1995's Pride and Prejudice

Available for over a year

Kirsty Wark brings together the cast, writer and production team who brought the seminal BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice to our screens thirty years ago. For six weeks in the autumn of 1995, 10 million people watched the BBC’s Sunday evening adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It had a stellar cast, a joyful and rumbustious script by screenwriter Andrew Davies, and a precision-eyed production team who painstakingly ensured that everything from the way the bread was baked, to the undergarments the actors wore was authentic. So much so that the formidable Jane Austen Society gave it their seal of approval. Although audiences were enraptured by the on and off-screen romance between the two leads, Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, it was the portrayal of the challenges of finding a partner, complex families and embarrassing relations that helped give this series the relatability and longevity it has experienced. The series offered escapism from the drabness of the country’s economic woes, and a counter narrative to the high-profile collapse of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage. And 44 minutes into episode 4, on 15 October 1995 came a scene which would become part of television history. Mr Darcy emerged slightly sodden from a lake. His long, wet shirt clung to his chest. Cue “Darcy-mania” and tabloid headlines that inevitably began with the word “Phwoar”. Colin Firth’s “lake scene” as he strode towards Lizzie Bennet played by Jennifer Ehle was a ratings winner and inspired the columnist Helen Fielding, writing in the guise of Bridget Jones, to express her “simple need to see Mr. Darcy get off with Elizabeth”. Kirsty Wark reunites screenwriter Andrew Davies who adapted Jane Austen’s novel for the small screen; Alison Steadman who played Mrs Bennet; David Bamber, Crispin Bonham Carter and Adrian Lukis who played respectively Mr Collins, Mr Bingley, and Mr Wickham; the script editor, and co-author of The Making of Pride and Prejudice, Susie Conklin; and Costume Designer Dinah Collin. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Charlotte North Series Producer: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4