Latest news with #PrideandPrejudice
Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
On the Box: ‘Pride and Prejudice' at 30 – does the BBC's beloved 1995 series still sparkle?
The two most famous big-screen versions are the 1940 film with Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet and Laurence Olivier as Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the 2005 one with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. But when it comes to bringing Austen's most popular novel to television, the BBC just can't keep its hands off it. It was first adapted in 1938, and again in 1949, 1952 and 1958. These four versions are considered lost productions. The BBC had another shot at it in 1967, and yet another in 1980. But the best-remembered, most critically acclaimed and most enduringly popular BBC adaptation of all is the six-part 1995 one with Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth and Colin Firth as Darcy. To mark the series' 30th anniversary, and the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth, BBC4 is reshowing it this week with three episodes on Wednesday, June 4, at 10.15pm and the remaining three at 11.15pm the following night. STUFFY Up to that point, British TV's period literary dramas tended to be staid, stuffy, stagey productions, heavy on reverence for the source material and light on visual flair or innovation. They were shot mainly on videotape in a studio, with a clunky transition to film inserts for the outdoor scenes. Pride and Prejudice changed all that – and indeed changed the way period dramas were made from then on. Producer Sue Birtwistle insisted the series be shot on 16mm film – an expensive undertaking that pushed the budget, shouldered between the BBC and America's A&E Network, up to a million pounds an episode. Screenwriter Andrew Davies, who shared Birtwistle's love of the novel, wanted this version to be a more modern interpretation and to have something the previous ones lacked: a real sense of the attraction/tension between the smart, free-spirited Elizabeth and the seemingly haughty, emotionally reserved Darcy. In other words, he wanted to make it sexy as well as romantic. He certainly succeeded in his aim. A famous scene in episode 5, when Elizabeth comes upon Darcy as he emerges from a swim in a lake, his soaking wet shirt clinging to his torso, became Pride and Prejudice's most iconic moment, despite being an addition by Davies that had no equivalent in the novel. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more To say the series was a success is a chronic understatement. It was a cultural phenomenon. Between 10 and 11 million viewers in the UK watched it on Sunday nights, with a further 3.7 million tuning in in the US, where it was shown on A&E in double-episodes over three consecutive nights. Even before the final episode had aired, the double-cassette video of the series had sold 100,000 copies, unprecedented at the time. There were hundreds of articles about it and a shower of awards nominations on both sides of the Atlantic, including a best actress Bafta win for Ehle. The American-born actress chose not to capitalise on her newfound fame and instead returned to the theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Firth, who was nominated for a Bafta, but lost to Robbie Coltrane in Cracker, became an international star almost overnight, as well as a reluctant sex symbol (due to that wet shirt). Thirty years on, how does Pride and Prejudice measure up against today's TV dramas? The answer is extremely favourably. It's briskly paced and the satire of money and class distinction has a nice, sharp edge to it. The chemistry between Ehle and Firth still jumps off the screen (the pair were a real-life couple for a year) and is the main reason it remains so watchable. Not everything stands up to 21st-century scrutiny, though. Alison Steadman, as Elizabeth's status-obsessed mother, is so gratingly far over the top, she appears to have wandered in from a film called Carry on Jane Austen. As the bitchy, snobby Caroline Bingley, Anna Chancellor goes full-on panto villain, alternating between sneering and wearing the sour expression of someone who's accidentally taken a bite out of a lemon. The series should probably be TV's last word on the novel. It isn't, of course. Netflix is making a new version with Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
I'm grew up in one of the UK's most ‘boring' towns – it's anything but with Netflix filming and beautiful castles
