Pride & Prejudice / Shakespeare in Love / Sense & Sensibility [3 DVD]

Good condition: Thinline cardboard boxset

Trio of English period dramas.

In Pride and Prejudice, the wealthy Mr Bingley (Simon Woods) and his friend, the dashing Mr Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) arrive in a small Hertfordshire town, Mrs Bennett (Brenda Blethyn) sees it as the perfect opportunity to marry off her eligible daughters. But when Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley) meets Mr Darcy, their equally headstrong natures get in the way of true love.  Running time: 121 minutes

Shakespeare in Love, set in late 16th Century London, follows the theatre's most promising young playwright, Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), as he suffers from writer's block. Rose Theatre owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) is desperate that Will's new play - tentatively entitled Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter - be finished, whilst a new cast member, Thomas Kent, is equally eager to make his stage debut. Kent has a secret however: 'he' is actually Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), merchant's daughter and fiancé of Lord Wessex (Colin Firth). Adopting a disguise to enter a trade forbidden to women, matters become complicated when Will falls for her in her more conventional garb. It may take the intervention of Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench) herself to make sure the course of true love runs smoothly and that the show goes on.  Running time: 118 minutes

In Sense and Sensibility, Emma Thompson stars in and provides the screenplay for this adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel. She plays Elinor, the eldest of sisters who are reduced in means when their father dies and his estate passes on to his son from his first marriage. They are soon accepted into their new society, each finding romance, but with some pain along the way. Also starring Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, the film won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as three Baftas.  Running time: 131 minutes