Mr Darcy, Is that a pistol in your britches? – Saucy Stage Directions for Colin Firth

I bring shocking revelations from a special documentary made for the Blu-ray edition of BBC Pride and Prejudice 1995. Some saucy intelligence, regarding the electric scene in which Mr Darcy and Elizabeth meet in the grounds of Netherfield after her three mile trek across fields, was provided by screenwriter Andrew Davies.

Davies’ explanation for Darcy’s stiff manner was something he wrote in the stage direction:

‘[Darcy] sees [Elizabeth] for the second time when she’s come running across the fields because her sister’s been taken ill at Netherfield, and she wants to see how she is. And so they come face to face, and there’s Elizabeth who’s got kind of muddy up to the ankles, and her face is flushed from the exertions. And to his surprise he finds that he’s got an erection.’

How shall we punish him for such a speech? Was this a practical joke played on this proud, upstanding gentleman, or was it a genuine tool for Colin Firth to help his performance? According to Andrew Davies, it was a bit of both:

‘I just wrote this in the stage direction. It was not [a] direction to the cameraman as to where to focus his camera. But it was really just to make him laugh, I suppose. But it was also for Colin to choose this as the moment, you know, when he’s just to got to act being tremendously turned on.’

Davies also provides an interesting – and slightly more serious – explanation for his expansion of the male roles in Pride and Prejudice 1995. Jane Austen refused to write scenes in which men were either alone or in exclusively male company because she wouldn’t presume to know what they talked about or how they behave. According to Davies, ‘what that means is that we never get to understand anything about the men.’

He returned to his typical sauciness soon enough however, telling us that we wanted to remind people of the physicality of the people in the story. He therefore ‘quite shamelessly took every opportunity to get them out of their kit, whenever I could see a valid excuse for it.’

Take a look at screen shots of the scene and let us know what you think. Is he just pleased to see her?

Your unashamed, tone-lowering friend,

Lizzy