 and K. 332). The third movement of this sonat ...
", "
Voi che sapete ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It pre ...
" and other music from his operas ''
The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It pre ...
'' and ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spani ...
'', Beethoven's '' Andante favori'', the second movement from
Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...
's Sonatina No.4 and the traditional folk song "
The Barley Mow ''The Barley Mow'' (Roud 944) is a cumulative song celebrated in the traditions of folk music of England, Ireland, and Scotland. William Chappell transcribed the lyrics in his two-volume work ''The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden ...
". A soundtrack with Davis's themes was released on CD in 1995. The text of Mozart's "Voi, che sapete"(sung in an English translation) is a particularly meaningful choice: the original Italian is a love song, including the words "You, who know what love is, tell me, is that what I feel in my heart?" Lizzie sings this, and soon after, she graciously "saves" Georgiana from embarrassment at the mention of Wickham, and Darcy further realizes her good heart. This musical theme is soon echoed, after that episode, as Darcy walks along the hall; tell me, is love what I feel in my heart? Many scenes in the book were set at dances or balls. Jane Gibson based her choreography on ''The Apted Book of Country Dances'' (1966) by W.S. Porter, which had several late-18th-century dances by Charles and Samuel Thompson such as "The Shrewsbury Lasses", "A Trip to Highgate" and "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot". Although these dances gave the story an impression of authenticity, they were anachronistic, being out of fashion by the time of the story. Some fifteen dances were choreographed and rehearsed before filming. Polly Maberly and Julia Sawalha, the dance-mad Kitty and Lydia, had three days to learn the dances. Three days were allotted for the filming of the ball at Netherfield, whose pace and style concentrated on elegance rather than the community enjoying themselves as at the dance at Meryton. The musicians and dancers had earpieces with music playing to allow dialogue recording.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 79–87. Many wide-shots of Elizabeth's and Darcy's dance at Netherfield later turned out to be unusable because of a hair in front of a lens so the editors resorted to
close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long ...
shots and material provided by a
steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping the ...
.Birtwistle and Conklin 1995, pp. 107–113.


Themes and style

The adaptation received praise for its faithfulness to the novel, which highlights the importance of environment and upbringing on peoples' development, although privilege is not necessarily advantageous. Describing the adaptation as "a witty mix of love stories and social conniving, cleverly wrapped in the ambitions and illusions of a provincial gentry", critics noted that Davies's focus on sex and money and Austen's wry, incisive humour and the "deft" characterisation, prevented the television adaptation from "descending into the realm of a nicely-costumed, brilliantly-photographed melodrama". To avoid a narrator, the serial delegates the novel's first ironic sentence to Elizabeth in an early scene. The adaptation opens with a view of Darcy's and Bingley's horses as they race across a field toward the Netherfield estate, expressing vitality; Elizabeth watches them before breaking into a run. While the novel indicates Elizabeth's independence and energy in her three-mile trek to Netherfield, the adaptation of this scene also shows her rebelliousness and love of nature. In what is "perhaps the most radical revision of Austen's text", the BBC drama departs from a late 18th-century vision of emotional restraint and portrays emotions in a "modern" interpretation of the story.Nixon 1998, pp. 24–29. The novel leaves Elizabeth and the reader uncertain of Darcy's emotions and the adaptation uses additional scenes to hint at Darcy's inability to physically contain or verbally express his emotional turmoil.Nixon 1998, pp. 31–35. On the other hand, whereas the climax of the novel describes Darcy expressing his ardent love for Elizabeth at length (though Austen leaves his actual words to the reader's imagination), the adaptation elides this moment and passes directly to the next lines of dialogue. Scholars argue that activities such as billiards, bathing, fencing and swimming (see the lake scene) offer Darcy to a female gaze; he is often presented in profile by a window or a fireplace when his friends discuss Elizabeth. Many passages relating to appearance or characters' viewpoints were lifted from the novel.Hopkins 1998, pp. 112–113. The novel shows irony with "unmistakable strains of cynicism, ... laughing at human nature without any real hope of changing it". Laughter in the story, which ranges from irresponsible laughter to laughter at people and laughter of amusement and relief, can also be linked to the sexual tensions among the different characters. Despite their appeal to modern audiences, laughter and wit were seen as vulgar and irreverent in Austen's time. The BBC drama made changes "with a view to exposing a character, or adding humour or irony to a situation". The adaptation comically exaggerates the characters of Mrs Bennet, Miss Bingley and Mr Collins, even showing Mrs Bennet on the verge of hysteria in many of the early scenes. The serial expands on Austen's metaphorical use of landscapes, reinforcing beauty and authenticity. Elizabeth takes every opportunity to enjoy nature and to escape exposure to Mr Collins and Lady Catherine. The most symbolic use of nature in the novel is Elizabeth and the Gardiners' visit to Pemberley in Derbyshire, where Elizabeth becomes conscious of her love for Darcy. The story makes nature integral in the form of Old England.Ellington 1998, pp. 90–94. Elizabeth's appreciation of the beauties of Derbyshire elevates Darcy in her and her relatives' opinion. Darcy's gaze through the window works as a movie screen, projecting Elizabeth's actions for him and the viewer. His participation in the English landscape is his redemption.Ellington 1998, p. 107.


