And to think, we were close to being denied the chance to see him in a wet, white shirt! Mr. Firth turned down the role several times before he finally accepted it. Me and my beating heart give many thanks that he eventually accepted and played an unforgettable Darcy. Matthew MacFadyen and also Laurence Olivier played the character extremely well, but there will only be one Mr. Darcy for me. It's just a shame he's not single and closer to me in age.
2) Andrew Davies "sexing up" the adaptation.
Now here's a man who knows how to script write. "I feel I'm bringing out the sexual content which is inherent in the material. It's just that in the 19th century, it was the convention never to write directly about sexual matters." Well he definitely achieved "bringing out the sexual content" for me.
Many people say that "the lake scene" is the sexiest and most memorable moment, and yes, it's been proved to be the most memorable, but to me, the sexiest has to be when Elizabeth visits Pemberley and they look across the piano at each other. The look in his eyes...well, I'd be happy to lose myself in them any day. If any of you are unaware of what scene I mean, the picture is below.
Unfortunately the two times I have gone to visit this place, it was raining. However, that didn't stop me from being awestruck at the sheer beauty of the Georgian building or the magnificent, wild landscape. To live in such a place...okay, so the majority of the rooms I wouldn't get to see and with my navigation skills and bad memory I'd get lost, but the parties would be fantastic and there would be plenty of rooms for the guests to kip in!
4) The six one hour episodes.
The first adaptation I saw of Pride and Prejudice was the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen and I loved it. I thought no other could beat it. How wrong I was. Give credit where credit is due, squeezing the story into 2hrs and 15 minutes was very well done and they did capture the heart of Jane Austen's novel, but I found it didn't quite give the depth the story needed to portray the battle of the love/hate relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy.
5) Alison Steadman's portrayal as Mrs. Bennet.
Alison Steadman is a fine actress and has played many characters in her career, both serious and comedic. When watching others play Mrs. Bennet I find them lacking the eccentric grace Steadman brings. The fluttering of her handkerchief and the calculating gleam in her eyes, but with a real affectionate concern for her daughters' future is how I define Mrs. Bennet and this is what Alison Steadman achieved.
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