On their travels, Elizabeth begins to wonder why her new husband hasn’t visited her in her bedchamber. She starts to fear the worst; perhaps he is regretting having married her. Eventually we learn the real reason behind his reluctance to… ahem… visit her. Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be something rather more sinister. Again, can you guess what it is?

‘Mr Darcy Vampyre’ is a fun read, with lots of romance, atmospheric prose and pulse-raising scenes. Not many Pride and Prejudice characters are included in the novel, with only Elizabeth and Darcy followed throughout, and the strongest supporting role given to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. However, Elizabeth and Darcy’s characters are written with love and careful attention. Elizabeth is as delightful as can be expected, given the terrible journey on which she is taken, and Darcy is as complicated as ever – perhaps more so, given the addition of the whole man-beast problem.

The sensual prose immediately – and I do mean from the first page – sets it apart stylistically from Jane Austen’s novel. There is more detail in Amanda Grange’s description of the view from Elizabeth’s window than Jane Austen gives of Pemberley, Rosings and the Peak district all together. The plot is also very linear in comparison with the complex, interweaving storylines of Pride and Prejudice. Letters are used, and do become important later in the book, but they generally serve just to recap what we have already learned, rather than to shove the story along. Furthermore, as you’d expect from any book with ‘vampyre’ in the title, it’s generally a lot darker, more emotionally direct and more hot-blooded than the ‘light and bright and sparkling’ Regency novel.

These aren’t really criticisms, however, but readers who love Jane Austen for the language, the light, ironic touch and the labyrinthine plot might not find much to enjoy here. However, if you are interested primarily in the two main characters and you don’t mind a little absurdity, then you should find ‘Mr Darcy, Vampyre’ perfectly agreeable. True Austen experts might enjoy the book as an homage to the Gothic novels that Jane Austen herself loved, but I’m not sure that casual Austen fans and lovers of general horror will find their bloodthirst quenched. It’s not particularly gory and it’s not until the final third of the book that it’s completely clear what’s going on (unless you had the foresight to read the novel’s title, that is!) so there are sure to be plenty more horrible horrors available, but for a light-hearted play on Pride and Prejudice, this is a pleasantly distracting read.

Dario Marianelli’s Oscar nominated score for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie contributed so much to its sensuality and sweeping grandeur. While Carl Davis’ music for the BBC adaptation was all about keeping things small scale and relatively simple appropriate for the series’ style, Marianelli followed the movie’s more ambitious lead. The soundtrack is therefore not so much for dinner party background music, but more for telling your guests to shut-up while you turn your stereo to maximum volume and insist that everyone wait in silence for the best bits.

The Meryton Ball set to the lively 'Meryton Town Hall'

The piano, played on the soundtrack by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, is ‘the heart of the score,’ as Marianelli puts it, but unlike the 1995 soundtrack this one was produced with a full orchestra, which fits perfectly with the film’s contrasting style. By using the English Chamber Orchestra for the more epic pieces and writing songs that enhance the earthy, free-spirited scenes, Marianelli’s soundtrack is just perfect for this romantic and rustic adaptation.

Lizzy running in the rain during 'Darcy's letter'.

Not all the songs have this kind of epic quality,  but it’s the range in styles that really grips when listening to the soundtrack. ‘Meryton Townhall’ for example, used for the first ball scene is a lively little tune that invokes the homely small-town feel of the gathering. ‘Darcy’s Letter,’ used for the famous ‘rain scene’ is wildly absorbing, while ‘The Living Sculptures of Pemberly (sic)’ is a cooler, more ponderous affair. ‘Liz on top of the world’ lifts the spirits and perfectly conjours a sunny but wind swept day in the wild Peaks.  ’Your hands are cold’ is the song that unites Lizzy and Darcy at the end of the movie and is a perfect blend of all the refrains from the soundtrack.

Elizabeth Bennet striding a cliff to the stiring 'Liz on top of the world'.

