[attach id=265007 size="medium"]Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.[/attach]
Colin Firth’s appearance dripping wet as he emerged from a lake in Pride and Prejudice has been named the most memorable moment in British TV drama.
The scene, from a BBC adaptation first screened in 1995, held off challenges from soaps, children’s series Grange Hill and more contemporary programmes.
Firth’s scene – filmed at Lyme Park in Cheshire – was way out in front in the poll to mark the launch of new free-to-air UKTV channel Drama, which begins broadcasting today.
Runner-up in the list, compiled from the votes of 2,000 people, was the Christmas Day edition of EastEnders in 1986 in which Dirty Den handed divorce papers to wife Angie.
It continues to set hearts racing among TV viewers
Third place – drawn from a long list of 50 scenes – went to the finale of BBC1’s Sherlock last year in which detective Holmes faked his own death by plummeting from the roof of St Bart’s Hospital in London.
The most recent moment in the top 10 comes from ITV drama Broadchurch, while the oldest dates back to 1987 when Grange Hill featured character Zammo using heroin.
Adrian Wills, general manager of the Drama channel said: “It is clear from our research that Mr Darcy emerging from the lake in Pride and Prejudice continues to set hearts racing amongst TV viewers.”
The top 10 moments
1. Mr Darcy’s lake scene – Pride and Prejudice (1995)
2. Dirty Den hands divorce papers to Angie – EastEnders (1986)
3. Sherlock Holmes’s ‘death’ – Sherlock (2012)
4. Tram crash
– Coronation Street (2010)
5. Who killed Danny Latimer? – Broadchurch (2013)
6. The 10th Doctor regenerates from David Tennant to Matt Smith – Doctor Who (2010)
7. First lesbian kiss – Brookside (1994)
8. Morse reveals his Christian name
– Inspector Morse (1997)
9. Zammo injects heroin – Grange Hill (1987)
10. Lady Sybil’s death – Downton Abbey (2012)