It is even home to one of the UK's oldest hotels TOWN LIFE I'm grew up in one of the UK's most 'boring' towns – it's anything but with Netflix filming and beautiful castles Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHEN I was growing up in Grantham, it wasn't uncommon to hear the word 'boring' thrown around - and not just because I was a sullen teenager, In fact, the south-west Lincolnshire town where I whiled away my childhood had been branded dull on a number of occasions. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 I grew up in Grantham and it's anything but boring 8 The town is known for being the home of Margaret Thatcher - when it was first named a dull town by Radio 1 Credit: Alamy It was dubbed the 'most boring town in Britain' in a 1980 Radio One survey, when its most famous former resident, Margaret Thatcher, was prime minister. It still makes me chuckle that when Grantham received its 'Golden Yawn Award' almost half a century ago, one local suggested 'the only thing that ever came out of [it] was the A1' - and it 's a sentiment of tediousness that 'G-Town' residents have long internalised. That the town is still shorthand for 'monotony' is an unfortunate fact raised again by a new Daily Telegraph round-up that has made headlines in the past few weeks. Grantham sits amongst Stevenage, Surbiton and Swindon in the list of 'Britain's most boring towns'. However, now in my 30s, I can't help but disagree that, from things to do to sites to see, my hometown isn't so uninteresting after all. If you're into history, then Grantham has centuries of it - with sites arguably as impressive as nearby Stamford or Lincoln if you're after a weekend getaway in the area. There's the blue plaque to spy on the side of a shop on the town's North Parade where Thatcher was born in 1925 - which also happens to be a chiropractic clinic and natural therapy centre, called Living Health, if you fancy a massage too. There's likewise the Angel and Royal hotel - aged 821 years - which is believed to be one of the oldest hotels in the world, and has hosted no fewer than seven kings and queens. Even if you don't stay in one of its 31 bedrooms, you still pop in to the The Kings Room restaurant, as well as The Angel Bar - which serves cocktails and tapas. Just outside town, in the village of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, is the National Trust property Woolsthorpe Manor - the former home of Sir Isaac Newton. Grantham - underrated town of the Midlands It was from a tree at the premises that he famously saw the apple drop, leading to the discovery of gravity in 1666. Grantham has certainly had its brush with celebrity over the years, and usually as a filming location for iconic films and Netflix series. Belton House, a grand National Trust property on the edge of town - and a must-see in its own right - was famously enlisted for the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth. More recently, the 17th-century mansion was used for the Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte - in which it doubles up as the interior for Kew Palace and the exterior for Buckingham House. Another fancy residence close by that is well worth a visit, Belvoir Castle was used to film The Da Vinci Code - with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen spotted on set. 8 Belton House is a popular filming location Credit: Alamy 8 Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte was filmed there Credit: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX 8 The BBC's Pride & Prejudice also used the grounds as filming location As well as A-list royalty, plenty of real royalty have also passed through - including King Charles, who stayed over at Belton House during his training at RAF Cranwell in 1971. Currently, the most famous local residents are arguably Rebekah Vardy and her husband, Leicester City player Jamie, who live in a 12-bedroom mansion just outside of town. If you like a good catch-up over a cappuccino, things have come a long way since I was a kid when the best place for a caffeine hit in town was Costa. Westgate Bakery is just off the Market Place, which hosts a market every Saturday selling all manner of lovely local produce, from honey to veg. The 14th-century Grantham House, yet another National Trust property, is currently the talk of the town since opening a new cafe within its five acres of walled gardens in April. Other local favourites for a cuppa include Kitchen and Coffee and the café at Belton Garden Centre. 8 Belvoir Castle was used to film The Da Vinci Code Credit: Alamy 8 The Angel and Royal is one of the UK's oldest hotels Credit: Alamy The aforementioned Belvoir Castle's Retail Village is also great spot to spend an afternoon, and you can also pick up some nice bits from the farm shop too. Fancy something stronger? The Blue Pig, a 16th-century watering hole, is perfect for a pint, while The Tap & Tonic is unrivalled for cocktails. If you're after a way to blow off some steam - and perhaps have little ones in tow - then Grantham actually has plenty of things to do. The Grantham Meres Leisure Centre boasts a semi-Olympic-sized swimming pool, along with three leisure pools and its very own big windy slide. Feeling competitive? Grantham Bowl has 12 lanes and an American-style diner for refreshments, while you can go go-karting at Ancaster Leisure which has one of the biggest tracks in the region. In fact, for kids, you also can't go wrong with a trip to Belton House's adventure playground, which is the National Trust's largest in the country. For adults who fancy a bit of relaxation, then the country hotel Belton Woods is home to a popular spa and golf course. When I was growing up the cinema had just two screens and was a bit tired - however the shiny new five-screen Savoy Cinema multiplex was built on the same site and opened in 2019. One of my favourite free activities? A rural hike up to Belmont Tower - just a ten-minute drive outside town - from which you can see for miles on a clear day. So with the historic hotels, famous castles and new attractions - Grantham is anything but boring.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
