Jemima Rooper

Having left Longbourn with nowhere else to go, Amanda is forced to turn to her chief adversary, Wickham. He buys her a new dress and instructs her in matters of etiquette and bearing, before re-introducing her into society. He suggests that what Amanda needs to do is marry a rich man. However Amanda has other plans...

Amanda has become increasingly bored and frustrated with modern life. She craves the world of Pride and Prejudice; a world of courtship and romance, of bonnets and ballrooms. One fateful evening, after a difficult day at work and a lacklustre marriage proposal from her boyfriend Michael, Amanda discovers Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom. There is a door behind the bath that has been boarded up for years, which Elizabeth says leads through to her family home, Longbourn. Amanda pushes the door and finds that it opens into a strange corridor. She climbs through the doorway, marvelling at where on earth she could be, when suddenly the door slams behind her, leaving Elizabeth in modern day London and Amanda in Georgian England.

Amanda arrives at Netherfield to discover that Jane has caught a serious fever and is taken to bed. By Jane's bedside, Bingley tells Amanda that he is infatuated with her. At her wits' end, Amanda tells Bingley that she is a lesbian and that nothing can ever happen between them...hopefully that will put an end to it. Amanda stays on at Netherfield to look after Jane. After an awkward dinner with Mr Darcy, Bingley and Caroline, Amanda is invited to sing for them all. Having admitted she can't play the piano, to their bemusement, Amanda sings an accopello version of 'Downtown'. There's a hint that Mr Darcy's attitude towards Amanda is softening...

Darcy announces his engagement to Caroline Bingley, leaving Amanda feeling utterly bereft. This is coupled with the news that Bingley has run off with Lydia. This is all wrong - in the book Lydia runs away with Wickham. The party rush to London where Bingley and Lydia are found staying at an inn in Hammersmith. In an attempt to defend the honour of his daughter, Mr Bennet charges Bingley to a duel and is left critically injured.