 On
14 January 1996, A&E was on the brink of a revolution. No governments
were over-run, but none-the-less the impact reverberated through out the
internet. That evening the cable channel broadcast the first and second
hours of the miniseries based on Jane Austen's most popular novel, Pride
and Prejudice. Subsequent episodes were broadcast the following nights
(Monday and Tuesday). What resulted from this saturation of Austen was
what became known as Darcymania (Darcymania had rippled through the UK
months before when the BBC broadcast P&P).
I had never seen anything like it before, even in school. People came together on the internet and formed usenet groups (later listserv groups and much later online communities like MSN Groups and Yahoo! Groups). The group I joined began like all the other fan groups, but soon we became an online community who shared our lives with the others in the group. We rejoiced in the arrivals of babies and cried over the losses of children, spouses and parents. We supported eachother through the crises in our lives. Most of all we became something I can only describe as "family". As with most families there were discords and departures, but the core group of what was the Firthlist remains at the Firthden. What follows on this page is a celebration of the miniseries which brought us Darcymania and our attention to the actor Colin Firth. There may be some who will think it is rather frivolous to celebrate the broadcast of a miniseries. What I celebrate is not just the miniseries, but the resulting coming together of people from different countries, cultures and age groups who became family for eachother. Ofcourse we can celebrate discovering Colin Firth too. 
Fall in love all over again - images from Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice books/photos The Conversation - excerpt from The Making of P&P
Initial response to viewing Pride and Prejudice
Add your initial response to viewing Pride and Prejudice
Articles from the time.... "On Location" - Location map of Pride and Prejudice
It took over a year, but we finally convinced
the publishers of InBritain and A&E Magazine (now known as A&E
Biography Magazine) to feature Colin Firth and Pride and Prejudice on their
covers
Colin Firth was filming Nostromo in Columbia when Darcymania hit, so he missed experiencing it first hand. It was at this time he met his future wife Livia Guiggioli, who worked as assistant to the producer. The public first caught site of Livia at the 1996 BAFTA awards.
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