Jane Austen’s classic Pride & Prejudice is returning to the small screen, according to Radio Times.

If you’re a fan of costume dramas, you’re likely enthusiastic to hear that none other than the producers of Poldark (Mammoth Screen) are behind the new project. Mammoth Screen was also behind the hit series Victoria starring Jenna Coleman.

So far there have been five TV adaptations of the novel, all of which have been made by BBC. The new series marks ITV’s first go at adapting the book.

Playwright Nina Raine (Consent) will write the series which will reportedly tease out the story’s “darker tones”. Raine said: “Pride and Prejudice is actually a very adult book, much less bonnet-y than people assume. I hope I do justice to Austen’s dark intelligence – sparkling, yes, but sparkling like granite.”

Release dates and casting are yet to be announced, though it is believed the new version could air in 2020, 25 years after Colin Firth famously took on the role of Mr Darcy.

People haven’t taken too happily to the news:

 

 

 

 

 

It is worth noting that this is a novel that has been adapted again and again and again over the years (most will recall the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen), and so another take on the classic is somewhat inevitable.