Pride and Prejudice: My Ideal Cast

Here Old Fogey discusses his Top Ten Screen Adaptations of Jane Austen and since then I have been costructing my ideal cast for Pride and Prejudice.

Elizabeth Bennett- Jennifer Ehle (forever and always!!) Sorry Keira :(

Mr Darcy- Colin Firth (naturally! Though Matthew Macfayden is growing on me.)

Jane Bennett- Rosamund Pike 2005(I really like her, she is young enough, pretty enough and has the right style and bearing to be my Jane.)

Mr Bingley- Simon Woods 2005 (I like his awkward attitude and fumbling nature, which makes him just perfect for Jane, and Mr Bennett's comment that they will be so nice that they will be overrun by bad servants is believable!)

Lydia Bennett-Julia Sawahla 1995 (Great character and in the 1980s and the 2005 versions Kitty and Lydia were very much indistinguishable for me.)

Mr Wickham-Rupert Friend (2005 version- he is particularly dashing and I am quiet taken with this naught cad!)

Miss Bingley- Anna Chancellor 1995 (excellent, though Kelly Reilly does an admirable job!)

Mr Bennett-Donald Sutherland (2005) is excellent but I do love Benjamin Whitrow (1995) but he is overshadowed by the extraordinary performance of Alison Steadman.

Mrs Bennett- Brenda Blethyn (2005) is ace, just the right amount of hysterics and silliness.

Mr Collins- Although I love Pirates of the Caribbean and Tom Hollander (Mr Collins in 2005 version), I think David Bamber has the right amount of sleeze and made me really squirm. He pulled it off excellently!

Charlotte Lucas- Claudie Blakley (I love this lady. She is also in Lark Rise to Candleford. Great actress and I love the scene in 2005 P&P where the altercation between Lizzy, who is on the swing in her back yard and Charlotte.)

Catherine Du Bourg- Judi Dench was amazing in this role, but the way it was done in the 1995 production I think was slightly better (in the garden). All in all, I am almost certainly sure that Judi Dench is my choice... almost...

Although character-wise the 2005 version comes out top, there is no denying my love for the 1995 version. The way it is filmed won it for me, plus the wet shirt addition was greatly appreciated (like all women!! See Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding when she is interviewing Colin Firth and she really can't get off the topic of his wet shirt in that film!!) I think 2005 is an admirable adaptation but 1995 all the way for me!!