January 1997
 

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"  Jane Austen 's sentiments on humanity, as penned in her novel Pride and Prejudice, go some of the way to explaining her long-lasting popularity in the world of literature. And since such "sport" as she delivers comes wrapped up in the very charming packaging of early 1800s Regency England, it is not sutprising that her works transfer with such success to the screen -hence the recent enthusiasm for the English authoress in the international world of.film and television.  But behind all the irony and wit, Jane Austen can also deliver a good romance, strong heroines, and some very attractive heroes- such as actor Colin Firth in his role as Darcy in the BBC's latest screening of Pride and Prejudice -pictured with Jennifer Eble playing Lizzie on our cover. In this issue of IN BRITAIN; with even more period dramas due to be shown on bath small and big screen, we take a look at the .filming of this pat1icularly successful BBC serial and explore the locations in Britain which have found a huge upsurge of visitor interest in its wake.  Added to that, we offer you a selection of even more British "sport" from East End eateries, mystery standing stones and a midland city to railway splendours, antique hunting, and beautiful Welsh coastline! Happy New Year from all of us at IN BRITAIN.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' What better opening could Jane Austen have had for her novel Pride and Prejudice, a witty romance in which  the five Bennet sisters are in pursuit of husbands - wealthy ones, of course.

Jane Austen would never, in all, her wildest dream, have believed, some 180 years after Pride and Prejudice was first published, how people would be raving about it. Much of this is due to the huge success of the most recent BBC adaptation, screened in Britain late last year. The fact that it contains no violence and no daring sex scenes made lttle difference to the viewing figures . By the time the sixth episode arrived nearly a quarter of Britains population had become completely transfixed--once again--by this compelling love story.

At the centre of the story are the headstrong and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet  (played by Jennifer Ehle) and Darcy (Colin Firth), a rich and seemingly conceited aristocrat.  They are first introduced at the dance in the Bennets' local village of Meryton, where Lizzy herself later overhears Darcy's opionion of her. "She is torelable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." Despite his cold, outwardly manner as Darcy, Colin Firth has most of tyhe female population swooning; his being tall, dark and handsome is obviously more important than his disagreeable manner.

Lacock village in Wiltshire plays the part of Meryton. The village dates from the 13th century and has many centuries-old buildings, which is why it has been used so often in period dramas -more recently it starred in Austen's Emma and Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders. Several tons of soil were brought in to cover up the tar macadam of Lacock high street, transforming it into Meryton. 

Because Darcy's residence Pemberley is set in Derbyshire, where the romance between himself and Lizzy truly blossoms, the BBC went in search of a distinctive north- ern look. It finally settled on Lyme Park on the Derbyshire/Cheshire border, but the BBC was only permitted to use the exterior of the property .All was not lost, however; some 25 miles south, Sudbury Hall was to provide the perfect interior for Pemberley, although inevitably filming became a good deal more , complicated with a split location. 

"The BBC troop drove to the far corner of the car park and stayed there for the duration, which went very much according to plan," comments David Evans of Lyme Park. "Many people have said that Darcy's income wouldn't have stretched to a property of this size," he adds, "oth- ers have said that Jane Austen actually meant for his residence to be Chatsworth (a magnificent property close to Bakewell), but she referred to this in the novel." 

The scenes at Lambton (thought to be Bakewell), where Lizzy and the Gardiners stay while holidaying in Derbyshire, were shot in the tiny village of Longnor, not more than 10 miles from Bakewell. Here, just to the left of the craft centre in the main square, is a narrow cobbled lane, little altered by the 20th cen- tury , which is why the BBC deemed it perfect. The day after their arrival, the Gardiners and Lizzy travel out of curiosity to see Pemberley of which they'd heard so much, but not before Lizzy first complains at the impropriety of it -she having already turned down Darcy's first extraordinary proposal of marriage. As the horse and carriage approach and the house comes into view, Lizzy becomes quite overawed: "at that moment she felt, that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something." And maybe Darcy wasn't such an old grump after all! 

When the horses and carriages did in real life tum up for the shots at Lyme Park, the staff lined the roof. Many of the carriages used came from the Working Carriage Museum in Darley Dale run by Caroline Dale Leech and her husband. As one of the few people skilled in driving a four-horse carriage, Caroline played the part of driver, dressing up in heavy light grey livery, designer swbble and wig; her husband Peter was enlisted for the part of footman. "In the summer of 1994 when the fihning took place, it was sweltering. On some days we wore these outfits for up to 10 hours," she says. "I remember fighting the occasional itch on my head, reaching up under my wig with a knitting needle. 

"There was one particular scene at Lyme Park," she recalls, "where one of the actresses was having trou- ble remembering her lines. One of my horses, Robert (quite a film star in his own right) turned around after several takes -each time reversing slowly up a narrow track -as if to knowingly say, 'Oh, no not again'." 

