Death Comes to Pemberley
PBS | BBC | Release Date: December 26, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Denver PostJoanne OstrowOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: As the mystery unspools, Darcy withdraws from Elizabeth, and their relationship falters. Suspicions are raised, and Elizabeth must sort out the truth. Expect a dramatic trial and a surprising new suspect before it's all over. Of course, the joy isn't in reaching an answer. It's in the journey. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's a highly satisfying riff on the original work, as well as a credit to the modern British costume drama. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian LowryOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Death Comes to Pemberley has the extra advantage of being perfectly cast and extremely entertaining, even for those who might need a Jane Austen refresher course. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The adaptation is superb as it explores the Austen-James characterization, but Towhidi is ably abetted by Daniel Percival’s exquisite character-focused direction and, of course, first-rate performances from the entire cast. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Even if this isn’t precisely the sequel to “Pride and Prejudice” we might have wanted, it’s better than no sequel at all. Read full review
70
PopMattersJ.M. SuarezOct 28, 2014
Season 1 Review: Death Comes to Pemberley works so well because the characters are so perfectly realized. Affairs, unwed pregnancies, and murder all abound, but at the heart of the series is the story of a marriage. Read full review
70
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: A pleasingly executed diversion featuring capable and textured performances from actors in key roles. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Amid occasional incongruities--wait and see--there are entertaining glimpses of period party food, hints of primitive forensics, and a village trial with inebriated jurors and a cheering, jeering peanut gallery that seems eerily authentic. Read full review
70
Kansas City StarSara SmithOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Death Comes to Pemberley, on paper and the small screen, is not as satisfying as a newly discovered Austen novel would be. Read full review
70
The New York TimesMike HaleOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Amid the magnificence of the setting you can forget for a moment that this glossily produced, finely wrought, slightly dull two-night mini-series is actually connected to a piece of British storytelling of even higher standing--perhaps--than “Downton Abbey”: Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Read full review
70
Washington PostHank StueverOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The crime (and the crime solving) can’t hold a candle to the delight of watching Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy drift apart and then back together in a refrain of their story of obstinate love--a task Rhys and Maxwell Martin acquit themselves of quite well. Read full review
50
The OregonianKristi TurnquistOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, the mystery isn't very gripping, and there's precious little wit in the proceedings, which come off like a CBS crime procedural dressed in Jane Austen clothing. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyJason ClarkOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: P.D. James' cheeky mash-up of Pride and Prejudice and Agatha Christie gets a snoozy treatment in this two-night event. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The solution to whodunit ends satisfactorily and in keeping with the book. The leads, though, display little chemistry, and that’s something Jane Austen’s sensibilities would never have allowed. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: As an inquest and trial looms, threatening ruin to Darcy's good name, our romantic heroes become sleuths in a diverting melodrama that generally lacks the charm of the best of Austen or the intrigue of the best of James. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pretty packaging is wrapped around a hollow mystery that’s less whodunit and more who cares? Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertOct 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Death Comes to Pemberley is thoroughly and frustratingly middling. Read full review
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