3. Pride And Prejudice BBC Miniseries (1980)
This studio version was recorded on videotape, which almost makes it feel like you're watching a play. Almost all of the action takes place indoors, with small stuffy sets, generally due to the fact that videotape doesn't allow a terrible amount of flexibility for scenery changes. Charlotte Bronte's commentary on the book describes this version pretty well:
No open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.
Still, this version ranks as a lot of fan's favorite adaptation. David Rintouls Darcy is the ultimate version of this character to some. He's more of an asshole than usual, and arguably, the most accurate to the book's version of Darcy. He's a snob, and he smiles no more than three times throughout the entire miniseries. But he's handsome, and he does stone cold disdain so well that its hard not to admire his version of the character. Additionally, Elizabeth Garvie is also favorite version of Lizzie for many fans and I would attribute it to her eyes - she may be one of the few who can so clearly make the viewer recognize Lizzie's 'fine eyes' described by Austen. Unfortunately, this version suffers from lazy film-making. For example, when Elizabeth reads Darcy's letter, the viewer gets a static screen-shot and a boring voice over - exciting moments made uninteresting. Although letters are difficult to adapt to screen, as is the "show, don't tell" sentiment, I think other adaptations have done this more efficiently. On the bright side, the accuracy and subtlety in this adaptation, in terms of dialogue and characters, may trump the more recent ones, and is most likely why so many favor this version. If you're a die hard book fan, I would definitely recommend it.