British Comedy Guide
The Importance Of Being Earnest. Image shows from L to R: John 'Jack' Worthing (Colin Firth), Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff (Rupert Everett). Copyright: Fragile Films
The Importance Of Being Earnest

The Importance Of Being Earnest (2002)

  • 2002 film

2002 screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth star as two men assuming the same identity. Also features Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Massey and more.

  • Repeated Saturday at 1:45pm on BBC2

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The Importance Of Being Earnest. Image shows from L to R: Gwendolen Fairfax (Frances O'Connor), John 'Jack' Worthing (Colin Firth), Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff (Rupert Everett), Cecily Cardew (Reese Witherspoon). Copyright: Fragile Films

Key details

Genre
Film
Released
2002
Creator
Oscar Wilde
Stars
Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Massey, Edward Fox and more
Writer
Oliver Parker
Director
Oliver Parker
Producers
David Brown, Barnaby Thompson and Uri Fruchtmann
Company

Jack Worthing, respectable owner of a Hertfordshire country estate and charge of young Cecily, hides a little secret: when in London, he adopts the identity of his (fictional) younger brother, fun-loving libertine Ernest.

There, Jack has fallen in love with Gwendolen, the cousin of friend and full-time London resident Algy - who himself holds a secret, in the form of an equally fictional and apparently severely ill close friend, by way of excuse to escape to the country at will.

Unfortunately for Jack, Gwendolen is as much in love with the name Ernest as with the man who claims to be him - and her mother, Lady Bracknell, can barely stand the sight of him.

When the two friends discover each others' secrets, Algy sets out to meet the young Cecily, and in so doing sets in motion a train of events that will cause each man to question his identity - and reveal the mix-up between a young baby and a novel at Victoria Station.

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Additional details

UK certificate
U
Duration
98 minutes
UK release
Friday 6th September 2002
Production
Location
Camera set-up
Single camera
Picture
Colour

Website links

Broadcast details

Next repeats
  1. Saturday at 1:45pm on BBC2
  2. Friday 13th December at 12:05am on BBC4
Most recent repeats
  • Thursday 15th July 2021 at 8:00pm on BBC4
  • Sunday 11th July 2021 at 1:50pm on BBC2
  • Friday 18th December 2020 at 2:45pm on BBC2

Recording details

  • Ealing Studios - Studios
  • West Wycombe Park and London - Locations

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