Marianelli is a seasoned composer for Hollywood, having composed over 20 soundtrack scores before Pride and Prejudice. Since 2005, however, he has been involved in larger movies like The Brothers Grimm, V for Vendetta and most notably Atonement, for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Score. He was nominated for the same category for Pride and Prejudice, and did win a European Film Award for Best Composer and a World Soundtrack Award for the 2005 movie.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth spy each other through the mist to 'Your hands are cold'.

In the sleeve notes, Joe Wright and producer Paul Webster explain that Marianelli was approached to write the score long before filming started, whereas the norm is for composers to have just a few weeks’ notice. Perhaps this explains why the CD has the feel of a complete album, written for its own sake, rather than as part of a Hollywood movie. Listening to this soundtrack is an adventure and a real emotional and immersive experience – perfect for any romantic fantasy…

1. Dawn (2.43)
2. Stars and Butterflies (2.07)
3. The Living Sculptures of Pemberly (sic) (3.10)
4. Meryton Townhall (1.19)
5. The Militia Marches In (1.00)
6. Georgiana (1.42)
7. Arrival at Netherfield (1.44)
8. Postcard to Henry Purcell (2.45)
9. Liz on Top of the World (1.30)
10. Leaving Netherfield (1.49)
11. Another Dance (1.21)
12. The Secret Life of Daydreams (2.09)
13. Darcy’s Letter (4.05)
14. Can’t Slow Down (1.15)
15. Your Hands are Cold (5.28)
16. Mrs Darcy (3.50)
17. Credits (4.54)

Your uplifted and rather emotional friend,

Lizzy

Carl Davis was a veteran composer for BBC dramas when he wrote the soundtrack for Pride and Prejudice, having worked on scores for the corporation since the mid-1970s. He was a great fan of the book, having said in an interview that he battered down the door for the chance to compose the soundtrack, especially when he heard producer Sue Birtwistle was making the series. An anglophile born in New York, Davis came to England in 1960 to pursue his love of English literature, theater and cinema. He ‘…thought Elizabeth Bennet must be one of the greatest heroines of English literature, and the book is wonderfully easy to read, with its strong themes and bright wit.’ He was, in other words, the perfect choice to compose the score for the BBC Pride and Prejudice 1995 series.

Colin Firth looking wistful during 'Thinking about Lizzy'.

Davis also chose the source music along with Sue Birtwistle, picking, for example, a Handel piece that was just outside of Mary’s vocal range for her cringeworthy performance at Netherfield. The soundtrack, however, only contains Davis’ original pieces – not that I am longing to have Mary’s performance on CD!

To capture a ’small town in 1810′ feel, Davis chose against using a full symphony orchestra. For the larger scenes, no more than 18 musicians were used, and the soundtrack features the fortepiano. This is an instrument from the Regency era which was, as Davis explains in the sleeve notes, a forerunner of the modern piano. ‘The ’slight, hunting refrain’ that flows through the entire score reflects the theme of the hunt for husbands, and also gives continuity to the soundtrack as an album, making it delightful dining, driving or even husband-hunting music.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth professing love to 'Darcy's Second Proposal'.

The opening song of the album is unsurprisingly the opening title music for the series, and of course the most familiar song to fans of the TV show. In a nice homage, this is the tune used for the ring-tone on Amanda Price’s cell phone in Lost in Austen. It’s a tune that instantly brings back fond memories for those of us who fell in love with the series back in 1995, and stands on its own as an excessively diverting, bright and lively piece. Once you’ve become tired with hitting the rewind button and had your fix with this opening gem, it’s time to move on and explore the rest of the soundtrack.

Most of the tracks should be instantly recognizable to the more ardent fans of the series, and it’s suprising how evocative it is to relive the scenes through the music that accompanied them.  A few tracks may have you scratching your head, but the CD comes with explanations of where each song is used, and in any case it’s a welcome excuse to dust off the DVD and find them all again…

Overall, this is a great album for lovers of the 1995 series, looking for a calming, yet bubbly soundtrack for their commute, workout session or candlelit bath. This album will surely be trespassing on the hospitality of my iPod for some time to come.

