Pride and Prejudice on Screen: 4 Adaptations Compared

Pride and Prejudice has four major screen versions, and they divide by medium: two cinema features, from 1940 and 2005, and two BBC serials, from 1980 and 1995. The novel runs about 122,000 words, roughly seven hours of reading at the 300 words a minute used across this site.

Measuring screens against pages makes the difference plain. The 1995 serial spends about 2.7 minutes of screen time for every thousand words of the novel; the 2005 film spends about 1.0. One keeps whole conversations, the other keeps the shape of the plot and moves on. Both are legitimate ways to film a novel, and the table below lets you see which you are choosing.

Every screen version at a glance

4 versions are listed here: 2 made for cinemas and 2 for television, released between 1940 and 2005. Runtimes are the length of the version as released, taken from the Wikipedia article for each title and checked against its IMDb entry.

Year Version Director Length Leads
1940 Pride and Prejudice — film Robert Z. Leonard 117 min Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland
1980 Pride and Prejudice — 5-part serial Cyril Coke 5 parts, 55 min total Elizabeth Garvie, David Rintoul
1995 Pride and Prejudice — 6-part serial Simon Langton 6 parts, 327 min total Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth
2005 Pride & Prejudice — film Joe Wright 127 min Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn

How the versions differ

The 1940 film is the shortest of the four at 117 minutes, with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier as Elizabeth and Darcy. It is closer in density to the 2005 film than to either serial: about 1.0 minutes of screen per thousand words of the novel.

The 1980 serial runs 275 minutes across five episodes, with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul. The 1995 serial runs 327 minutes across six, with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, which gives it the highest density of any version here: about 2.7 minutes of screen per thousand words.

Wright’s 2005 film runs 127 minutes with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, and its density of about 1.0 minutes per thousand words puts it with the 1940 film. The two features sit near the two-hour mark, 117 against 127.

Reading time against screen time

The novel runs to about 122000 words, which is roughly 7 hours at the 300 words a minute the rest of this site uses. Every screen version fits its own reading of the story into the times below.

Screen version Format Running time
1940 · Pride and Prejudice film 117 min
1980 · Pride and Prejudice 5-part serial 5 parts, 55 min total
1995 · Pride and Prejudice 6-part serial 6 parts, 327 min total
2005 · Pride & Prejudice film 127 min
The novel (1813) 122000 words ~7 h to read

If you want the novel’s dialogue at length, the 1995 serial is the only version here that stays above two minutes of screen per thousand words. If you want a single evening, the 1940 film’s 117 minutes is the shortest route through the story.

Questions readers ask

How many film and television versions of Pride and Prejudice are there?

This page covers four: the 1940 MGM feature, the 1980 BBC serial, the 1995 BBC serial and the 2005 feature. Looser retellings that change the setting, such as Bride and Prejudice, are not counted.

Which version keeps the most of the novel?

By running time, the 1995 serial: 327 minutes across six episodes, or about 2.7 minutes of screen for every thousand words of the 122,000-word novel. The 2005 film runs 127 minutes, about 1.0 minutes per thousand words.

Where can I read the novel for free?

The edition on editions.ink is complete and DRM-free, with EPUB, AZW3 and KEPUB downloads and no account needed.

The novel itself is on editions.ink as a free ebook: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, with EPUB, AZW3 and KEPUB downloads. The full list of filmed classics covers 13 books, and the rest of the catalogue sits under classic fiction.

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