It’s 207 years today since Jane Austen passed away, so, in her honour, it’s time to talk about the best adaptations of her work: specifically, my favourite of all her novels, Pride and Prejudice.

I don’t want to ignite the Darcy debate, but I have to list some of my favourite – and some of the whackier – adaptations.

There are so many of them! There are the classic television ones, the Hollywood ones, the modern ones, the zombie one, the dog show one, the web diaries one, the musical Bollywood one… honestly, if you like Pride and Prejudice in any capacity, there is an adaptation for you out there, it seems.

There is something very resonant about the story of Pride and Prejudice: I’ve argued this many times.

If you strip back the novel to its fundamental elements, you have themes of family, money worries, romance, friendship and duplicity. Whilst being a Bennet sister in early nineteenth-century England might not seem something that many people could see themselves stepping into the shoes of, there is so much about these characters and their feelings that speaks to experiences across time, culture and place, and even age.

But, alongside this, it is a brilliant story. It’s the classic of enemies-to-lovers romances, as well as a story that rejoices in sisterhood and female friendships, and is – above all else – funny. It’s a romantic comedy from the days before romcoms were a celebrated genre. Austen is hilarious, and sometimes I don’t think we recognise that enough on the page, but it translates so well to adaptation.

And I love a list: so let’s countdown my top 10 Pride and Prejudice adaptations.

I should say that I have not been able to get my hands on the 1960s adaptation or Pride and Prejudice Atlanta, so they aren’t included for that reason.

10. Pride and Prejudice (1980)

I recently watched this for the first time with my parents, and you can tell it’s an older, slightly more staid adaptation. But, this has to make it on the list because of how lovely Elizabeth Garvie is as Elizabeth Bennet.

David Rintoul’s Mr Darcy is a little too reserved, but Garvie is just sparkling, and for that, Fay Weldon’s series is worth the watch. It’s a classic, very faithful to the novel, multi-episode version.

9. Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Okay, this is a huge Hollywood blockbuster version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier as Lizzy and Darcy respectively. It’s spectacularly made, but very confused about what period it is set in (think big hoop Victorian hoop skirts for costumes), and, though the Bennet sisters seem a little silly, I really enjoyed it… up until Lady Catherine de Bourgh comes in towards the end.

You know the part of the novel, when she demands to know if Lizzy is engaged to Mr Darcy and insults her, calling her an “obstinate, headstrong girl”? Well, here, Lady Catherine becomes a kind of fairy godmother character that helps Lizzy and Darcy together. It’s bizarre, and messes up the fact that Laurence Olivier is a great Darcy.

8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

I’m not going to lie, when this first came out, I was very sceptical. Did Jane Austen really need to have zombies involved with her novel? However, I did truly enjoy this movie. The casting was fun, the idea of the Bennet sisters being trained in the arts of defense I liked a lot, and they did a good job of playing with the source material in a comic way.

That isn’t too say I don’t prefer Pride and Prejudice without the zombies, but we have so many faithful adaptations of the novel that I think there is plenty of room for fun and irreverent approaches, as long as they feel like they actually like the original (I’m looking at you, 2022’s Persuasion). This does, particularly in the genius casting of Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet.

7. Austenland (2013)

Imagine being able to go to a Jane Austen theme park, where you can dress as Austen, stay in a country house and be immersed in the stories of her novels, including your own romance!

Well, that’s what happens to Jane Hayes, self-proclaimed biggest fan of Austen (and Colin Firth as Mr Darcy), who finds herself caught in a real love triangle between charming Martin and standoffish Mr Henry Nobley (a great appearance by J. J. Feild), resulting in her actually inhabiting the role of Elizabeth Bennet.

This is very underrated and is an absolute joy, with the brilliant comic addition of Jennifer Coolidge. What more could you want?

6. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of this film that have not aged well. The obsession with Bridget’s weight, for one thing, when she is objectively a very slim woman (though I think this, unfortunately, is very symptomatic of the wider media and culture of body image and scrutiny in the 90s and 00s). Also how Bridget, as a single woman who works an entry level job in publishing, can afford a gorgeous flat in Southwark?!

But… I love this film. It’s a classic British romcom that many don’t even realise is based upon Pride and Prejudice, despite Colin Firth playing a character called Mark Darcy. It’s not moment-for-moment adaptive of the original, but it does a great job of transposing 1813’s Lizzy into 2001’s Bridget, a thirty-something Londoner with an overbearing mother and fierce friends.

My favourite part is when Mark Darcy, delivering the equivalent to Mr Darcy’s disastrous first proposal, tells Bridget he likes her “just the way she is”. Very fun, and nostalgic in its own right.