Reception


Broadcast

Between 10 and 11 million people watched the original six-episode broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...
on Sunday evenings from 24 September to 29 October 1995.Sokol 1999, p. 78. The episodes were repeated each week on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...
. The final episode of ''Pride and Prejudice'' had a market share of about 40 percent in Britain, by which time eight foreign countries had bought the rights to the serial. 3.7 million Americans watched the first broadcast on the
A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational e ...
, which aired the serial in double episodes on three consecutive evenings beginning 14 January 1996.


Home media and merchandise

The serial was released on VHS in the UK in the week running up to the original transmission of the final episode. The entire first run of 12,000 copies of the double-video set sold out within two hours of release. 70,000 copies had been sold by the end of the first week of sales, increasing to 200,000 sold units within the first year of the original airing. A BBC spokeswoman called the initial sale results "a huge phenomenon", as "it is unheard of for a video to sell even half as well, especially when viewers are able to tape the episodes at home for free". The CD soundtrack was also popular, and 20,000 copies of an official
making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) v ...
book were sold within days. The serial was released on DVD four times, initially in 2000, as a digitally remastered "Tenth Anniversary Edition" in September 2005, and in April 2007 as part of a "Classic Drama DVD" magazine collection. A high-definition transfer was produced from the original negatives and released as a
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
in October 2008. The HD version has not been broadcast on television; the BBC refuses to broadcast anything shot in 16 mm in HD. The same restored version was released on DVD in March 2009. The Blu-ray was released on 14 April 2009. A 2010 Remastered Edition and a 2014 Keepsake Edition have the same footage, time lengths, and format.DVD, Pride and Prejudice – Remastered Edition, 2010. 1995 British Broadcasting Corporation and A&E Television Networks, LLC.DVD, Pride and Prejudice – Keepsake Edition, 2014. 1995 British Broadcasting Corporation and A&E Television Networks, LLC. The 2014 Keepsake Edition has improved colors. The 2010 Remastered Edition begins with piracy warnings and then movie begins playing. The 2014 Keepsake Edition begins with five compulsory previews which can only be bypassed by skipping forward through each individual preview. The second disc of the Keepsake set also begins with the same five compulsory previews. The 2014 Keepsake Edition has 50" of new bonus materials plus the 1'45" of bonus materials that was presented in the 2010 Remastered Edition. These bonus materials include interviews with the producer, screenwriter, director, musical composer, and cast members. The cast interviews in both editions do not include interviews with the two main characters, Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy) and Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth Bennet).


