Talk:Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV series)

older comments

I am sorry, but there has been a terrible mistake. The A&E version has Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and not the BBC version. --coolmallu 2005 July 7 22:19 (UTC)

It's the same version. IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112130/combined states that it is BBC and A&E co-production. Przepla 22:45, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

Episode breakdown to DVD scene breakdown

I swear my VHS copy had the individual episodes broken up, but my DVD copy (U.S.) does not. Does anyone know how the DVD scenes correspond to the T.V. episodes? -Acjelen 19:41, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure of the answer to this, but it could be that you have the earlier DVD release. The 2005 tenth anniversary re-release is certainly in the original episodic form. Angmering 22:51, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

"Picture format"

The "picture format" is currently listed as PAL (576i). There is currently discussion about whether this should indicate the format the programme was produced in, or how it was originally broadcast. See Template talk:Infobox Television#Picture Format

The series was actually filmed on Super 16 film, not video. I'm not sure it's valid to say it was filmed in PAL ot 576i as to me they refer to analogue and digital video respectively. Originally, the series was shown with an aspect ratio of somewhere between 14:9 and 15:9. The recent DVD releases were remastered into 16:9 widescreen.

Perhaps the infobox should be changed. In any case, it would be nice to add a section to the article on the film format. JRawle (Talk) 00:44, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Pride-and-Prejudice-TV-miniseries.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 00:49, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Removed music list

For lack of reliable sources that would be allowed in a Good Article or Featured Article, I have removed the following list of music from the article.

• Carl Davis wrote the soundtrack. The theme music for the series is a three and a half minute concertino in E-flat for piano and orchestra.
• At the Meryton Assembly, the following English country dance music can be heard "The Comical Fellow" (Thompson 1776), "A Trip to Highgate" (Thompson 1777), "The Touchstone" (Thompson 1777), "The First of April" and "The Happy Captive"
• At Lucas Lodge, Mary Bennet plays Air con Varizzioni by Handel. She then plays "The Pleasure of the Town"
• At Mrs. Phillips's house, Lydia Bennet entreats Mary Bennet to play "The Barley Mow" (Thompson 1779)
• Elizabeth and her family climb the steps of Netherfield as the orchestra plays Mozart's "ecco la marcia" (English translation: here comes the march) which featured in The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni.
• Elizabeth and Mr. Collins dance to "The Shrewsbury Lasses" from Thompson (1765)
• Elizabeth and Darcy dance to "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot".
• Mary Bennet sings "Slumber, Dear Maid" to Handel's Largo from his opera, Xerxes. Mary starts singing Franz Josef Haydn's Pastoral Song for Voice and Keyboard (English Canzonettas 1, H.26a/27) "My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair" before she is interrupted by her father.
• In the Netherfield ball dinner, Mrs Hurst plays Mozart's KV331 Rondo Alla Turca (English translation: Turkish variation of the rondo) on the piano immediately after Mary Bennet's performance.
• When Elizabeth is climbing the rocks in Derbyshire a horn version of Franz Schubert's song for male choir "Die Allmacht" D875a is playing in the background.
• Elizabeth sings the English translation of Cherubino's aria "Voi Che Sapete" (English translation: Tell me what love is) which is from Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro.
• Georgiana Darcy plays Beethoven's Andante Favori as Elizabeth and Darcy share a longing glance across the room at Pemberley.
• Georgiana plays the second movement from Muzio Clementi's Sonatina No.4 in the evening at Pemberley after Darcy finds out about Lydia's elopement.

I have instead replaced it with information from the making-of book. Some "important" songs are still mentioned in the article in prose, but I don't know for how much longer. – sgeureka ^t•c 17:16, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Other removed information

Other removed information because of missing sources:

• Due to the huge popularity, the programme was quickly repeated the following year.
• The miniseries won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Television Award for "Dramatised Serial".
• The serial was shot on Super 16, but was broadcast in a 14:9 aspect ratio on the BBC in 1995, this being prior to the UK's move to digital widescreen transmission. However, for BBC Worldwide's 2000 DVD release, the serial was re-mastered for 16:9, although the opening sequence and the very final shot of each episode had to be digitally zoomed and cropped from the 14:9 broadcast version.