I'm grew up in one of the UK's most ‘boring' towns – it's anything but with Netflix filming and beautiful castles
WHEN I was growing up in Grantham, it wasn't uncommon to hear the word 'boring' thrown around - and not just because I was a sullen teenager, In fact, the south-west Lincolnshire town where I whiled away my childhood had been branded dull on a number of occasions. 8 I grew up in Grantham and it's anything but boring 8 The town is known for being the home of Margaret Thatcher - when it was first named a dull town by Radio 1 Credit: Alamy It was dubbed the 'most boring town in Britain' in a 1980 Radio One survey, when its most famous former resident, Margaret Thatcher, was prime minister. It still makes me chuckle that when That the town is still shorthand for 'monotony' is an unfortunate fact raised again by a new Daily Telegraph round-up that has made headlines in the past few weeks. Grantham sits amongst Read more on UK towns However, now in my 30s, I can't help but disagree that, from things to do to sites to see, my hometown isn't so uninteresting after all. If you're into history , then Grantham has centuries of it - with sites arguably as impressive as nearby Stamford or There's the blue plaque to spy on the side of a shop on the town's North Parade where Thatcher was born in 1925 - which also happens to be a chiropractic clinic and natural therapy centre, called Living Health , if you fancy a massage too. There's likewise the Angel and Royal hotel - aged 821 years - which is believed to be one of the oldest hotels in the world, and has hosted no fewer than seven kings and queens. Most read in News Travel Even if you don't stay in one of its 31 bedrooms, you still pop in to the The Kings Room restaurant, as well as The Angel Bar - which serves cocktails and tapas. Just outside town, in the village of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, is the National Trust property Woolsthorpe Manor - the former home of Sir Isaac Newton. Grantham - underrated town of the Midlands It was from a tree at the premises that he famously saw the apple drop, leading to the discovery of Grantham has certainly had its brush with celebrity over the years, and usually as a filming location for iconic films and Netflix series. grand National Trust property on the edge of town - and a must-see in its own right - was famously enlisted for the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring More recently, the 17th-century mansion was used for the Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte - in which it doubles up as the interior for Kew Palace and the exterior for Buckingham House. Another fancy residence close by that is well worth a visit, Belvoir Castle was used to film The Da Vinci Code - with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen spotted on set. 8 Belton House is a popular filming location Credit: Alamy 8 Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte was filmed there Credit: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX 8 The BBC's Pride & Prejudice also used the grounds as filming location As well as A-list royalty, plenty of real royalty have also passed through - including King Charles, who stayed over at Belton House during his training at RAF Cranwell in 1971. Currently, the most famous local residents are arguably Rebekah Vardy and her husband, If you like a good catch-up over a cappuccino, things have come a long way since I was a kid when the best place for a caffeine hit in town was Costa. Westgate Bakery is just off the Market Place, which hosts a market every Saturday selling all manner of lovely local produce, from honey to veg. The 14th-century Grantham House, yet another National Trust property, is currently the talk of the town since opening a new cafe within its five acres of walled gardens in April. Other local favourites for a cuppa include Kitchen and Coffee and the café at Belton Garden Centre. 8 Belvoir Castle was used to film The Da Vinci Code Credit: Alamy 8 The Angel and Royal is one of the UK's oldest hotels Credit: Alamy The aforementioned Belvoir Castle's Retail Village is also great spot to spend an afternoon, and you can also pick up some nice bits from the farm shop too. Fancy something stronger? The Blue Pig, a 16th-century watering hole, is perfect for a pint, while The Tap & Tonic is unrivalled for cocktails. If you're after a way to blow off some steam - and perhaps have little ones in tow - then Grantham actually has plenty of things to do. The Grantham Meres Leisure Centre boasts a semi-Olympic-sized swimming pool, along with three leisure pools and its very own big windy slide. Feeling competitive? Grantham Bowl has 12 lanes and an American-style diner for refreshments, while you can go go-karting at Ancaster Leisure which has one of the biggest tracks in the region. In fact, for kids, you also can't go wrong with a trip to Belton House's adventure playground, which is the National Trust's largest in the country. For adults who fancy a bit of relaxation, then the country hotel Belton Woods is home to a popular spa and golf course. When I was growing up the cinema had just two screens and was a bit tired - however the shiny new five-screen Savoy Cinema multiplex was built on the same site and opened in 2019. One of my favourite free activities? A rural hike up to Belmont Tower - just a ten-minute drive outside town - from which you can see for miles on a clear day. So with the historic hotels, famous castles and new attractions - Grantham is anything but boring. 8 It definitely isn't a boring town - I can vouch for that Credit: Getty