Your aurally intoxicated friend,

Lizzy

Pride and Prejudice 1940 is primarily a wartime comedy, seeped in 1940s glamour and star quality, and only secondarily an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Having written the dystopian novel Brave New World, screenwriter and novelist Aldous Huxley showed that he’s nothing if not versatile with this movie, billed at the time as ‘the gayest comedy of the year.’ The script is so light in tone, and so light on its resemblance to the novel’s storyline and characters, that purists will find it wholly insufferable. Those with a sense of humor or affection for this era of Hollywood, will very quickly fall in love with it.

The movie stars Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson as Mr Darcy and Elizabeth. Olivier is far too soft and likeable from the start, but his screen presence is just magnetic beyond all reason. Huxley even gives him some of Bingley’s lines, which he delivers so sweetly that it’s incomprehensible that Elizabeth doesn’t just leap on him at Netherfield and have done with it! His first proposal to Lizzy is also only very mildly offensive – nothing compared to the insults implicit in the 1980, 1995 and 2005 adaptations.

Most impressively, Greer Garson is equal to Olivier’s legendary presence. While Jane Bennet (Maureen O’Sullivan) is very beautiful, Garson is so stunning that it’s difficult to imagine her being second in beauty to anyone. By the standards of the movie, she is actually quite a faithful Elizabeth. She certainly has all the ‘sweetness’ and ‘archness’ that Jane Austen envisaged, and is wonderfully spirited.

The costumes are completely wrong for Jane Austen, with the movie given an 1840 setting, and the contrived accents are loveable but mildly distracting.* Darcy is pronounced ‘Darsay’ and ‘marry’ has become ‘melly’ for some reason, but you will still cheer when Darsay and Elizabeth finally agree to melly at the end.

Likewise, the wartime dialog and mannerisms make it difficult to suspend your disbelief and immerse yourself fully in the story, but there is still so much to enjoy. Had the 1980 adaptation involved yuppie gentlemen with filofaxea in their hands, discussing their investment portfolios and comparing business cards before all saying ‘ciao,’ it still wouldn’t have dated the piece as obviously. This makes it a kind of period period-drama, which – depending on your point of view – can even add to the fun.

To be clear, though, some of the plot changes are quite shocking, particularly those that involve Lady Catherine de Bourgh. I won’t go over them again here to avoid spoiling the surprise, but you can find the relevant Lady Catherine clip here. When watching the 1940 Pride and Prejudice movie, you may find yourself asking ‘Is nothing sacred?’ a few times, but if you enjoyed ‘Lost in Austen’ or don’t mind a little artistic license then you shouldn’t find anything too unpalatable here.

Your glamorous friend,

Lizzy

Gurinder Chadha’s 2004 Bride and Prejudice was a Hollywood-meets-Bollywood take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with a little bit of modern social satire thrown in. It was, perhaps unexpectedly, a little incoherent and reviews were very mixed. The reviews aggregation site metacritic.com gave it an average score of 55%. You can read our review of the movie here. While I was ambivalent about the movie itself, despite its obvious color and charm, there are some fantastic songs and dances. These led me to check out the soundtrack CD.

For the mostly English songs in Bride and Prejudice, Gurinder Chadha decided to use acclaimed Bollywood musical director, Anu Malik, to write the tracks, asking him to compose numbers likely to appeal to western tastes. Ironically, its the less western-influenced songs that really appeal to my (western) ears.

The soundtrack begins with the ‘Punjabi Wedding Song’ which is a vibrant foot-tapping number, used in the movie for the equivalent of the Meryton Ball scene. It was also, you may remember, a useful showcase for the awesome dancing skills of Lost’s Naveen Andrews. Next is ‘A Marriage has Come to Town,’ which keeps the tempo and fun levels up.

