Netflix has shared the first look at its TV adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, starring Emma Corrin in the lead role as Elizabeth Bennett.
The six-part series will be released this autumn and co-stars Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy, along with Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Louis Partridge and Fiona Shaw.
The teaser shows Corrin as Austen’s beloved protagonist, played previously by Keira Knightley in the 2005 adaptation, sitting on top of a roof gazing out into the distance, while Darcy is glimpsed from a departing carriage, through a doorway and riding his horse.
To the sound of birdsong, there are also interspersing shots of Corrin’s hand holding a pebble, someone running along a path, and a shot of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy dancing together.
Corrin, who uses they/them pronouns, is best known for starring roles as Princess Diana in The Crown and in Netflix’s film adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, opposite Jack O’Connell.
Scottish actor Lowden, meanwhile, has appeared in the BBC’s 2016 adaptation of War and Peace, and more recently in a Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated performance in the Apple TV series Slow Horses.
Netflix says the series will “join the yearn-aissance in the autumn to faithfully bring Jane Austen’s iconic story back to life for audiences that cherish it, while inspiring a new generation to fall in love with it for the first time”.
This is the latest in a long line of adaptations of Austen’s 1813 novel, following on from the hit 1995 TV drama featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and the 2005 film starring Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.
Fans who have seen Emerald Fennell’s new adaptation of Wuthering Heights at the cinema will already have spotted the teaser for Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice, which was shown before the main film at certain screenings.
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The series has been written and executive produced by Dolly Alderton, author of the bestselling book Everything I Know About Love.
She said in a statement: “Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it.
“Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the blueprint for romantic comedy — it has been a joy to delve back into its pages to find both familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life.”
“With Euros Lyn directing our stellar cast,” Alderton added, “I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr Darcy.”
An exact release date for the series is yet to be announced.
