TV Series - Pride and Prejudice (1995) - BBC iPlayer

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Currently being reshown.

This interview with Andrew Davies, who wrote the screenplay, is well worth watching:

A truth universally acknowledged is that screenwriter Andrew Davies is one of television’s great ‘adapters’, and here he discusses one of his most successful literary challenges and how he turned Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice into the costume drama series that had a whole nation of viewers gripped.

Andrew looks back on how he first approached the novel, describes his processes and explains how he came to make Colin Firth’s Mr Darcey take a swim in a lake without taking his shirt off, thereby creating one of television’s most iconic scenes

Like Colin Firth, I had never read any Jane Austen - well, you don’t at a boys public school, do you … :man_shrugging:

However, from the outset, the series was energetic, dramatic and sexy … especially Jennifer Ehle … :heart_eyes:

I still haven’t read any Jane Austen books and further TV/film productions of her works have failed to impress me but I will often return to this production … :slightly_smiling_face:

I rarely watch anything on ITV (usually only IACGMOOH) but I caught this odd series in 2008 -

Lost in Austen

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Episode 1 - Amanda is bored and frustrated with modern life. How will she cope when Elizabeth Bennet appears in her bathroom and she is accidentally trapped in Jane Austen’s world?

Janine Gibson wrote in The Guardian that the show is “flawed, but ambitious; a big ask, but answered with verve; polarising and a bit controversial. It is, in short, the sort of thing we’ve come to expect of BBC1”.

I agree … :+1:

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This is simply the best and only Pride and Prejudice production that counts. I remember reading articles at the time about the painstaking efforts they made to ensure the costumes and sets were truly authentic. Some fabulous casting and acting. It’s great to binge watch for a comforting pick me up.

I’ve had a thing for Colin since I was a teen. I remember him as a very young actor and even then thinking mmm. Then he suddenly re-emerged in this series back in the 90s. The perfect Mr Darcy :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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For you:

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Another Country (1984)

Another Country is a 1984 British romantic historical drama written by Julian Mitchell, adapted from his play of the same name. Directed by Marek Kanievska, the film stars Rupert Everett and Colin Firth in his feature film debut.

Another Country is loosely based on the life of the spy and double agent Guy Burgess, Guy Bennett in the film. It explores his homosexuality and exposure to Marxism, while examining the hypocrisy and snobbery of the English public school system.

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