I Thought We Didn’t Need Another Pride and Prejudice. I Was Wrong
Netflix’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic may have arrived at exactly the right moment. The six-part series is set to premiere this autumn, with Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy.
Like many Jane Austen fans, I was initially horrified when Netflix announced plans for another Pride and Prejudice adaptation.
The story has already been brought to the screen countless times, with the BBC’s 1995 series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle remaining the benchmark for many viewers. After Netflix’s much-maligned Persuasion, there was plenty of reason to worry that the streamer might once again take liberties with an Austen classic and produce something that missed the point.
So what could another version of Pride and Prejudice possibly add?
After watching the teaser again, I’m beginning to think there may be a very good reason for this particular adaptation to exist.
Netflix is leaning into the yearning
The first footage of Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice puts the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy firmly at its centre.
Emma Corrin plays Elizabeth, while Slow Horses star Jack Lowden takes on the role of Darcy. The teaser is packed with lingering looks, romantic tension and the unmistakable sense that these two people are trying very hard not to fall for one another.
Netflix describes the six-part series as a faithful, classic adaptation of Austen’s novel. It has been written by Dolly Alderton and directed by Euros Lyn, who previously worked on Heartstopper.
And that emphasis on longing may be exactly what makes this version feel relevant now.
Modern dating can often feel disposable. Dating apps put another potential relationship just a swipe away, while the rise of toxic masculinity and the manosphere has made conversations about relationships, gender and respect increasingly complicated.
Against that backdrop, Austen’s world of restraint, honour, manners and slowly developing attraction can feel surprisingly appealing.
There is something particularly satisfying about watching two people fall in love when neither can simply send a message, swipe to the next person or immediately act on their feelings.
Audiences seem to want romance with a little more longing
The popularity of recent period dramas suggests that viewers have developed quite an appetite for this kind of romance.
Earlier this year, the latest season of Bridgerton became one of the strongest outings yet for Julia Quinn’s Regency romance series. Much of its appeal came from the relationship between overlooked second son Benedict Bridgerton, played by Luke Thompson, and Sophie Baek, played by Yerin Ha.
Their romance was forbidden, complicated and full of stolen moments. As the pair continued to fall for each other, audiences were encouraged to root for them despite the obstacles standing in their way.
That same appetite for yearning could also be seen in the BBC’s The Other Bennet Sister, a period drama closely connected to Austen’s world.
The series followed Mary Bennet, played by Ella Bruccoleri, and her relationship with lawyer Tom Hayward, played by Dónal Finn. Their misunderstandings and gradually developing romance gave viewers another variation on the kind of slow-burning emotional storytelling that Austen perfected.
The response was strong enough for the BBC to commission a Christmas special, suggesting there is still considerable interest in stories built around romantic tension rather than instant gratification.
Even Mr Collins got a new dimension
The Other Bennet Sister also demonstrated that familiar Austen characters can be reconsidered without completely abandoning what makes them recognisable.
Mr Collins, played by Ryan Sampson, has traditionally been one of the more risible figures in Pride and Prejudice. The series found more poignancy and sympathy in the character, showing that there are still opportunities to discover something new in a story audiences already know extremely well.
That may ultimately be the biggest challenge facing Netflix.
The question is not whether Pride and Prejudice can be retold. Clearly it can.
The question is whether this version can add nuance while remaining faithful to Austen’s novel.
Netflix’s own description calls the series a faithful, classic adaptation, and the six-episode format gives the story considerably more room than a conventional feature film.
The appeal goes beyond period dramas
The same fascination with yearning has appeared well outside the Regency genre.
Even the third season of Jenny Han’s young-adult romance The Summer I Turned Pretty found success through the distant longing of Conrad Fisher, played by Christopher Briney, for Isabelle Belly Conklin, played by Lola Tung.
Again, the appeal seems connected to something that feels increasingly absent from modern romance: the anticipation of wanting someone, waiting for them and wondering whether those feelings will ever be returned.
ITV’s 2008 miniseries Lost in Austen played with the idea more directly.
Its heroine, Amanda Price, played by Jemima Rooper, finds herself transported into the world of Pride and Prejudice after discovering a mysterious door in her bathroom. The story effectively turns the Austen novel into an escape from modern romantic life, with Amanda finding herself surrounded by the very world of romance she has been missing.
Perhaps, in one form or another, plenty of modern viewers are still looking for their own Mr Darcy.
Austen adaptations are having another moment
Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice is also arriving during a wider resurgence of Jane Austen adaptations.
A new version of Sense and Sensibility is scheduled for release on September 25. Directed by Georgia Oakley, it stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, with Caitríona Balfe, Frank Dillane, George MacKay and Fiona Shaw also among the cast.
That project raises a familiar question too: why revisit a story that has already received such celebrated adaptations?
Ang Lee’s 1995 Sense and Sensibility, starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, remains particularly beloved. Yet there is clearly still an audience for another interpretation.
The same may be true of Pride and Prejudice.
Can Netflix find the right balance?
The teaser has already given the new Pride and Prejudice a more sensual quality than the 1995 BBC series, bringing it closer in atmosphere to Joe Wright’s 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.
That does not necessarily mean Netflix is abandoning Austen’s original story. Quite the opposite. The series is being presented as a faithful adaptation, with the six-episode structure potentially allowing it to combine some of the visual romance of the 2005 film with the greater narrative space of the 1995 television drama.
The cast certainly gives the project plenty to work with. Alongside Corrin and Lowden are Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Freya Mavor, Jamie Demetriou, Daryl McCormack, Rhea Norwood, Siena Kelly and Louis Partridge.
Whether the series succeeds will ultimately depend on what it does with all that familiar material.
For now, the jury is still out. But the teaser has made one thing increasingly difficult to dismiss: perhaps we really are in the middle of a renewed appetite for romantic yearning.
And if that is what audiences want, Pride and Prejudice may be one of the best stories ever written to give it to them.
Netflix’s six-part Pride and Prejudice will premiere in autumn 2026.