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland's suburban Pride and Prejudice is back on TV - we can't wait
And do we wish to see a show in which nothing ever happens, the central characters rarely move except to eat, regularly featuring plot lines thinner than Cathy's G-string? Well, we do actually because this is Comedy of Manners at its best. It's Pride and Prejudice set in a suburban Scottish street. It's a modern-day Moliere, a satirical take on events which looks closely – but without being too obvious – at the social conventions and mores of the world we're all part of. Read more As Jane Austen dived deep into layers of social class so too does Two Doors Down. Yes, the inhabitants of Latimer Street aren't separated by great financial gulfs, but their dreams are quite different; they are Aldi versus Waitrose, they are Primark and Princes Square. They are fancy new home extension and can't-be-ar***d-throw-some-Dulux-at-it later. The characters are kindness personified, yet can be city banker greedy. They are Labour, Conservative and nationalist. Sure, TDD doesn't highlight the clear class divide of a Pygmalion, but we do have rampant snobbery and judgementalism. In the previous seven series, Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp beautifully managed to find the dry laughs from acute observations of ordinary Scottish lives, blessed by the fact that Scotland has suffered for years from an ailing health service and tragically poor transport systems. They made much (by way of passing comment) of our overblown sense of self-importance, to hold a mirror up to the unfairness in our little world, our inability to get things done. Properly. The writers have also noted cleverly that the stain of bigotry can't be removed, even with by a deep soak in Beth's deepest sink. And they have created a series of wonderful characters to reflect what makes Scotland Scotland; our innate kindness, dark sense of fun, cutting cruelty and a technique for being pass remarkable that is international class. And it's from this disparate, but highly relatable bunch that the dark laughs emerge - and the pathos permeates. Two Doors Down is full of wonderful characters who reflect what makes Scotland Scotland (Image: free)We all know a Christine, with skin thicker than a trainee butcher's sausage and a neck redder than an Aberdeen football shirt, the self-obsessed, attention-desperate with a searing sense of ingratitude, who makes the likes of Inferno's Dante, Sex in the City's Carrie Bradshaw and Abigail from the Crucible seem like warm appreciative human beings. We all know a Colin, a man so hen-pecked you can see the pock marks on his face, yet so much of a social climber he wears crampons indoors, a creature so deliciously oleaginous the freckles simply slide off his face. But like Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice he's easily influenced by the bigger personalities around him. Such as his wife Cathy, an international class narcissist who drinks to convince herself the mirror on the wall has got it all wrong, that she really is the fairest of them all, the mutton-dressed-as- mutton creature with the tongue as sharp as her Manolo Blahnik stilettos. She's a dead ringer for Austen's Lady Catherine de Bourgh. There's Eric, a man who suggests inordinate decency in a comfy chair, the slightly put upon but genial bloke who's happy to watch the world go by and manages to avoid profanity even though his doorbell rings more often than Beth fills the kettle. Eric is a Stoic philosopher who preaches calm amidst crises; he's Mr Knightley with a Seventies cardy. Beth is of course Jane Bennett with a pinnie, a woman in love with Eric, despite his keenness to avoid exertion. She's a put-upon peacekeeper and a tea-cup-filling, sandwich and soup-making machine, a woman who cares and worries deeply about everyone. Even Cathy. Read more Ian and Gordon are the perfect double act, Tartuffe's Dorine and Elmire who can speak freely and sharply and thus expose the daftness all around. And allow the platform for Christine to (sort of) come to terms with the fact that a gay couple can be open with their lives. The Comedy of Manners motif is also clearly evident with the rough spoken, f*rt-dropping Alan, who is Eliza Dolittle with a tattoo, being worked upon constantly by his Professor Higgins of a wife, Michelle. So, yes, we need a show which reminds us how silly we can become. These neighbours represent modern day Scotland, and we need/deserve to see that reflected back at us. Can Two Doors Down survive without the searing, Wildean wit of Simon Carlyle? Hopefully, because Gregor Sharp knows the characters voices so well, each of them so distinct. And Two Doors Down won't appear dated; it transcends time because the characters are always in the moment. And that's when the doorbell rings. And Still Game enjoyed a happy revival, didn't it?
