Pride and Prejudice: Episode 1.4

Pride and Prejudice: Episode 1.4
BBC
15 October 1995
Historical Comedy, Romance
DVD
B+

I'm bumping this episode up to a B+ because of scenery, and, no, I don't mean Colin Firth in a wet shirt.*  Darbyshire and the Pemberley estate look stunning, and it's believable that Lizzy falls in love with them as much as with the now surprisingly kind and humble Mr. Darcy.  The episode covers nine chapters, starting with Darcy's letter, telling his reasons for breaking up Jane and Bingley and for falling out with Wickham, the latter in part because of Wickham's attempt to elope with Darcy's sister Georgiana (glimpsed in the previous episode and here seen in flashbacks, including when she's supposed to be only eleven; Emilia Fox would get more to do in the next episode, and appear briefly in the conclusion).

Because of the trip to Darbyshire, we see more of the Gardiners (Joanna David and Tim Wylton) than we did in the previous episode, and they would also be in the last two episodes, but less.  Their four children-- played by Jacob Casselden, Julian Erleigh, Marie-Louise Flamank, and Natasha Isaacs-- would return in the next episode.


*When this series originally aired in Britain, it was a major event, must-see telly if you will.  To this day, the wet-shirted Darcy scene is probably the one thing most associated with the mid- to late '90s Austen revival.