# Pride and Prejudice (1980)

> A five-part 1980 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's novel in which the Bennet sisters navigate courtship and class in Regency England.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4191

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Fay Weldon
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Elizabeth Garvie, David Rintoul, Moray Watson, Priscilla Morgan, Sabina Franklyn, Natalie Ogle, Tessa Peake-Jones, Clare Higgins
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078672/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: witty, sincere, measured, romantic, satirical, warm

## Synopsis

Pride and Prejudice (1980) is a British period drama miniseries created by Fay Weldon for BBC Two, adapted from the Jane Austen novel. Elizabeth Garvie plays the sharp-witted second Bennet daughter Elizabeth, who refuses to be hurried into a marriage for mere security, while David Rintoul plays the proud, status-conscious Mr Darcy. Moray Watson and Priscilla Morgan play her amusing, anxious parents, and Sabina Franklyn plays the gentle eldest sister Jane, whose romance with the affable Mr Bingley sets the story in motion. The engine of the five-episode run is the tension between pride and first impressions: awkward dinners, country balls, card parties and letters in which misjudgements pile up and social rules constrain every choice. Set in early nineteenth century Georgian England, a rural neighbourhood of gentry families where marriage is an economic negotiation, the series unfolds in a measured, witty and sincerely romantic register, with a warm satirical edge toward manners and money. Fans of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, North and South and Emma will find resonance in its blend of social comedy and slow-burning romance. Its single season of five episodes makes it a compact, self-contained literary costume drama.

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