Naveen Andrews grooving to Punjabi Wedding Song

After this there is ‘No Life Without Wife,’ a Grease-inspired all-girl Rock ‘n’ Roll track. This is sung in the movie when Lalita’s sisters tease her about Kholi Saab (Mr. Collins.) ‘No Life without Wide’ was written by Craig Pruess rather than Anu Malik, and it does clash a little with the rest of the songs on the album. Anyone who enjoys a good twist should enjoy it all the same.

American R n B star Ashanti performs two of the songs on the soundtrack (did you spot her in the movie?) They are ‘My Lips are Waiting’ and ‘Touch my Body.’ Whereas most of the songs seem to jump from style to style, the Ashanti tunes are to me the most successful attempts on the album to fuse western and Bollywood influences.

‘Take Me to Love’ parts one and two are also worth a mention. These are romantic ballads performed by the beautiful Aishwarya Rai, with a haunting motif that somehow loses its cheese when separated from its place in the movie. The movie itself is certainly worth a watch for its visual splendor and the glorious songs and dances, as well as the interest it holds for lovers of Pride and Prejudice. The soundtrack, however, is simply a class above. It makes great summer listening and and will give you at least a few more songs to sing in the shower.

Track listing:

1. Punjabi Wedding Song
2. A Marriage Has Come to Town
3. No Life Without Wife
4. Take Me to Love (Part One)
5. Arrogance, Pride and Vanity
6. Dola Dola
7. My Lips are Waiting (AKA Goa Groove)
8. Take me to love (Part Two)
9. Lalita Walks Away
10. Touch My Body
11. Marriage End

Your shape-throwing friend,

Lizzy

The Script

Despite the intervention of the cliffs, the rain and the elements, there is a genuine attempt to keep the storyline close to that of the novel. Adapting the book into a feature film, the task of screenwriter and novelist Deborah Moggach, must be hugely challenging. Pride and Prejudice is such a concise and complete novel that, as Virginia Woolf said, ‘you cannot break off a scene or even a sentence without bleeding it of some of its life.’ Moggach does a commendable job, however; the first twenty minutes rush through the story at break-neck speed, the Hursts are cut and Mr. Wickham’s role is cut down to an absolute minimum – but all these choices seem defensible.

The dialog is generally excellent, although less faithful to the original than the 1980 and 1995 BBC series. There are a few clumsy moments, such as when Charlotte says to Elizabeth ‘Don’t judge me, Lizzy. Don’t you dare judge me!’ in a manner more suited to a rerun of the Ricki Lake show than the Regency era. However, there are thankfully only a few of these moments and they shouldn’t detract from your enjoyment of the movie. Other passages, such as Darcy’s proposal in the now famous rain scene, are written and delivered beautifully.

The Direction

The movie is undoubtedly the handsomest adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, or indeed any Jane Austen novel. Joe Wright comes from a social realist tradition, and focuses on the little details that bring the Regency period to life. He said: ‘I wanted to treat it as a piece of British realism rather than going with the picturesque tradition, which tends to depict an idealized version of English heritage as some kind of heaven on earth… I think that the detail is in the small things, like crumbs on a table or flowers in a vase.’

The Cast

The lead roles of Elizabeth and Darcy are played by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. In 2005 both of these actors were close to the ages intended for them by Jane Austen, and they have obvious chemistry together. Knightley’s Elizabeth is bright, feisty and inquisitive, while Macfadyen plays Darcy with an obvious vulnerability from the start. This makes his character transformation, which of course has to take place within a two hour film – rather than the course of a novel or television series – much easier to believe.