Also, in Helen Fielding’s second Bridget Jones book, Bridget interviews Colin Firth…

5. Fire Island (2022)

This is a very recent, modern take on Pride and Prejudice, which sets the story in contemporary Fire Island, where a group of five gay friends holiday every year in their friend Erin’s house.

This year, however, Erin reveals she needs to sell the house, so this is the last week they will have there together. Noah, our Lizzy, and Howie, our Jane, meet charming doctor Charlie and his less-charming friend Will, and thus our story begins.

This is a great queer romcom in its own right, before we even get to it being a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and was written by Joel Kim Booster, who stars as Noah.

I was obsessed with Noah and Will’s chemistry, but moreover, the friendship between Noah, Howie, Luke, Keegan, Max and Erin – our Bennets – which was the true star of the show. This adaptation does a fantastic job of taking the events of the novel and fitting them to a new narrative in a way that suits both its source material and its new destination, and I loved it.

4. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

This may be a very controversial placing on the list… but there it is.

I like this film a LOT, don’t get me wrong, and I remember vividly going to see it in the cinema with my mum and I had the loveliest time.

But I think the downfall of this is that it doesn’t have enough room to truly emphasise the key parts of the novel, when it is meant to be a direct, traditional adaptation of the book. Wickham is barely in it, which is a shame. Part of that is the fact everything has to fit into the time constraints of a movie, not a six-hour multi-episode television format.

However, I thoroughly enjoy it every time I watch it, and the soundtrack is just gorgeous. I particularly love Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn as Mr and Mrs Bennet, and I understand why this is the favourite of so many people… it just isn’t mine!

Also, I have to say, the part at the end where Lizzy and Darcy sit in front of Chatsworth and they say that line “perfectly and incandescently happy”, gives me goosebumps. (Although this is a polite reminder Jane Austen didn’t write that line, even though it has an Austen feel to it: it fits so, so well).

3. Lost in Austen (2008)

This is perhaps one of the most nostalgic adaptations on the list for me. I was 14/15 years old when this came out, so watching a TV series in which a modern day heroine goes – skinny jeans, leather jacket and all – directly into the novel, and falls in love with Mr Darcy? It was always going to leave a lasting impression.

Amanda Price swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet, playing with the idea of Lizzy as a modern heroine, and proceeds to mess up the events of the novel, and put them back together again.

Elliot Cowan actually makes a brilliant Darcy, considering that this is a more creative interpretation of the novel. He fits the brooding, proud, but likeable underneath perfectly – and there are quite a few Colin Firth references, of course.

2. Bride and Prejudice (2004)

Without a doubt, this is my favourite contemporary adaptation, so to speak. Gurinder Chadha transports our novel to Amritsar, India, where Lalita and Jaya Bakshi meet handsome American Will Darcy and Indian-British Belraj at a friend’s wedding.

Pride and Prejudice meets Bollywood, and it is brilliant, and beautiful, and a great, very faithful, but exciting adaptation of the novel. The music is infectious, and I promise that you will be singing “no life without wife” for ages after you watch.

Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson’s chemistry is off the charts, making for a brilliant Lizzy and Darcy. I love everything about this and I might go and rewatch it now…

1. Pride and Prejudice (1995)

It couldn’t be any other adaptation at number one for me.

Your favourite may be 2005 (completely legitimately), but mine is Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

Why do I love this so much? Well, it was my first introduction to Jane Austen, but also, I love Andrew Davies’s approach to the novel. There are parts where it is almost quoted verbatim, and there are parts where he interprets the material for a modern audience (yes, I’m thinking of the lake scene).

Part of adapting novels for screen is symbolically showing to the audience some of the stuff that isn’t necessarily on the page, but storytelling through things like costume, sets, visuals and nonverbal acting. Andrew Davies does this so, so well, and if his name is attached to an adaptation of a novel (2008’s Sense and Sensibility, 2016’s War and Peace, and Sanditon, to name a few), I will watch and devour it because of this skill.

To me, everything about this adaptation is perfect, and the liberties are taken to enhance everything about the original source material. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, this is why I love the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.

…plus some honourable mentions…

I had to include the Hallmark adaptations of the novel, because there are quite a few, and they are fun. I recently wrote about An American in Austen, which is almost like Lost in Austen. Also, the classic Unleashing Mr Darcy – in which our Lizzy and Darcy fall in love at a dog show – as well as Pride and Prejudice Cut, in which an American woman gets the part of Elizabeth Bennet and the actor playing Mr Darcy has to help her with her accent. You can even get a fill at Christmas with Christmas at Pemberley Manor and Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe. I also wanted to mention Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy, where the novel is transported to Utah (and Las Vegas!), which is the ultimate 00s teen version.