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Hence the sensibility
This muted, somewhat melancholy and very French approach to the Jane Austen update (mostly in French with English subtitles, with a smattering of English) has many low-key charms. The settings, central characters and lead performances are all lovely, in an understated way. Still, considering Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is partly a love letter to writing and writers, this romantic comedy from debut French filmmaker Laura Piani is a bit patchy when it comes to story. Agathe (Camille Rutherford of Anatomy of a Fall) is a would-be novelist who works at Paris's historic English-language bookshop Shakespeare and Company. (Bibliophiles will be happy to see the bookish scenes are shot at the actual store.) Sony Pictures Classics Agathe is a would-be novelist looking for inspiration. Finding herself stalled out, both in her love life and her attempts to write a love story, Agathe compares herself to Jane Austen's Anne Elliot, the heroine of Persuasion who fears her chance at happiness has passed. This could change, though, when Agathe is pushed by her best pal, Félix (Pablo Pauly of The French Dispatch), into attending the Jane Austen Residency, a two-week writers' retreat at a beautiful Georgian house in the English countryside. Agathe finds herself experiencing some romantic confusion when Felix sees her off at the cross-Channel ferry with a surprisingly passionate kiss. This perplexity is compounded when she's picked up on the British side by the arrogant but attractive Oliver (Charlie Anson, who's done offbeat Austen before in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). Oliver, who works at the Residency, happens to be Jane Austen's 'great-great-great-great nephew,' though he finds Austen's writings 'a little overrated and limited in scope.' Piani, who has worked mostly in French TV (Spiral, Plan B), is dealing with the gambit faced by all Austen-related projects: her film has a built-in audience, but that audience has very exacting standards. Here Jane Austen functions mostly as a hook, which might disappoint some superfans. Agathe's story holds a generalized Janeite spirit, but the specific literary references are slight. (It should also be noted that the movie is not related to the 2009 novel Jane Austen Ruined My Life by American author Beth Pattillo. Confusing!) Agathe, like Austen herself, is a doting aunt and fond sister, and like many Austen heroines, she finds herself choosing between two men while trying to figure out her own moral and emotional development. Sony Pictures Classics Félix (Pablo Pauly, left) and Agathe are just friends, or are they? There's certainly a Pride and Prejudice vibe to Agathe and Oliver's frosty initial meeting, with Oliver channelling a bilingual Mr. Darcy with just a touch of Hugh Grant's Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility. And while Félix is a great best friend, Agathe worries he's maybe a bit too much like Mansfield Park's Henry Crawford, a compulsive charmer who can't commit. Still, for all the callbacks to Austen's early 1800s canon — Piani even supplies a Regency-costumed ball, with much dancing and glancing — this is a very 2020s work. Agathe sometimes feels as if she was 'born in the wrong century,' but her story is modern and French, with a lot of striped shirts, good coffee, alcohol and cigarettes — and also a bit of nudity and sex. There is some sisterhood with Bridget Jones. Agathe doesn't quite reach Bridget's level of comic klutziness, but she can be awkward and a little self-effacing. (When Félix suggests Agathe suffers from impostor syndrome, she tells him she's 'a genuine impostor.') And as with many modernized Austen heroines, Agathe is not dealing with social constraints — with not enough choice — but rather with too much choice. This especially applies to the wide-open options of what she calls 'Uber sex' and 'digital dating,' which she finds mostly involves guys tiptoeing out of her bed at night and trying not to wake her up. As a contemporary woman, Agathe is also struggling with work, in this case the writer's horror of the blank page, compounded by a past trauma she hasn't come to terms with. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. This outline of Agathe's character arc sounds good, but with the film's swift 98-minute runtime, the outline is never quite filled in. Agathe's relationships with the other Residency participants, with the two men and even with herself remain vague. Sony Pictures Classics Like many Jane Austen heroines, Agathe (Camille Rutherford) finds herself choosing between two men. At one point, Agathe is arguing with an aggressive critical theorist about the purpose of literature, and she says she wants novels to reflect back to her what it means to be human. The film has bits of quiet humour, some less successful attempts at slapstick and some poignant scenes, but these beautiful moments don't quite add up to a fully developed story. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life could use a little more reflection. arts@ Alison GillmorWriter Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