Donald Sutherland is a rather frail, downbeat, yet sentimental Mr. Bennet. This makes for some touching scenes, particularly at the end of the movie. Brenda Blethyn’s Mrs. Bennet is excellent, only slightly less shrill than Alison Steadman’s but played along very similar lines. The highlight of the cast for me is Tom Hollander as Mr. Collins. He is so perfectly inept socially, so nervy yet so contrived in his manners. It’s also nice to see a Mr. Collins of roughly the right age, although Hollander is certainly not the ‘a tall, heavy-set man’ that Jane Austen envisaged. Nevertheless, he injects so much humor into the role and embodies the absurdity of the character so fully that such pedantry is unwarranted.

Pride and Prejudice 2005 is an admirably ambitious reworking of Jane Austen’s classic story. Its successes are many and, faced with the task of adapting such a labyrinthine work, Deborah Moggach and Joe Wright can only be commended for their efforts. Blessed with a fine cast and visionary direction, it is certainly a must-see for fans of the book. Those who haven’t read the novel, which included Wright himself before he agreed to make the film, should also enjoy its sumptuous cinematography and sweeping score – not to mention the delightful performances from Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. It’s such a romantic and rustic adaptation that even Charlotte Bronte would have approved!

Your warm and fuzzy friend,
Lizzy

All fans of Pride and Prejudice must have, at some point, pondered what it might be like to be in Elizabeth Bennet’s shoes. In Lost in Austen you get the chance to enter the romantic world of Jane Austen’s novels and experience them firsthand. The book is written in a ‘choose your own adventure’ style, and playing as Elizabeth you are given the mission to marry well and to marry for love. During your adventure you are judged on the accomplishments, intelligence, confidence, connections and fortune points that you build or lose along the way. You will also face tough questions and will have to make difficult decisions – all dictating the path you can take.

The book allows you to explore a number of Pride and Prejudice ‘what ifs.’ You will find out, rather comically, what would have happened if Elizabeth had accepted Mr. Collin’s proposal. You can also discover if love might have blossomed had Lizzy accepted Darcy’s infamous first proposal. While the main thrust of the story comes from Pride and Prejudice, characters from all of Jane Austen’s six novels make appearances. As well as Mr. Darcy, you get the chance to dalliance with the likes of Mr. Knightley, Willoughby, Captain Wentworth, Henry Tilney, Mr. Crawford and even Jane Austen’s real life love interest, Tom Lefroy.

Although Lost in Austen has the premise of a Pride and Prejudice ‘choose your own adventure’ story, there is a mission to complete, which results in an basically linear storyline. If you take the wrong path or make a decision that does not ultimately fulfil the mission you could end up lonely, sad, or even worse, dead! Adding and subtracting points, depending on your choices and actions, can get a little tedious but does add to the immersion and interactivity of the book. There are a few tricky questions and a degree of randomness, but if you’re a fan of Pride and Prejudice it’s not difficult to complete the mission as it follows the original text pretty closely. The multiple choices and directions lends itself to a number of re-readings, unless you were to tempted to look them up during your first read. Whilst not quite living up to its huge potential, Lost in Austen is a fun and exciting read, and should be most agreeable for Jane Austen fans.

Your lost friend,
Lizzy

Before declaring my ardent love for the Blu-ray release of the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice from the rooftops of Pemberley, I should say that the standard DVD edition remains a must-own for those without HD. See our review of BBC Pride and Prejudice 1995 if you are unfamiliar with the series, but suffice to say it is filmed beautifully and cast so brilliantly you will struggle to keep Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle from replacing the Darcy and Lizzy of your imagination. There was some disappointment after the BBC’s release of the Pride and Prejudice 1995 DVD, however, because of the quality of the picture and sound. It is true that the colors are a little washed out and the picture a little blurred, especially in the final scene of each episode. It doesn’t reduce the immersion of the experience or detract from the wonderful storyline and script, but did feel like something of a missed opportunity to get it right on DVD.