Pride and Prejudice has become so popular that people can't get enough the National Trust has been bowled over by the interest shown in Belton Hall, Lyme Park and Sudbury Hall. Lyme Park has even produced The Pemberley Trail to satisfy those visitors eager to follow in the foosteps of the fIlm crew and cast, including the pond, a lone, tranquil spot, where Darcy dives in to cool off (artistic licence not in the book) after the long, sticky journey from London. "We decided to playa little joke on the women here and tell them that Colin Firth would be appearing from the pond with his white linen shirt and brush-cotton trousers clinging," says David Evans, "and they all got quite excited; little did they know that the scene was going to be played by a stand-in for insurance purposes." 

"The "BBC brought in tons of gravel to cover up the tarmac in front of the house, and fortunately they left it behind so we scooped it up when the crew left to use elsewhere. We were also rather hoping the BBC would leave two huge urns, made from fibreglass and polystyrene, which looked good on the south front. Sadly, they had been hired from a prop company and were returned," says David. "But during the filming, there was wedding reception on the side lawn so we used the urns to block off the area the guests looked on in puzzlement when they saw two women carrying two enormous objects with such apparent ease." The BBC has some ingenious methods of covering up anything that's modern for example, underneath one of the archways at Lyme Park there was an electric light, where the bolts had rusted through naking it impossible to take off, so instead a box was built and painted the same colour as the surrounding tonework. However, it's not often that the BBC is caught out, as so such time is spent researching these period dramas, but there's nearly always something that someone notices as not of the period. One scene where Lizzy bids farewell to Darcy near his Orangery was filmed in front of a Victorian planting scheme, whereas Austen's novel was circa 1813! 

When 70 to 80 film crew and cast arrived at Sudbury Hall (in the village which coincidentally provided the backdrop for Meryton in the BBC's 1976 production of Pride and Prejudice) for the interior scenes, 

their cavalcade, including a mobile kitchen, a double-decker bus which served as a restaurant, the make-up trailer, costumes and so on, took up the whole front courtyard. "The cast even had its own sitting-room to relax in," says Sudbury Hall's Robert Parker. "Colin Firth and Crispin Bonham-Carter (as Bingley) could often be found between scenes watching the World Cup. Unfortunately," he adds, "England was knocked out!" 

When the BBC overshot its programme here and continued filming into Wednesday afternoon, the public found themselves walking' on to a television set and were delighted when they recognised various actors. 

Most of the furniture used at Sudbury was hired by the BBC, either because it wasn't of the correct period, it didn't reflect the wealth or masculinity of Darcy, as in the case of his bedroom, or simply because it wasn't available for use. The Music Room, normally devoid of furniture as Sudbury's Salon, was filled with prop pieces, a carpet and a fake fireplace showing Calor gas-fuelled flames on film. 

"We have a conservator chosen by the National Trust, who is present for the whole of the filming, to ensure everything runs smoothly. But some time before the BBC arrived en masse, we sat down with the production team to discuss any potential problems," says Robert. But what did complicate matters for the BBC was the split location: when Elizabeth goes to the window of the Music Room, musing to herself about what she might have had if she'd accepted Darcy's proposal, before her eyes is the view to the south of Pemberley (Lyme Park). A free-standing frame was erected from which curtains and nets were hung, thereby obscuring the "wrong" view. 

"This has confused a lot of visitors," admits Robert. "It was a hot summer in 1994 and the temperature inside was made worse because, as well as the lights which throw off a lot of heat, both the candelabras and fire were lit. So to make it more bearable huge commercial fans were placed in either doorway. We also had to deflect the heat away from the paintings as the lighting was so strong, we feared it might cause some damage." 

Only one large portrait in the hallway came down, to be replaced by one of Darcy's ancestors, hung just next to the bottom of Sudbury's stunning staircase. Also, here, were two 20th-century radiators which had to be covered with specially built fibreglass casings -as was an intruder detector. To the naked eye these covers appear quite rough and ready, but on film they serve their purpose admirably. 

Upstairs in the wonderful Long Gallery, tracks for the camera to roll on ran along the length of the room, the windows were blacked out with photographic card, and along one entire wall stood a bank of lighting equipment. Darcy was filmed striding the length of the gallery accompanied ,by two dogs, who in case they should relieve themselves, had been thoroughly emptied out and exercised before- hand. At the far end a portrait of Darcy hung in place of Lady Banks, but had to be taken down and sent back to London so it could be touched up because it didn't bear enough resemblance to Colin Firth. The clip involving the portrait was subsequently shot in a studio and edited in. 

To the delight of millions of viewers Darcy finally swallows his pride, Lizzy overcomes her prejudice and they are married. That's all well and good but what about a kiss, a peck even! Finally, after numerous takes (Colin Firth had to get the angle just right and wearing atop hat it wasn't easy), the last frame gave us the kiss we'd all been waiting for. 

Link to the P&P location map