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 starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, respectively. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC production with additional funding from the American A&E Network. BBC1 originally broadcast the 55-minute episodes from 24 September to 29 October 1995. In the United States, 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 the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Jennifer Ehle and the Primetime Emmy Award 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 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 1 Mr. Charles Bingley, a wealthy gentleman from the north of England, settles down at the rented 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 will be unable to socialise with Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Bennet, perturbed by Mr. Bennet's refusal to make Bingley's acquaintance, declares that she wishes the girls would stop talking about Bingley all together, as they will never meet him anyway. Mr. Bennet replies that he wishes he had known that earlier, as he has already paid Mr. Bingley a visit. Mrs. Bennet and the younger girls are shocked and ecstatic. Bingley takes an immediate liking to Jane at the local country dance, while his best friend Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, rumoured to be twice as rich as Bingley, declines 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 clash verbally on the two nights she spends at Netherfield caring for the sick Jane, who fell ill after riding there in the rain when invited by Bingley's sister.
Episode 2 Mr. William Collins, a sycophantic and somewhat dimwitted clergyman, visits his cousins, the Bennets. As Mr. and Mrs. Bennet do not have a son, he is currently the entailed heir of their 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 week long visit to get to know the family 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, 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 church "living" that Darcy's father had 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 firmly rejects him and is supported in this by Mr. Bennet. While Mrs. Bennet reacts angrily to this, Elizabeth's close friend Charlotte Lucas invites Mr. Collins to visit her family at Lucas Lodge.
Episode 3 Elizabeth is stunned and appalled to learn that Charlotte Lucas has accepted Mr. Collins's marriage proposal. When the Netherfield party departs for London in the autumn, Jane goes to stay with her middle-class London relations, the Gardiners, but she soon notices that the Bingleys ignore her. Elizabeth departs for the Collins' home in Kent in the spring to visit Charlotte. They live near Rosings, the estate of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is Darcy's aunt. Elizabeth meets Darcy several times there. Elizabeth learns of Darcy's direct responsibility for Bingley being separated from Jane's company. Soon after, Darcy unexpectedly tells her that he admires her and loves her, so much so that in spite of her 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 4 Darcy justifies his previous actions in a long letter to Elizabeth: he misjudged Jane's affection for Bingley, but exposes Wickham as a gambler who once attempted to elope with Darcy's 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 and visits Pemberley, 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, to the Gardiners' surprise. Meanwhile, Darcy refreshes from his unannounced journey home by taking a swim in a lake. After an unexpected and awkward encounter with Elizabeth, Darcy is able to prevent the party's premature departure with an unusual degree of friendliness and politeness.
Episode 5 Elizabeth and the Gardiners receive an invitation to an evening at Pemberley, where she befriends Georgiana and Darcy and Elizabeth share significant glances. The next morning, Elizabeth receives two letters from Jane, revealing that Lydia has eloped from Brighton with Wickham. As Elizabeth prepares to return to Longbourn, Darcy arrives and offers help, but upon hearing the news about Lydia, becomes disturbed and leaves in haste. Elizabeth supposes she will never see him again. The Bennets are dismayed by the scandal and unable to locate Lydia, 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 6 After Lydia carelessly mentions Darcy's involvement in her wedding, Mrs. Gardiner enlightens Elizabeth: Darcy found the errant couple and paid for everything needed to resolve the situation, including a large payment 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 has long intended 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 reaffirm his feelings for Elizabeth. Elizabeth admits the complete transformation of her feelings, and agrees to their 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 Colin Firth as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy Adrian Lukis as Mr. George Wickham Alison Steadman as Mrs. Bennet Benjamin Whitrow as Mr. Bennet David Bamber as Mr. William Collins Susannah Harker as Jane Bennet Julia Sawalha as Lydia Bennet Polly Maberly as Catherine "Kitty" Bennet Lucy Briers as Mary Bennet Crispin Bonham-Carter as Mr. Charles Bingley Lucy Scott as Charlotte Lucas Anna Chancellor as Caroline Bingley Lucy Robinson as Mrs. Hurst Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh Anthony Calf as Colonel Fitzwilliam Joanna David as Mrs. Gardiner Tim Wylton as Mr. Gardiner Emilia Fox as Georgiana Darcy Bridget Turner as Mrs. Reynolds David Bark-Jones as Lieutenant Denny Lynn Farleigh as Mrs. Phillips Lucy Davis as Maria Lucas Christopher Benjamin as Sir William Lucas Rupert Vansittart as Mr. Hurst Marlene Sidaway as Hill Roger Barclay as Captain 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 as Hannah Christopher Staines as Lieutenant Sanderson Tom Ward as Lieutenant Chamberlayne Alexandra Howerd as Mary King Peter Needham as Fencing Master Sam Beazley as Vicar at Longbourne
Casting When casting the many characters of Pride and Prejudice, the producer Sue Birtwistle and director Simon Langton were looking for actors with wit, charm and charisma, who could play the Regency period. Their choices for the protagonists, 20-year-old Elizabeth Bennet 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 the cutest and her father's favourite. At the time in her mid-20s, Ehle had read Pride and Prejudice when she was 12 and was the only actor to be present throughout the whole filming schedule. Sue Birtwistle particularly wanted Colin Firth, 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, 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.