Pride and Prejudice

1 9 5 2 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes

First broadcast on Saturday 2 February 1952, this BBC production was adapted for television by Cedric Wallis from Jane Austen’s classic novel.

Daphne Slater starred as Elizabeth Bennet with Peter Cushing as Mr Darcy, representing respectively the ‘Prejudice’ and the ‘Pride’ of the title.

The story followed events at Longbourn (the Bennet family home), Netherfield Park (the estate rented by Mr Bingley), Meryton (the market town situated between Longbourn and Netherfield), Hunsford Parsonage (the home of William Collins), Rosings (the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh), and Pemberley (the country estate of Mr Darcy).

The adaptation dispensed with two daughters from the original novel, leaving only three Bennet girls – Elizabeth, Jane and Lydia.

Lydia Bennet was played by then newcomer Prunella Scales, fresh from the Bristol Old Vic, with Jane Bennet played by Ann Baskett, a recent graduate from RADA.

Jane Austen herself (played by Thea Holme) opened and closed each episode.

Elizabeth Bennet
Daphne Slater
Mr Darcy
Peter Cushing
Jane Bennet
Ann Baskett
Lydia Bennet
Prunella Scales
Mrs Bennet
Gillian Lind
Mr Bennet
Milton Rosmer
Sir William Lucas
Sidney Monckton
Charlotte Lucas
Ursula Hanray
Mr Bingley
David Markham
Caroline Bingley
Harriette Johns
Mr William Collins
Lockwood West
Mr Wickham
Richard Johnson
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Helen Haye
Captain Denny
John Benson
Colonel Fitzwilliam
John Roderick
Mr Gardiner
Graham Stuart
Mrs Gardiner
Avice Landone
Jane Austen
Thea Holme