Hooray for Blu-ray; Lizzy and Darcy in HD

The Blu-ray edition of the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice 1995 series is, on the other hand, truly the handsomest television show of my acquaintance. The Blu-ray picture has been improved over the DVD version by a new technology known, a little immodestly, as the “Fabtech” system. The system, as Vincent Narduzzo explains on a special feature documentaries, allowed the makers to return to the original “A/B negative” (I won’t pretend to know what that means!), rather than transferring from a print. In other words, for the Pride and Prejudice Blu-ray edition, they could copy the original instead of having to copy another copy. Naduzzo shows us the before and after shots and the transformation from the DVD is very impressive, even if the explanation is a little dry…

DVD Screehshot - He looks even better in Blu-ray!

It’s not just the crispness of the images that breathe new life into the BBC 1995 Pride and Prejudice series. From the individual blades of glass to the bristles of the beards, it is excessively diverting to let your eyes wander around the screen as the story progresses, but it’s the colors on the Blu-ray edition that really demand attention. Compared to the slightly muted shades of the DVD, the brightness and depth of the colors in the Blu-ray edition mean it rivals even the psychedelic Bride and Prejudice in its visual splendor. The red of the officers’ regimentals, the assortment of skin tones and the greens of the English countryside are the perfect advertisement for investment in the Blu-ray format. You can see and hear the fires crackling, and observe facial expressions that were obscured in the DVD version.

BBC Pride and Prejudice Blu-ray Special Features

The only negative aspect is that greater effort could have been made to include more special features for the Blu-ray release. There are two documentaries for the Blu-ray: one is a retrospective talking-heads documentary called ‘Pride and Prejudice; A Turning Point for Period Drama,’ and the other is Vincent Narduzzo’s explanation of the high definition rendering process for the Blu-ray release. The first documentary is interesting enough, with contributions from screenwriter Andrew Davies; drama publicist, Alan Ayres; TV critic, Baz Bamingboye, and costume designer, Dinah Collin. They all have interesting insights but it would have been nice to hear from a few of the other big-hitters for the Blu-ray release, such as Producer Sue Birtwistle or Director Simon Langton or even some cast members. There is also no audio commentary, but it’s admirable that they have included an audio explanation track for the visually impaired. (It’s also worth a listen for the visually unimpaired, since it is read by a woman with a comically sexy voice that would be perfect for those husky chocolate commercials!) In all seriousness, the lack of new special features is only a small quibble next to the Blu-ray edition’s beautiful re-rendering of the pictures and sound.

The Story of Lost in Austen

The show follows Amanda Price, an Austen-obsessed 20-something living in present-day London. She is lonely and undervalued – both at work and by her mother and boyfriend. Through her dog-eared Penguin paperback of Pride and Prejudice, she escapes into ‘the manners, and the language, and the courtesy’ of Jane Austen’s world. Amanda’s drunken, cheating and belching boyfriend proposes to her from the sofa and then falls asleep, while her mother encourages her daughter to take anyone she can get. ‘You have standards, pet,’ she says. ‘Let’s see if they help you on with your coat when your 70.’ ‘It is a truth, generally acknowledged,’ says Amanda Price, ‘that we are all longing to escape.’

The night that Miss Price listens to her boyfriend’s horribly unromantic proposal, she hears an intruder in her bathroom and goes to investigate. The source of the commotion is Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet, Amanda’s personal heroine. It transpires that Lizzy entered 21st century Hammersmith through a curious door at the top of the servants’ staircase at Longbourn. Lizzy and Amanda eventually switch places, with Amanda entering the Bennet residence just at the beginning of the Pride and Prejudice story.

Amanda’s presence at Longbourn – and Elizabeth’s disappearance – threaten to spoil the story of Amanda’s favorite book. Her revealing 21st century clothes and exotic demeanor draw the eye of Mr. Bingley towards her and (shock, horror!) away from Jane. Pride and Prejudice is further threatened when Mr. Collins and Jane become engaged to be married, leaving Caroline Lucas with no option but to head to Africa as a missionary. ‘Do you hear that?’ asks Amanda towards the end of the series. ‘That’s Jane Austen spinning in her grave like a cat in a tumble dryer.’ There are a great many twists and turns, some comic and some surprisingly touching, before Pride and Prejudice is put (to a degree!) back on track.

