Johnaricka So many bad reviews that I'm surprised I watched it at all. I agree it was lacking in the costume department. Elizabeth seemed to wear the same dress or nearly the same one daily. A woman of her means should have better clothing. It also lacked in staff housing. No footman, not butler, not lady's maid. They're should have been a chef and a maid for the chef. All those maids in the kitchen should have been busy I'm the house. It wasn't true to the time. That aside I rather enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for period pieces. I loved seeing it all play out. I wanted more when it was all said and done.

jonhanningtonholley I have long been an admirer of great writing, and the works of Jane Austen and PD James are among my favourites. But sadly, this series was not. Other commentators have described many of the objections to costume, plot and characters, and I can only agree. There seemed little of the 'sparkle' and panache that was evident in Austen's writing, and particularly apparent in Andrew Davies' memorable Screen Dramas. PD James is one of the best crime writers our country has ever known - and we can be proud of so many - but whilst crime is her forte, period drama in the fashion of Jane Austen is not. So, after reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in which she created such vivid characters and credible dialogue, in-keeping with the period and the strata of society, we could be forgiven for expecting more of the same though, sadly, not from the late Jane Austen of course. Perhaps it was one of Austen's skills to give us so much, but leave us hungry for more....To do justice to PD James, Jane Austen is an extremely hard act to follow. And, while Ms. James has a proved track-record in her own genre, and did a splendid job on its' own merit, it seems likely that most viewers would be familiar with Jane Austen's work and, almost certainly, Andrew Davies' memorable and excellent TV dramatizations. If there be criticism of the TV version of 'Death Comes to Pemberley', then it must rest as much with the writer who, curiously, is not credited on IMDb? It is a rare skill, indeed, to take good writing on the page and translate it into the different medium of television. Many works of PD James have proved successful on television but, regrettably, this is not the best. She has taken Jane Austen's characters, and woven a skillful plot that stands well on its' own merits, but it's not Jane Austen. Unfortunately, using Austen's characters only makes us expectant of her style and her words, and sadly, they are not there. I'd happily watch it again, but maybe next time I'll do so expecting a good PD James, which it is, rather than a pastiche of Jane Austen.

mrbell-1 Had this pvr'd so didn't get to watch it until recently. The main characters were mis-cast. Rhys as Darcy just didn't work, but he would have made a great Wickham. Matthew Goode should have been cast as Darcy, and not as Wickham. And seriously, who would have thought to cast AMM as Lizzie? Her presence was paper-thin, and had difficulty carrying the role and the dialogue to make Lizzie spring to life and be the object of Darcy's adoration. And by the end of even the first episode, I was seriously tired of seeing her in the same, ugly blue dress. I was beginning to think it was the only one she owned until they came up with the same dress in episode two, but this time in green. And that little bolero jacket, and the pickle-barrel bonnet was just too much for me. For a woman of means, after 6 years of being married to a wealthy man and representing the estate, you would think she had more than two daytime dresses, that she wore everywhere. Did she get them at the church jumble sale or the bottom of the missionary barrel? And Rebecca Font as Mrs. Bennett? Really??? That was just too painful to watch.

critic_w This would have been a great murder mystery had it not attempted a sacrilegious mangling of well know characters. It is Star Wars where Darth Vader is also Han Solo's father (think what that does to Han & Leia's relationship), or Gone with the Wind where Ashley poisoned Melanie so he could marry Scarlet; Great mysteries to unpack for your audience, but utterly and completely wrong for the original characterizations. Once de-shackled from Pride & Prejudice, this is a very solid mystery. Too bad, we just can't enjoy it in it's current disfigured form. It's simply too "Mission Impossible where Mr. Phelps is a bad guy."