18 h. ago The stunning Cheshire house and park made famous by Colin Firth’s wet shirt

Celebrate the anniversary of the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice this autumn

Politics

41 h. ago Julie Andrews’ wonderful take on Jane Austen: the best podcasts of the week

Over 25 episodes the screen legend is an absolute delight as the narrator of Pride & Prejudice. Plus, Kevin McCloud take us behind the scenes of his long-running property showWho better to retell Jane Austen’s most beloved story than her royal highness Julie Andrews? It may lack Colin Firth in a wet shirt, but the Hollywood great is a wonderful and faithful narrator of the original romcom classic about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. The series, which is broken down into 25 episodes, not only celebrates the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth – it’s Andrews’s 90th birthday this year, too! Hollie Richardson Widely available, episodes weekly Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Dress the part: London exhibition celebrates 60 years of film and TV period costumes

From Colin Firth’s wet shirt in Pride and Prejudice to Meryl Streep’s safari gear in Out of Africa, Cosprop’s outfits achieved cinematic realismWhen the costume designer John Bright founded the period costume house Cosprop in 1965, it was out of a desire to give the clothes seen in film and TV “a greater realism” than viewers had been used to previously. “I decided that if we made the stock as real as possible, it would be universal,” Bright says. “The truth is the truth for all times.”Over the intervening 60 years, that relatively simple mission led to the creation of some of the most notable costumes of all time: the Regency-era shirt that, once wet, turned Colin Firth into an instant heart-throb in 1995’s Pride and Prejudice; the safari gear worn by Meryl Streep in 1985’s Out of Africa, which ended up inspiring countless high-fashion runways; Johnny Depp’s dishevelled 1720s Pirates of the Caribbean suit, so artfully soiled that you can practically smell it through the screen. Con...

Culture

1 week ago Livia Firth, 56, calls out cruel troll for branding her a 'cretinous menopausal hag' after she dramatically handed back her MBE and tore up the prestigious certificate over Trump visit

The activist and former wife of film star Colin Firth, was seen tearing up the certificate in a social media video earlier this week.

Politics

1 week ago Colin Firth’s ex wife hands back MBE as she hits out at King Charles for ‘appeasing’ Trump

Livia Firth, the ex-wife of Colin Firth, has handed back her MBE as she hit out at King Charles for “appeasing” Donald Trump with last week’s state visit.

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2 w. ago Queen Camilla jokes about 'infamous' Colin Firth scene from Pride and Prejudice during her annual literary festival

Queen Camilla made a joke about an 'infamous' scene from a TV adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice while attending her annual literary festival in Derbyshire on Friday.

Politics

3 w. ago From wood engravings to Colin Firth: new exhibition depicts the stories of Jane Austen

Bath museum celebrates varied ways illustrators of author’s work and adapters of her novels have portrayed her characters through historyFor the 21st-century Jane Austen fan, the images of Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy in the beloved BBC series Pride of Prejudice or Anya Taylor-Joy’s big-screen portrayal of Emma may be the first to leap to mind.But an exhibition opening in Bath celebrates the varied ways illustrators of Austen’s work and adapters of her novels have depicted some of her most cherished characters. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago From woodcuts to Colin Firth: how Jane Austen’s stories have been pictured

Bath museum shows how author’s illustrators and adapters have portrayed her characters through historyFor the 21st-century Jane Austen fan, the images of Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy in the beloved BBC series Pride and Prejudice or Anya Taylor-Joy’s big-screen portrayal of Emma may be the first to leap to mind.But an exhibition opening in Bath celebrates the varied ways illustrators of Austen’s work and adapters of her novels have depicted some of her most cherished characters. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Looks so sizzling they could fry an egg!’ How the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation changed my life

The 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic, starring Colin Firth, has its own fan group, has inspired university courses and was even featured in the Barbie movie. What’s behind its enduring appeal? I was born in the wrong century – or so my mother says, while I protest from my writing bureau, wax seal in hand, ready to dispatch an Austen-style letter to a friend. But as I put out the candle flame with my antique snuffer, I wonder if she might be right. For me, the past has always felt like home – I grew up on a literary diet of classic fiction, seasoned with a love of my Regency hero, Jane Austen.So when the BBC dramatisation of her most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice, first aired in 1995, it was manna from heaven for me, especially as an A-level English literature student. My pre-binge-era classmates and I delighted in the weekly suspense. We chattered of Mr Darcy’s intense looks, so sizzling they could fry an egg; laughed over the unfiltered comments of a dramatic Mrs Benne...

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