– sgeureka ^t•c 16:58, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Removed because it didn't "fit" but may be added later again if appropriate:

• Filming began in Grantham, England and finished in Warwick, England. The last two scenes filmed were Mr Darcy's second proposal and Lady Catherine's confrontation with Elizabeth at Longbourn.
• The actresses did not wear obvious makeup or mascara.
• (mentioned in lead but nowhere else) John O'Connor of The New York Times considered Price and Prejudice "a witty mix of love stories and social conniving, cleverly wrapped in the ambitions and illusions of a provincial gentry".
• Although some people of the production crew considered it an odd choice to cast Firth as Darcy,
• Lydia Bennet, who becomes a driving force later in the story, needed to be "very witty, [...] naughty, attractive, feisty, and with a knock-down energy".
• Lucy Davis, an unexperienced but prepared young actress who originally auditioned for the role of Lydia, was cast as Maria Lucas.
• but Leigh-Hunt's schedule was split as she performed in Los Angeles for some time.
• Ehle had just five days off during the filming, not including weekends.
• Lady Catherine's sickly daughter Anne was played by Nadia Chambers, and Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr Darcy's cousin who gives Elizabeth important information about Darcy's and Wickham's past actions, was portrayed by Anthony Calf.
• Christopher Benjamin and Lucy Davis played Charlotte's father and sister, Sir William and Maria Lucas.
• At the end of the eighteenth century, the most common type of dance was folk dance, and many dances were focused on triple minors. The advantage and popularity of three couples dancing was that two couples danced while the third couple would stand still and had time to talk in private.
• In later reviews, Louise Watson of the British Film Institute's screenonline labelled Andrew Davies the "king of the TV adaptation" for "breathing new life into classic novels by introducing or exaggerating their sexual content", and praised director Simon Langton for "blend[ing] non-dialogue physical 'action' scenes with rich, evocative period detail to inject the adaptation with energy and vitality missing from earlier adaptations."
• The Daily Mirror called the serial "what may be the ultimate adaptation".

– sgeureka ^t•c 14:25, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

GA on Hold

This review is transcluded from Talk:Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose quality:

   B. MoS compliance:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. References to sources:

   B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:

   B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial) is extremely close to becoming a good article. There's just one thing: The Cast section confuses me. Should n't it be a sub-section under production? Please do so; a "Cast" sectin should be listed somewhat like this:

• Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, The second of the Bennet daughters at twenty years old, she is portrayed as intelligent, lively, attractive and witty, with her faults being a tendency to judge on first impressions and to mock people excessively.

This is NOT personal preference; GA articles and FA articles alike write their cast sections like this, and I believe this article should be the same. I will leave one week for someone to complete this task, untill then, Limetolime ^{I want an award! • look what I did!} 02:47, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the cast section is the weakest spot of the article, which is because I deliberately haven't paid it any attention. I didn't expect the GA review to happen for at least another two weeks (backlog experience and because I had left a note at WP:GAC), but I'll fix/expand this section over the next few days. There are two reasons why I may not transform the prose in the cast section into a list in the end:

1. In my experience (which may be different from yours), they prefer prose over lists at FAC (I don't yet know whether FA status is really my goal).
2. There are just tons of equally important characters in the story (and therefore many actors), and Pride and Prejudice#Main characters already gives a summary of each character.

