"Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth!"

Film Facts
Favorite Scenes
Plot Summary
About The Production
General Comments (by Episode)
Darcymania
Trivia
Other Topics
Comments by Colin
Ratings
Comments about Colin
Web Links
Reviews
Credits

 
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Film Facts

  • Title:  Pride & Prejudice 
  • Year:  1996 (TV mini-series released January, 1997 in the USA) 
  • Colin's Character:  Fitzwilliam Darcy 
  • Starring (alphabetically):  David Bamber (Mr. Collins), Roger Barclay (Capt. Carter), David Bark-Jones (Lieutenant. Denny), Sam Beazley (Vicar), Christopher Benjamin (Sir William Lucas), Crispin Bonham Carter (Mr. Bingley), Lucy Briers (Mary Bennet), Anthony Calf (Colonel Fitzwilliam), Jacob Casseidon (Robert Gardiner), Nadia Chambers (Anne de Bourgh), Anna Chancellor (Miss Bingley), Joanna David (Mrs. Gardiner), Lucy Davis (II) (Maria Lucas), Harriet Eastcott (Mrs. Jenkinson), Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth Bennet), Julian Erleigh (William Gardiner), Lynn Farleigh (Mrs. Phillips), Marie-Louise Flamank (Kate Gardiner), Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy), Andrew Grainger (Ostler), Victoria Hamilton (Mrs. Forster), Susannah Harker (I) (Jane Bennet), Roy Holder (Hodge, the gardener), Alexandra Howerd (Mary King), Natasha Isaacs (Alice Gardiner), Sarah Legg (Hannah, the serving girl), Barbara Leigh-Hunt (Lady Catherine de Bourgh), Adrian Lukis (George Wickham), Polly Maberly (Kitty Bennet), Paul Moriarty (Col. Forster), Peter Needham (Fencing Master), Kate O'Malley (Sarah, the maid), Neville Phillips (Fossett, the footman), Lucy Robinson (Mrs. Louisa Hurst), Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet), Lucy Scott (Charlotte Lucas), Marlene Sidaway (Hill, the housekeeper), Christopher Staines (Lt. Sanderson), Alison Steadman (Mrs. Bennet), Norma Streader (Lady Lucas), Annabel Taylor (Maggie, the maid), Bridget Turner (Mrs. Reynolds), Rupert Vansittart (Mr. Hurst), Lee Walters (Waiter), Tom Ward (II) (Lt. Chamberlayne), Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet), Tim Wylton (Mr. Gardiner) 
  • Director:  Simon Langton 
  • Producers: Sue Birtwistle, Julie Scott (associate), Michael Wearing (II) (executive) 
  • Writers:  Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies (I) (screenplay) 
  • Music:  Originial music by Carl Davis (I) 
  • Released By:  Arts & Entertainment Network and British Broadcasting Corporation 

Plot Summary


 
 

General Comments

Because of the length and complexity of Pride & Prejudice, we are straying a bit from our regular format.
We will present the comments divided up into individual episodes.


Episode I

Episode II

Episode III

Episode IV

Episode V

Episode VI

Trivia

Comments By Colin

Click HERE for Colin's Comments on P&P
 Coming soon: URL link to Jane's Firth articles page, for the full-length versions of articles from which quotes are taken.

Comments About Colin


 
 

Reviews


 
 

Favorite Scenes

 The Ball At Netherfield
The First Proposal
 Writing The Letter
The Unexpected Meeting

 

About The Production


 
 

Darcymania

 To say that when Pride and Prejudice aired in England, it had a tremendous impact is an understatement. It began screening on September 24, 1995 and aired for the next six Sunday nights. And it remains the American cable canal A&E’s highest rated program. And the focus of phenomenon was Darcy, or Colin Firth: with the exceptional interest the program called Darcymania.
  • Here are a few facts:

  •  

     

    More than 10 million viewers in Britain watched the last episode of Pride and Prejudice when it aired in 1995.

    When the video was released in England before the final episode aired, it sold 12,000 copies in just two days and 50,000 for the week. Nearly 100,000 copies had sold by the end of October 1995.

    The day before the final episode the Independent declared that “lovelorn women and adoring marketing men are murmuring just one name: Darcy.”

    The BBC book The Making of Pride and Prejudice sold 20,000 copies by the end of October and it made the nonfiction best-seller list.

    Darcy’s white shirt fetched 500 pounds when it was sold at a charity auction in November 1995.

    Descriptions of Colin Firth in newspapers included “national heartthrob,” “dreamboat,” “dishy,” and “drop-dead gorgeous.”

    According to the London Times, Mr. Darcy’s trousers were the outfit of the year: “Nothing came close to Colin Firth and those trousers . . . The sight of Firth wearing button flap, full-front breeches sent women everywhere into fainting fits. The Regency’s dandy’s preference for a snug fit added to the garment’s charm.”

    The Daily Express did interviews with four men whose only claim to fame was that they were called Darcy.

    At the end of the season of 1995, admissions at Lyme Hall (outside of Pemberley) soared from the typical 800 visitors a week to 5,500. At Belton House (Rosings), attendance rose from about 10,000 to 15,256.


Source: Roger Sales, Jane Austen and Representations of Regency England
The Electronic Telegraph, Monday, October 30, 1995

Click HERE for a look at all the other Darcys


 
 

Other Topics


 
 

Pride & Prejudice Ratings

Rating System

***** Superb/breathtaking/heartstopping/etc
**** Excellent
*** Very pleasing
** Still lovely, but . . .
* Bad hair day

personal ratings:

***** Colin's looks
***** Colin's acting ability
***** The film in general
***** Ranking in the films of Colin Firth
***** Watchability - rewind factor

To come: Friends of Firth "Pride & Prejudice" ratings

Web Links

Back to Main Roles page

Visit the original Friends of Firth website, which now incorporates the Circle of Friends web ring

Visit Murph's website- includes listings for other Firth websites

Visit Lisa's overview of Colin's career and web page

Visit Lisbeth's Colin Firth Timeline

Murph's Fashions & Times Regency Page

Still to come: URL link for Jane's articles page

Credits

This page written/researched by Amy, Phyllis, Anne, Janet and Sharon -- designed by Murph
Send us an email

Some pictures scanned by Murph, Snappys by Sharon

The page is part of a Firthland project on the films of Colin Firth.

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