COLIN FIRTH may have been many people’s idea of the ultimate Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice.
And Jennifer Ehle was a particularly spirited Elizabeth Bennet.
But deserving of equal praise should be Benjamin Whitrow, who has just died aged 80, as an occasionally weary-looking Mr Bennet. He was nominated for a BAFTA for the rôle.
Who can forget his grave expression, with a just-perceptible twinkle in his eye, when Mrs Bennet threatens never to speak to Elizabeth again after she refuses her absurd cousin Mr Collin’s offer of marriage?
He adds: “Well, there you are, Lizzie, an unhappy alternative is before you. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr Collins and I will never see you again if you do.”