Bonnets and bustles: the best Austen adaptations

1. Clueless

Austen's universality is underscored by how seamlessly her work can be transposed to other eras. In this dazzling 1995 cinematic re-imagining of Emma, Alicia Silverstone gave her finest performance to date as a supremely shallow matchmaker in a modern-day, Beverly Hills 90210-style high school.

2. Pride and Prejudice

The grandaddy of all Austen adaptations, Andrew Davies' 1995 version of the novel for BBC1 is credited with sparking the current fashion for bonnet and bustle dramas. No matter how many Mamma Mia!s he does, in many minds Colin Firth will always remain Mr Darcy. He made the female half of the nation (including, of course, Bridget Jones) swoon as he emerged from a lake like a 19th-century winner of a wet T-shirt competition in "that scene".

3. Sense and Sensibility

Taiwanese film maker Ang Lee offered an acute outsider's insight into Austen in this compelling 1995 interpretation of the book. Emma Thompson delivered a charming turn as the older, wiser, Dashwood sister, Elinor, but scooped an Oscar not for that performance, but for Best Adapted Screenplay.

4. Persuasion

1995 was a vintage year for screen adaptations of Austen. It also saw this brooding BBC2 reading of the thwarted love affair between the intelligent Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) and the troubled Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds). Roger Michell, who went on to direct Notting Hill and Enduring Love, employed a dark-hued palette to memorable effect.