'Death Comes to Pemberley' comes to PBS, BBC One
When it comes to BBC, ITV and PBS, when the drama rains come, they pour. Already on the books for 2013-2014 are the know commodities of Downton Abbey 4, Sherlock 3, Call the Midwife 3, Mr Selfridge 2, Bletchley Circle 2, the final five Hercule Poirot mysteries, another George Gently series, more DCI Banks, Scott & Bailey, Endeavour, Father Brown and on, and on. Now, just announced last week at the TCA meeting in LA…
Death Comes to Pemberley, adapted from a recent Jane Austen-inspired novel by P.D. James, will air next year on PBS and BBC One. James’s novel picks up the story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, from Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’, six years after their marriage. In true P.D. James fashion, the drama will be a combination of Austen’s story and a murder mystery.
The three-part series features a stellar cast headed by Anna Maxwell Martin from ‘The Bletchley Circle’ as Elizabeth and Matthew Rhys, currently in ‘The Americans’, as Mr. Darcy. Currently filming in Yorkshire, the series also features Penelope Keith, Matthew Goode, Tom Ward, Joanna Scanlan, Trevor Eve and James Fleet along with Doctor Who ‘companion’, Jenna Coleman.
We’ll have to wait and see if there are any plans for a Colin Firth-type Mr. Darcy statue to promote the 2014 premiere. This statue of Jane Austen’s romantic hero, Mr Darcy, found its way to The Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate the launch of UKTV’s new free channel ‘Drama’.
