-s Pride And Prejudice -1995- All 6 Episodes -

The 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen窶冱 Pride and Prejudice

Second, . Before 1995, Darcy was often played as a stiff, aristocratic bore. Firth introduced the concept of repressed sensuality. His Darcy doesn't hate society; he hates himself in society. The famous lake scene (Episode 4) was not in Austen窶冱 book, but Andrew Davies inserted it to externalize Darcy窶冱 internal soaking of passion. It worked so well it crashed BBC switchboards.

Directed by Simon Langton and written by Andrew Davies, the series cost roughly ﾂ｣1 million per episode (approx. $9.6 million today). The Six-Episode Breakdown

The BBC miniseries allows the audience to live in the injustice of Meryton as long as Lizzy does. We suffer through Mr. Collins窶� boot-licking. We endure Caroline Bingley窶冱 passive aggression. And when Darcy finally utters, "You have bewitched me, body and soul," (a line added by Davies, not Austen), we feel the weight of the two previous episodes of misery.

The extended format allows the series to hit nearly every beat of the novel.

The Netherfield Ball is the centerpiece. The dance between Darcy and Elizabeth is brutal. They move through the steps mechanically. He asks inane questions ("Do you talk by rule, then, while you are dancing?"). She eviscerates him with pleasantries. The choreography is intentionally stiff; they are two people physically close but emotionally parsecs apart.