The Binge — Jessica Zafra

TWENTY YEARS AGO, viewers of the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice gasped as Mr. Darcy, played by Colin Firth, took an impromptu dip in the lake and emerged with his white shirt dripping. It appeared that Darcy, overheated from thoughts of Lizzie Bennet, needed a cold bath. Sacrilege! Ten percent of the audience reached for their copies of Jane Austen to check if the snooty swain had indeed gone swimming, and then fired off angry letters to the Beeb about taking liberties with the text. Ninety percent were aflutter over drenched Darcy, and for the next two decades the mere mention of Colin Firth in a wet shirt was enough to send a certain kind of lady reaching for the smelling salts.