Catching up on DVD reviews has provided me with the most pleasantly providential pretext for plumping up the cushions and parking on the sofa – to delight once more in the wonderful 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice TV serialization. While the DVD version lacks the color and crispness that modern audiences have come to expect, in every other way it retains its splendor and charm. (The Blu-ray edition, which looks and sounds incredible, will be the subject of a separate post.)

Realising Jane Austen’s Vision

This was a revolutionary production for the BBC; it has nothing of the studio-bound feel that characterized the corporation’s earlier costume dramas and, thanks in large part to Andrew Davies’ script, thunders along at a pace closer to a typical blockbuster movie. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was famously light on sensual language. Descriptions of houses and their grounds, the countryside and the costumes, and even the physical appearance of some characters are given sparingly, leaving much to the reader’s imagination. Impressive, however, is the imagination that can conjure a more majestic Pemberley, a more intimidating Rosings or even a more magnetic Mr. Darcy, than those presented to us in this glorious BBC Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

The BBC Cast

There is nothing of the self-consciousness of the genre that previously held sway in BBC costume dramas. The actors inhabit their suits, dresses and worlds naturally. The moral universe in which they reside is made abundantly clear to us not through clunky exposition, but often through non-verbal expression. They are given the freedom and space to “do some acting,” as they say in Team America. For example, when Colin Firth’s Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, it really does appear that – to Darcy – his conflicting feelings over her suitability are indeed ‘natural and just.’ Whereas Fay Weldon’s 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice script inserted Austen’s authorial comment directly into the dialog, this adaptation has the vision (and the budget) to let the actors show us how they feel.

Criticisms of the BBC’s 1995 Adaptation

Indeed, this BBC dramatization of Pride and Prejudice has been criticized for its ‘dumbing down’ of the source text in order to produce a thrill-ride for modern audiences. It is true that the performances and direction are far more dynamic and physical than usual for a dramatization of a classic novel. Many of the characters in the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice are caricatures. Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Jane, Lydia, Mary, Caroline Bingley, the Hursts, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh are all very one-dimensional. However, this is precisely where Davies and (the director) get Pride and Prejudice right. Austen herself devotes tiny passages of description to these characters, and her conclusions are definite and clear. There are so few cracks of ambiguity in these characters to explore. Re-imagining them for the screen as complex, living, breathing creatures, as in the BBC 1980 adaptation, is by far the more radical choice.

In fact, in Pride and Prejudice the novel and this BBC adaptation, our understanding of Elizabeth’s character is refined for us through her contrasts with the simpler personalities around her. Much of the comedy arises when the more rounded characters come face to face with the caricatures, for example when Mr. Collins comes to stay at Longbourne or when Elizabeth is humiliated by her family’s behavior at the town ball. Likewise, tragedy threatens when Elizabeth is pressured to marry the ridiculous Collins, and strikes when Charlotte sees no other option than to accept his proposal. This adaptation does not seek to “problematize” the minor characters, and in my view should be commended for this.

Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy

In the BBCs 1995 Pride and Prejudice, the one character that has been expanded significantly is Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy. In the book there are only a few scenes that do not involve Elizabeth directly, so the fleshing out of Darcy’s character is particularly notable. There are, of course, moments in the book when Darcy discusses Elizabeth with the Bingleys and Hursts, but almost always we learn of events and character developments at the same pace that Elizabeth does. In this adaptation, we are given greater insight into Mr. Darcy’s private struggles. His longing for Elizabeth, shown through his lingering looks (and also his seemingly intense private exercise program!) is brought to us so forcefully that, for many, Colin Firth’s interpretation has become THE Darcy. While much has been added to his character, it does not follow that Darcy has been ‘re-imagined.’ Darcy’s transformation is clear from the book, yet we are left to imagine the details of how it took place. This adaptation seeks to fill in the gaps and does so very plausibly. Following the book’s structure more closely would have produced something closer to a televised stage play, which we already have in the form of the 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice.

Never Scene Before

In general, however, deviations from the plot are small. The series begins with Messrs. Darcy and Bingley galloping through the fields to observe Netherfield, at which point Bingley decides to rent it. Of course this scene does not appear in the book, but since it looks great on TV and approximates what must have happened shortly before the first chapter begins, we can forgive it happily. Likewise, after news of Lydia’s elopement reaches Mr. Collins, he visits Longbourne directly rather than writing a letter. Again, the writing and reading of letters on TV – with their obligatory echoing voice-overs – can become tiresome when overused, so this does not seem unnecessary. Most of the extra scenes are like this; they flow from an obvious mastery of the crafts of television writing, production and direction rather than an arrogant disregard for the novel. And, yes, cynical reader, I do consider Colin Firth’s lake scene to fall into this category!

Jennifer Ehle’s Elizabeth Bennet

Elizabeth’s harder edge is brought out in Jennifer Ehle’s BAFTA-winning performance. Ehle’s Elizabeth is sublimely intelligent, critical and yet socially graceful. She can be sunny and sweet, especially when with her sister Jane, yet plays Elizabeth at her most assertive and forthright, and appears especially so in comparison with Elizabeth Garvie’s interpretation. She delivers her refusal of Mr. Darcy’s proposal of marriage directly and with absolute moral conviction, making Firth’s reaction – a mixture of shock, despair and contempt – appear entirely natural. The chemistry between the two leads is legendary, and for many it’s impossible to divorce the characters in the book with their interpretations by these fine actors. This is perhaps the greatest achievement of the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice series, which, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, comes with the highest recommendation imaginable.