If Pride and Prejudice has to be redone, at least cast Aidan Turner as Mr. Darcy

If Pride & Prejudice really needs a new adaptation, then we already have our perfect Mr. Darcy in mind … assuming he’s not busy with Poldark.

This is neither the time nor the place to relitigate the arguments about which adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is the best, because those arguments are long, and they distract from the now, which is the news that per Digital Spy, ITV has called in Mammoth Screen to do Pride & Prejudice.

As an American, I’m pretty sure that my opinion does not actually count at all, but hey, PBS airs Poldark and Victoria over here (long after they air in the U.K., but the point remains), which are the two things that Digital Spy mentions that Americans who watch PBS most definitely know about that also involve Mammoth Screen.

So, allow yourself to imagine: Aidan Turner as Fitzwilliam Darcy. I don’t care that he’s probably going to be occupied with Poldark for forever, because the show already has a fourth season in the works. If there are any actors whom we could legitimately see causing Kate Beaton’s “Ooh Mr. Darcy” comic from Hark! A Vagrant to happen, he is on the list.

Besides, ITV wants this to air in 2020, per Digital Spy. He might be done with Poldark by then.

You’re welcome, fans.

(For non-Poldark watchers who are concerned about Turner’s brooding skills, brooding is approximately 60 percent of the show. He’s got it on lock.)

Now, the casting of Elizabeth Bennet is obviously of great importance. We’ll need an actress who has wit, verve, and preferably can act when staring into the eyes of an extremely handsome dude with whom she is supposed to have chemistry underneath the outward societal mismatch and general personality quirks that the two of them have.

Also, just to make this news a little sweeter: Nina Raine is writing the series, according to Digital Spy. Not even the vaunted 1995 adaptation had a woman adapting it.

Next: Poldark season 2: 10 changes from the books to the screen

Now, if we could just have women directing it as well (and a certain someone as a certain main male character), we might just be in business.