Pride and Prejudice

In the wake of a new theatrical version of Emma and the U.S. broadcast of new series Sanditon earlier this year, 2020 has proven a pretty great year to be a Jane Austen fan. And with everything going on in the world right now, there may still be no better time to turn to Austen’s works for some much-needed escape.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every few years someone has to make a new film or television version of Pride and Prejudice. 

And this time it’s Poldark and Victoria producers Mammoth Screen.

This is one of those things that feels like it ought to be too incredible – or just flat out too weird – to be true. And yet, it actually exists, in a perfect storm of awesomeness with just a dash of crazy mixed in. In short: There’s a giant sculpture of Colin Firth coming out of Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake in London, basically like Godzilla, except considerably more attractive.

The twelve foot sculpture has been created to mark the launch of new UKTV channel Drama and recreates the famous scene from the 1995 BBC adaptation in which Firth’s Mr. Darcy emerges from a lake, clad in a white shirt and breeches, to meet Elizabeth Bennett and made women across the globe swoon. It was voted the most memorable moment in British TV drama, hence the creation of the sculpture, which is the height of a double decker bus. Click through for more details.

For many people, when considering Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and the novel’s prickly yet dreamy hero Fitzwilliam Darcy, one thing immediately comes to mind. One thing associated with this story above almost all others these days, despite the fact that the novel is celebrating its 200th birthday this year. And that thing is Colin Firth. The actor sparked a love of Austen, an interest in classic literature and an appreciation for white shirts and bucolic scenery among a generation of women, who all swooned over his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation. He is in the minds of a great many people, the definitive Darcy.

Well, he’s about to get some competition. The BBC has ordered a three-part adaptation of the novel Death Comes to Pemberley, a Pride and Prejudice sequel written by P.D. James, which tells the story of Austen’s famous couple six years into their marriage. But the question everyone wants to know is – who’s playing Mr. Darcy this time?

Answer: It’s Matthew Rhys. You may have seen him on ABC’s Brother’s and Sisters, the Masterpiece adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood or FX’s The Americans. And he’s aware of the inevitable Firth comparisons headed his way.