Death Comes to Pemberley

In 1803, the Pemberley estate is preparing for an annual Lady Anne Ball.  The ball is the social event of the year, and the staff are focused on final preparations.  Fitzwilliam (Rhys) and Elizabeth (Martin) Darcy do not enjoy the party, but honor the memory of Darcy's late mother.  That evening they are joined by Darcy's sister Georgiana (Tomlinson), Colonel Fitzwilliam (Ward), lawyer Henry Alveston (Norton), and Elizabeth's parents Mr. (James Fleet) and Mrs. (Rebecca Front) Bennet for dinner.  The evening is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a runaway carriage containing Elizabeth's sister Lydia (Coleman).

Lydia is hysterical and claims that her husband George Wickham (Goode) was shot.  Darcy and the Colonel find Wickham in the woods of Pemberley, drunk, cradling the body of his friend Captain Martin Denny (Canton), and claiming it is all his fault.  Denny is dead, and the next day the magistrates arrive to question Wickham, who says someone else killed his friend.


This film is based on the 2011 P.D. James novel "Death Comes to Pemberley," which is a sequel to Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice," and takes place 6 years later.  The novel opens with a recap of the end of "Pride and Prejudice" and gives an update on the Bennet sisters.  It then sets up the title: the death/murder at Pemberley estate.  P.D. James is a mystery writer and weaves a fascinating story.

I read the novel on the suggestion from some friends who love Jane Austen novels and enjoyed this story.  Shortly after finishing the novel, I watched this miniseries.  I enjoyed the book and the miniseries... but the book is definitely better.  Writer Juliette Towhidi condensed the story into 3 1 hour segments... the segments work well as a group, although it does take a few minutes to get into the first segment.  The overarching story is the same, but some details were changed.

The casting is ok... but I don't love all of their choices.  Matthew Goode is excellent as Wickham, making him charming and vulnerable.  Matthew Rhys does well as Mr. Darcy.  Jenna Coleman really captures Lydia.  I'm sure Anna Maxwell Martin is a talented actress, but she just feels miscast here.  She fades into the background and isn't the Lizzie I loved in "Pride and Prejudice."  The writing is partially to fault, but she would still be miscast.  Everyone else is fine... not how I pictured them, but functional.

It is ok, but I still prefer Pride and Prejudice.

Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) 180 minutes
Director: Daniel Percival
Starring: Matthew Rhys as Fitzwilliam Darcy
Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Darcy
Matthew Goode as George Wickham
Trevor Eve as Sir Selwyn Hardcastle
Jenna Coleman as Lydia Wickham
Tom Ward as Colonel Fitzwilliam
Eleanor Tomlinson as Georgiana Darcy
James Norton as Henry Alveston
Joanna Scanlan as Mrs. Reynolds