H Division Archive

For nearly twelve years, fans of Pride and Prejudice have battle fiercely over who should reign as supreme Mr. Darcy—the 1995 BBC miniseries’ Colin Firth, or the 2005 feature film’s Matthew Macfadyen. While Firth’s portrayal is undeniably iconic, Macfadyen’s performance is delivered with such cinematic sorcery to leave no doubt that Firth’s Darcy would be in grave danger indeed, if Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation had been a six part series; with enough screentime to allow Macfadyen’s Darcy to journey, as Firth’s does, from a seemingly genuine jerk to awkward introvert. The significantly shorter runtime of a feature versus mini series forces the 2005 Mr. Darcy to start off further down the character arc of the shy gentleman. And so, the 1995 adaptation remains as the most faithful to the book, and the battle raged on.

But now, let all further fighting end here, in this peace treaty; fans from both camps can come together and agree that the only way to settle the matter once and for all is to have Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen fight Darcy-to-Darcy in wet white shirts, for as many rounds as it takes for a clear winner to emerge. This and only this would decide the victor and any further debate is futile.

Ripper Street Trivia: 

Two of the series' main cast met on set and are currently a couple—actor Matthew Macfadyen and his co-star Reid's Bowler. 

Season 1 Episode 1 “I Need Light”

Mr. & Mrs. Reid