Critical reception

The critical response to ''Pride and Prejudice'' was overwhelmingly positive.Sokol 1999, p. 99. Gerard Gilbert of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' recommended the opening episode of the serial one day before the British premiere, saying the television adaptation is "probably as good as it an get for a literary classic The casting in particular deserves a tilt at a BAFTA, Firth not being in the slightest bit soft and fluffy – and Jennifer Ehle showing the right brand of spirited intelligence as Elizabeth." He considered Benjamin Whitrow a "real scene-stealer with his Mr Bennet", but was undecided about Alison Steadman's portrayal of Mrs Bennet. Reviewing the first episode for the same newspaper on the day after transmission, Jim White praised Andrew Davies for "injecting into the proceedings a pace and energy which at last provides a visual setting to do justice to the wit of the book. With everyone slinging themselves about at high speed (the dances, in a first for the genre, actually involve a bit of sweat), it looks like people are doing something you would never have suspected they did in Austen's time: having fun." A few days before the American premiere,
Howard Rosenberg Howard Anthony Rosenberg (born June 10, 1942) is an American television critic. He worked at '' The Louisville Times'' from 1968 through 1978 and then worked at the ''Los Angeles Times'' for 25 years where he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.< ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' considered the adaptation "decidedly agreeable" despite its incidental liberties with Austen's novel, and named Elizabeth's parents and Mr Collins as the main source of humour. John O'Connor of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' lauded the serial as a "splendid adaptation, with a remarkably faithful and sensitively nuanced script". He commented on Jennifer Ehle's ability to make Elizabeth "strikingly intelligent and authoritative without being overbearing", and noted how Firth "brilliantly captures Mr Darcy's snobbish pride while conveying, largely through intense stares, that he is falling in love despite himself". O'Connor praised Barbara Leigh-Hunt's portrayal of Lady Catherine as "a marvellously imperious witch" and considered her scenes with David Bamber (Mr Collins) "hilarious". However, O'Connor remarked that American audiences might find the "languorous walks across meadows" and "ornately choreographed dances" of the British production too slow. In one of the most negative reviews, ''
People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...
'' considered the adaptation "a good deal more thorough than necessary" and "not the best Austen on the suddenly crowded market". Although the reviewer thought Firth "magnificent", he rebuked the casting of Jennifer Ehle as her oval face made her "look like
Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the ...
in period clothes, and that ain't right". The official
A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational e ...
magazine summarised a year later that "critics praised the lavish production, audiences adored it, and women everywhere swooned over Darcy. So much, in fact, that newspapers began to joke about 'Darcy fever.'" Commendation for the serial continued in the years following its original transmission.


Awards and nominations

''Pride and Prejudice'' received BAFTA Television Award nominations for "Best Drama Serial", "Best Costume Design", and "Best Make Up/Hair" in 1996. Jennifer Ehle was honoured with a BAFTA for "Best Actress", while Colin Firth and Benjamin Whitrow, nominated for "
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
", lost to
Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. H ...
of ''Cracker''. Firth won the 1996
Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and fr ...
Award for "Best Actor", complemented by the same award for "Best Drama Series/Serial". The serial was recognised in the United States with an Emmy for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special", and was Emmy-nominated for its achievements as an "Outstanding Miniseries" as well as for choreography and writing. Among other awards and nominations, ''Pride and Prejudice'' received a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
, a Television Critics Association Award, and a Golden Satellite Award nomination for outstanding achievements as a serial.