Amanda in Pride and Prejudice

Lost in Austen starts a little heavy on the fromage but quickly finds its stride. Screenwriter Guy Andrews has written some great dialog which, despite the massive plot deviations from the original Pride and Prejudice, usually blends in well and provides lots of laughs. The grace of early 19th Century language next to Amanda’s contemporary slang is an endless source of humor. Amanda only wants the story to finish according to Jane Austen’s intentions, so purists should be willing to forgive the irreverence of the show’s premise. ‘This is so off-piste it’s insane’ she says at one point, almost as if she’s apologizing for the program!

To add further complexity, Amanda’s obsession is not only with the book but also the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice adaptation. After she first meets Mr. Darcy she tells Jane, quite cryptically: ‘Well, he’s not Colin Firth, but then, Colin Firth’s not really Colin Firth. They had to change the shape of his head with make-up.’ Later, she asks her Mr. Darcy climb into a fountain at Pemberley, in order to recreate the famous BBC Pride and Prejudice lake scene with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. You can check out the picture below to decide how Elliot Cowan measures up!

The Cast

In Lost in Austen, the actors all ‘fill their britches pretty well’ as Amanda Price would put it. Alex Kingston’s Mrs Bennet has a meaner, yet subtler and manipulative edge than I’ve seen before, and has toned down the shrillness. Hugh Bonneville’s Mr. Bennet is world-weary and witty, with just a little more spring in his step than he is commonly given in Pride and Prejudice adaptations. Gemma Arterton turned a lot of heads as Elizabeth Bennet, going on to play Agent Fields in the Bond movie Quantum of Solace (and set also to star in Wuthering Heights next year) but she doesn’t have much to do in Lost in Austen. Elliot Cowan is a very good Darcy and – lest I forget – Amanda Price herself is excellent.

Not all the characters are quite as the author intended, however. Guy Henry’s Mr. Collins is a long way from Pride and Prejudice’s comical pastor. His chief characteristic is his appalling perviness – something never even hinted at in Pride and Prejudice. Again, he is also around twice the age of Austen’s Mr. Collins. His brothers are quite hilarious, however, and they’re not even mentioned in the book. Mr. Probity Collins, Dr. Elysium Collins, and Mr. ‘Tinkler’ Cymbal Collins are all introduced to the Bennets as potential husbands. Cymbal is introduced brilliantly by Mr. Bennet as ‘enlivening a dull Tuesday evening with his amusing trousers.’

Mr. Wickham’s character has been completely reworked, but in a legitimate and very interesting way. To avoid spoilers I can’t say too much, but when Lizzy assures Jane in Pride and Prejudice that there is only enough goodness between Darcy and Wickham to make one good man, she may have been mistaken…The other character that stands out a little is Mary – she is just too adorable in Lost in Austen to be the same girl in Pride and Prejudice. She’s also so adorable that you’ll probably forgive her for it!

Throughout the four episodes the writing remains witty, the direction is up-tempo and the actors do a fine job with an ambitious project. Lost in Austen is a wonderfully quirky play on the novel Pride and Prejudice and the mania that currently surrounds Jane Austen. It should also make a great movie in 2011; let’s hope we’ll have some details soon – of course, we’ll post any news as soon as it comes in!

DVD Special Features

The Lost in Austen DVD isn’t packed with special features, but it does come with an excellent 45-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, covering the making of the TV min-series. Interviews with the director, key people from the crew and leading cast members are included. We’re given insights into the lighting and direction, props and costumes, hair and make-up, locations and just about everything else of interest. There’s no audio commentary for any of the episodes, but the series runs for 179 minutes so, with the documentary, there is still plenty to enjoy. A must for all Austen-loving non-purists out there.

Buy Lost in Austen from Amazon.com

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.