I have no patent solution for this (both prose and list format have massive downsides per above), so this is likely going to take me five days rather than five hours to fix. (But I will have come up with a reasonable solution by the end of the week). Thank you for your time so far. – sgeureka ^t•c 06:23, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I have rearranged and copyeditted the cast section now to what I believe will mostly stick. Besides the introduction paragraph that gives general information about the cast and casting, there is one paragraph for the two leads, then all characters of the Bennet storyline, and finally a paragraph for the characters on Darcy's storyline. I have also added a (collapsed) table for the geneology, and the link to Pride and Prejudice#Main characters is still there if readers want to have more detail about the characters' role in the story (plus, there is always the Plot section). Barring further copyedits and expansion in the next few weeks to get the article to FA quality, I am mostly comfortable with the article in its current state and layout now. – sgeureka ^t•c 07:58, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I've finished fine-tuning the cast section, and fixed some other left-over issues. I'll leave the next expansion session (about stylistic theme choices) for whenever the GA review is over. Thank you. – sgeureka ^t•c 16:04, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

How many people watched the episodes

There are many figures, and they are quite different, so let's see where this goes. I have so far written "Between 10 and 13 million people watched the original six-episode broadcast ...".

'"9 million" "pride and prejudice" firth' gets 200 Googlehits

• [nothing reliable found on the first 6 google pages]

'"10 million" "pride and prejudice" firth' gets 10.300 Googlehits

• "More than 10 million viewers tuned in to see Firth's Darcy and Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth tie the knot." Telegraph
• "Zehn Millionen Zuschauer erlebten bei der letzten Folge das Happy-End." ("10 million people were present for the happy-end of the last episode.") Welt
• ""Pride and Prejudice," a series that attracted 10 million viewers in England" New York Times
• "Pride and Prejudice ... has been credited with attracting a record audience of 10 million viewers." Herald Tribune
• "The story attracted 10 million British viewers a night " Toronto Star
• ""Pride & Prejudice" attracted 10 million viewers per week in Britain when it aired, " Eonline
• "In Autumn 1995 the bbc screened a lavish adaptation in 6 episodes allegedly watched by over 10 million British viewers"Derbyshireuk
• "He'll never take a bath in front of 10 million people again. " Independent

'"11 million" "pride and prejudice" firth' gets 500 Googlehits

• "had previously attracted an audience of around 11 million people per episode in England (Kroll 66-67)." Literature Film Quarterly
• "The BBC telecast of "Pride and Prejudice" in England drew up to 11 million people for each weekly episode" Newsweek
• "The chemistry between them, all lingering looks and subtle sensuality, compelled a record 11 million British viewers to tune in to watch the final episode." BBC

'"12 million" "pride and prejudice" firth' gets 700 Googlehits

• "Pride and Prejudice enjoyed viewing figures of around 12 million when it was shown in 1995." Guardian

'"13 million" "pride and prejudice" firth' gets 300 Googlehits

• "More than 13 million of us were glued to the BBC on those autumnal Sunday evenings," Guardian
• "At Christmas 1995, when we were casting, Pride and Prejudice was being watched by 13 million people," Nick Hornby, unknown source

– sgeureka ^t•c 19:43, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I've changed it to "Between 10 and 11 million people watched the original six-episode broadcast ...". Many books says 11, and GoogleHits say 10, so the truth is somewhere in between. – sgeureka ^t•c 20:26, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Peer review?

Sgeureka's FA nomination for this article failed. It might be ideal to list this article at peer review for wider feedback on structure, prose, etc. I know PR is a bit slow-moving these days but there is usually at least one person who will offer a thorough and professional review of the article. After that, it would be a good idea to let the article frolic in the wilds of Wikipedia for a couple of months before renominating at FAC; Awadeit's comments at FAC prove that there is always a little more that can be included. Bradley0110 (talk) 11:17, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