Influence and legacy

As one of the BBC's and A&E's most popular presentations ever, the serial was "a cultural phenomenon, inspiring hundreds of newspaper articles and making the novel a commuter favourite". With the 1995 and 1996 films ''
Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...
'', ''
Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) ...
'' and ''
Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...
'', the serial was part of a wave of Jane Austen enthusiasm which caused the membership of the
Jane Austen Society Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots oft ...
of North America to jump fifty percent in 1996 and to over 4,000 members in the autumn of 1997.Troost and Greenfield 1998, p. 2. Some newspapers like ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' explained this "Austen-mania" as a commercial move of the television and film industry, whereas others attributed Austen's popularity to escapism.Looser 1998, pp. 160–161. While Jennifer Ehle refused to capitalise on the success of the serial and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...
, the role of Mr. Darcy unexpectedly elevated
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
to stardom. Although Firth did not mind being recognised as "a romantic idol as a Darcy with smouldering sex appeal" in a role that "officially turned him into a heart-throb", he expressed the wish to not be associated with ''Pride and Prejudice'' forever and was reluctant to accept similar roles. He took on diverse roles and co-starred in productions such as ''
The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...
'' (1996), ''
Shakespeare in Love ''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, ...
'' (1998), '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001 – although this film is essentially an adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice'' in which Firth effectively reprises the role of Darcy), '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003), ''
Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proj ...
'' (2003) and '' Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'' (2004). ''Pride and Prejudice'' continued to be honoured years later. A 2000 poll of industry professionals conducted by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
ranked the serial at 99 in the
100 Greatest British Television Programmes The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any ...
of the 20th century, which the BFI attributed to its "managing to combine faithfulness to the novel with a freshness that appealed across the generations". ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' included the serial in their list of "40 greatest TV programmes ever made" in 2003. It was also named by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as one of the 20 best miniseries of all time. In 2007, the
UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...
declared ''Pride and Prejudice'' one of the television dramas that have become "virtual brochures" for British history and society. Lyme Hall,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
, which had served as the exterior of
Pemberley Pemberley is the fictional country estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy, the male protagonist in Jane Austen's 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. It is located near the fictional town of Lambton, and believed by some to be based on Lyme Park, sout ...
, experienced a tripling in its visitor numbers after the series' broadcast and is still a popular travel destination.


Lake scene

The adaptation is famous for a scene in its fourth episode where a fully dressed Darcy, having emerged from a swim in a lake at Pemberley, accidentally encounters Elizabeth. While many critics attributed the scene's appeal to Firth's sexual attractiveness, Andrew Davies thought that it unwittingly "rerobed, not disrobed, Austen". When Davies wrote the scene (it was not part of Austen's novel), he did not intend a sexual connection between Elizabeth and Darcy but to create "an amusing moment in which Darcy tries to maintain his dignity while improperly dressed and sopping wet". The BBC opposed Davies's plan to have Darcy naked but the producers discarded the alternative of using underpants as fatuous. According to Davies, Firth had "a bit of the usual tension about getting iskit off", the scene was filmed with Firth in linen shirt, breeches and boots. A stuntman, who appears in midair in a very brief shot, was hired because of the risk of infection with Weil's disease at Lyme Park. A short underwater segment was filmed separately with Firth in a tank at
Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...
in west
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' declared the lake scene "one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history". The sequence also appeared in
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's Top 100 TV Moments in 1999, between the controversial programme '' Death on the Rock'' and the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' compared the scene to Marlon Brando shouting " Stella!" in his undershirt in ''
A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' and Firth's projects began alluding to it – screenwriter-director
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...
added
in-joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It ...
moments of Firth's characters falling into the water to ''Love Actually'' and ''Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'', and Firth's character from the 2007 film '' St Trinian's'' emerges from a fountain in a soaking wet shirt before meeting up with an old love. The creators of the 2008 ITV production '' Lost in Austen'' emulated the lake scene in their ''Pride and Prejudice'' through their contemporary heroine who cajoles Darcy into recreating the moment. Cheryl L. Nixon suggested in ''Jane Austen in Hollywood'' that Darcy's dive is a "revelation of his emotional capabilities", expressing a "
Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
bond with nature, a celebration of his home where he can 'strip down' to his essential self, a cleansing of social prejudices from his mind, or ... a rebirth of his love for Elizabeth". Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield wrote that the scene "tells us more about our current decade's obsession with physical perfection and acceptance of gratuitous nudity than it does about Austen's Darcy, but the image carves a new facet into the text".


