Netflix chose a crowd of bonneted Jane Austen devotees in Bath, England, to reveal when its new PRIDE AND PREJUDICE will finally arrive.
“Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story, and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it,” series writer and executive producer Dolly Alderton said.
The six-part limited series will premiere Dec. 3 on Netflix. Alderton announced the date during the Jane Austen Festival, where fans in Regency dress gathered for an early look at the latest version of Austen’s 1813 novel.
Netflix’s new images step inside Longbourn before the courtship tangles begin. Emma Corrin’s Elizabeth Bennet shares a relaxed moment with Freya Mavor’s Jane, while Hollie Avery’s Kitty and Rhea Norwood’s Lydia tear across the drive with the sort of energy that usually means trouble.
The first look also catches Olivia Colman’s Mrs. Bennet eagerly greeting a gentleman as Rufus Sewell’s skeptical Mr. Bennet peers over a book. Hopey Parish appears as Mary Bennet, completing the five sisters.
Related: Netflix’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Promises ‘Familiar and Fresh’ Take on Austen’s Classic
Jack Lowden plays Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Daryl McCormack takes the role of Charles Bingley. The Deadline photo gallery also introduces Jamie Demetriou as Mr. Collins and Louis Partridge as George Wickham, whose grin already suggests he knows exactly how charming he can be.
Fiona Shaw will play Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Siena Kelly will appear as Caroline Bingley, Liz Kingsman will portray Anne de Bourgh, and Jasmine Blackborow will play Charlotte Lucas. The ensemble also includes Anjana Vasan, Sebastian Armesto, Saffron Coomber and Isabella Sermon.
The familiar story begins when wealthy bachelors arrive near the Bennet family and Mrs. Bennet sees five possible futures for her daughters. Jane falls for Bingley, Elizabeth clashes with Darcy and family scandal forces first impressions to bend under the weight of truth.
HEARTSTOPPER director Euros Lyn directs the adaptation, with Lookout Point producing. Alderton, Lyn and Corrin are among the executive producers, and Corrin receives an executive-producer credit for the first time.
A separate Netflix first-look report said the episodes will stay close to Austen’s novel while taking thoughtful creative turns. That promise will face a sharp-eyed audience; Austen readers know every proposal, letter and disastrous dinner, and affection makes them demanding.
The official Netflix page currently lists PRIDE AND PREJUDICE as TV-PG. That early rating is useful for families, though parents will still want to review the finished episodes for how the new adaptation handles romance, scandal and the novel’s social pressures.
Austen’s story lasts because courtship is only the doorway. Beneath the drawing-room comedy, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE asks whether people can admit error, see past status and choose love with clearer judgment than they brought to the first meeting.
The photographs suggest this production understands the pleasure of the family scenes as much as the famous romance. Mrs. Bennet’s schemes, Mr. Bennet’s dry retreat and the sisters’ competing temperaments give Elizabeth and Darcy a whole household to stumble through before either one is ready to speak honestly.
Netflix released a teaser earlier this year, but the Dec. 3 date gives fans a proper appointment. Until then, the first-look portraits offer just enough lace, longing and raised eyebrows to restart every old argument about the perfect Darcy.
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