I can wait with a new FAC (it's always a strain that needs some time to recover), although I believe the only thing the article lacked was some support votes, not quality. But that's wikipedia for you. :-) Awadeit's point were already addressed during the FAC, and Casliber had just started his/her review when the FAC closed and may finish it. My experience-backed-up pessimism makes me doubt that a PR will bring up anything new, but if someone else wants to initiate a PR, go ahead. I'd help the PR from behind the fence and give the FAC another go in a few weeks either way. – sgeureka ^t•c 21:13, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh, listing it sounds too much like hard work ;) I was quite surprised it was failed--I thought it would just be relisted. I was considering replacing Image:Pride-and-Prejudice-TV-miniseries.jpg with the title screen, unless there is any reason you are keeping it? Bradley0110 (talk) 22:39, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I go by the rule that if I list something somewhere (GAN, FAC, PR), I have to review at least one article in return - but I neither have the time nor enthusiasm for that at the moment because that would be too much hard work. :-) I thought about the title screen as well, but it reads "in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice", and I find the "in" annoying (photoshopping may help). I also think there should be an image in the article showing either the whole cast, or Elizabeth and Darcy as the protagonists. The DVD cover solved this and identification - perfect for WP:NFC#3a. – sgeureka ^t•c 23:23, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Would you believe that yesterday I was trying to cover up the "in" using the smudge tool on Paint Shop Pro? The DVD cover is good in that it kills two birds with one stone, but I just have an aversion to using them. It's a pity that the serial wasn't made 10 years later as A&E would probably have made a nice poster for it. One thing though-- the DVD cover is the UK cover as it has the BBFC's "U" rating on it, so I'll change that. Bradley0110 (talk) 11:38, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Pride and Prejudice Template?

I added Template:Pride and Prejudice, but since the Template:Jane Austen is already in place, the section looks too crowded. Should we remove the P&P template, the JA template or keep both? Please discuss. ImperialJaineite (talk) 02:05, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

synopsis inaccuracies

Episode 1: Bingley and Jane meet at an ASSEMBLY. A "country dance" is a single piece of music to which people danced. Episode 2: Collins is the "heir in tail" because the property is entailed on heirs male. Elizabeth witnesses Mr Darcy "cutting" Mr Wickham, which is socially reprehensible when nobody knows their history. Wickham did not imply that there was an inheritance coming to him. In fact there was not, there was patronage he thought he had a right to expect, that is, being appointed to the living of a church. Charlotte invites Mr Collins to dine, not to sleep. 108.18.136.147 (talk) 11:51, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for these comments. On the first point, you are correct about the meaning of "country dance", but I'm not sure if "assembly" by itself is the best term to use. In the film, the event is described as a "ball" and "assembly ball". When Bingley says that there's nothing he loves better than a "country dance", he's referring to the dance itself, and not the event. In the novel, Miss Austen describes the event as a "ball". Maybe an appropriate replacement would be "assembly ball". Bede735 (talk) 15:11, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

TFAR

Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV series) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:30, 6 August 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV series)/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Became a GA on June 13, 2008; the review can be read here. Limetolime Talk to me • look what I did! 14:37, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Last edited at 01:46, 1 January 2012 (UTC). Substituted at 03:23, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Cast list needed

The information about the process of casting is all very well, but it is annoying to have to wade through all the prose to find out which actor/actress played which part. It should be done in list form. If you're going to add all this other stuff, then each actor should have their own paragraph, with their name and their character at the beginning. Koro Neil (talk) 20:54, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Nothing has been done on this. Talk pages aren't much visited these days. I hate making articles untidy, but sometimes there's no other way to get editors' attention.

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Possible Update

The Influence and Legacy section that mentions the Bridget Jones movies could be updated to include the most recent "Bridget Jones's baby" (also starring Colin Firth) in 2016. Great article.StaceyG124 (talk) 21:38, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

Ironic or iconic?

@Sbishop:, I know this is pedantic but in your revert rationale you said the opening line being “ironic” is well-known. “Ironic” has multiple definitions and most people barely know what any of them are. The “irony” here is not self evident, unlike the fact that the line is simply well known (if it wasn’t they obviously wouldn’t have bothered going out of their way to include it). Most people are going to assume it’s a typo anyway, so why include it at all? Dronebogus (talk) 23:22, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

I don't think it is essential to include it in the lead, but have no doubt that the ironic tone of the sentence is an important signal of Austen's intention to use the novel to subvert societal expectations of the time. Comment from others would be useful.Sbishop (talk) 09:43, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

It’s debatable whether Austin truly was subversive or whether that is just contemporary projection (see the article on the novel) Dronebogus (talk) 12:21, 21 January 2023 (UTC)