Bridget Jones

The fictional journalist Bridget Jones (in reality Helen Fielding of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'') wrote of her love of the serial in the paper's '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' column during the original British broadcast, mentioning her "simple human need for Darcy to get off with Elizabeth" and regarding the couple as her "chosen representatives in the field of shagging, or rather courtship". Fielding loosely reworked the plot of ''Pride and Prejudice'' in her 1996 novel of the column, naming Bridget's uptight love interest "Mark Darcy" and describing him exactly like Colin Firth. Following a first meeting with Firth during his filming of '' Fever Pitch'' in 1996, Fielding asked Firth to collaborate in what would become a multi-page interview between Bridget Jones and Firth in her 1999 sequel novel, '' The Edge of Reason''. Conducting the real interview with Firth in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, Fielding lapsed into Bridget Jones mode and obsessed over Darcy in his wet shirt for the fictional interview. Firth participated in the editing of what critics called "one of the funniest sequences in the diary's sequel". Both novels make various other references to the BBC serial. Andrew Davies collaborated on the screenplays for the 2001 and 2004 ''Bridget Jones'' films, in which Crispin Bonham-Carter (Mr. Bingley) and Lucy Robinson (Mrs. Hurst) appeared in minor roles. The self-referential in-joke between the projects convinced Colin Firth to accept the role of Mark Darcy, as it gave him an opportunity to ridicule and liberate himself from his ''Pride and Prejudice'' character. Film critic
James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
would later state that Firth "plays this part f Mark Darcyexactly as he played the earlier role, making it evident that the two Darcys are essentially the same". The producers never found a way to incorporate the Jones-Firth interview in the second film but shot a spoof interview with Firth as himself and
Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...
staying in character as Bridget Jones after a day's wrap. The scene, which extended Bridget's Darcy obsession to cover Firth's lake scene in ''Love Actually'', is available as a bonus feature on the DVD.


Other adaptations

For almost a decade, the 1995 TV serial was considered "so dominant, so universally adored,
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...
it has lingered in the public consciousness as a cinematic standard". Comparing six ''Pride and Prejudice'' adaptations in 2005, the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ci ...
'' gave 9/10 to the 1995 serial ("what may be the ultimate adaptation") and the 2005 film adaptation, leaving the other adaptations such as the 1940 film behind with six or fewer points. The 2005 film was "obviously ot asdaring or revisionist" as the 1995 adaptation but the youth of the film's leads,
Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...
and
Matthew Macfadyen David Matthew Macfadyen (; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2005). He currently stars as Tom Wambsgans ...
, was mentioned favourably over the 1995 cast, as Jennifer Ehle had formerly been "a little too 'heavy' for the role". The president of the Jane Austen Society of North America noted in an otherwise positive review that the casting of the 2005 leads was "arguably a little more callow than Firth and Ehle" and that "Knightley is better looking than Lizzy should strictly be". The critical reception of Macfadyen's Darcy, whose casting had proven difficult because "Colin Firth cast a very long shadow", ranged from praise to pleasant surprise and dislike. Several critics did not observe any significant impact of Macfadyen's Darcy in the following years. Garth Pearce of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...
'' noted in 2007 that "Colin Firth will forever be remembered as the perfect Mr. Darcy", and Gene Seymour stated in a 2008 ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...
'' article that Firth was "'universally acknowledged' as the definitive Mr. Darcy".


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links

*
''Pride and Prejudice''
at
bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the children ...
*
''Pride and Prejudice'' video playlist
at
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadca ...
's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial) BBC television dramas Peabody Award-winning television programs Television shows written by Andrew Davies 1995 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s British television miniseries Television series set in the 19th century English-language television shows Television shows set in England 1990s British romance television series Television series based on Pride and Prejudice Costume drama television series