Pride and Prejudice: 1995 BBC Miniseries

(According to my 12-year-old)

By Katie Jackson – February 25, 2022

Lyme Park as Pemberley in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice – National Trust Images / Arnhel de Serra

Austen Variations Inspiration

In January 2022, a delightful post on the Austen Variations blog—Joking with Jane — and my daughter! by Christina Morland—inspired me to share my love for Pride and Prejudice with my 12-year-old son. He had been aware for some time that I repeatedly read variations of that story, quite literally day and night, both for my work as an editor as well as for pleasure, and he’d been curious about why I would want to read stories about the same characters over and over again. With no small amount of glee, I announced to him one day that we were going to watch a movie together. <Cue my giggling and enthusiastic applause.>

The Book is Always Better, But . . .

A younger version of myself would have been appalled by the idea of my child watching a film adaptation before reading the book it was based on. But I have discovered that I’m not so pedantic in my older years and realized that my son would benefit from becoming familiar with the characters and storyline before delving into the more challenging language of the book.

While we were working our way through the episodes of my favorite adaptation, the 1995 BBC miniseries—seriously, every P&P variation I read is populated with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in my imagination—I came upon another delightful post on the Austen Variations blog. This one, Musings with My Mikey by Anngela Schroeder, inspired me to create my own blog post from the notes I’d been keeping of my son’s amusing reactions to his first viewing of Pride and Prejudice.

A 12-year-old’s Perspective

  • About Mr. Darcy: “Oh my gosh, he’s so creepy. He’s always menacingly staring at her.”
  • About Mr. Collins: “Why is he always bragging?!”
  • About Mr. Darcy: “Oh my gosh, he looks like he’s plotting a murder.”
  • About Mr. Collins at the Netherfield ball: “What a creepo. He looks like a 42-year-old dancing with a 12-year-old. What is happening. Is he doing a jig?”
  • About Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield ball: “That was an aggressive bow. Again!”
  • About Elizabeth Bennet dancing with Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield ball: “She’s being very passive-aggressive with him. They’re like dancing with each other while word battling, and she’s loving every minute of it. They’re about to attack each other!”
  • About Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield ball: “There he is with that karate bow.”
  • About Mr. Collins at the Netherfield ball: “He’s like trying to act super smart and prestigious.”
  • About Mr. Collins’s proposal to Elizabeth: “Oh gosh, is he going to pull out a clipboard with bullet points? Oh my gosh, he is! She’s cringing. Arrogant!”
  • When Mr. Darcy encounters Elizabeth at Rosings: “Why do I feel like they could change the peaceful music to scary music and this could become a horror movie?”
  • After Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth: “Now he really looks like he’s going to murder her. What’s he going to do, write an angry letter and show up in the middle of the night and stare at her through the window?”
  • About Elizabeth touring Pemberley: “They’re saying he’s a great guy, and she’s thinking this guy proposed to her by saying it’s embarrassing for him to love a poor woman!”

I am most seriously displeased.

And there you have it, my friends. Some new and sometimes surprising and amusing insights into the love story of our dear couple. I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have!