The stage production of Pride and Prejudice that is currently touring the U.K. opened last night at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre to mixed reviews. Most reports are concerned with the appearance of scandal-dogged television presenter John Leslie as Wickham.

The snarkiest report, with a distinct Austenian flavor, comes from the Scotsman:

IT is a truth universally acknowledged that a fallen TV presenter in possession of a part in a straight theatrical drama must be in want of a new career.

And so it was that last night John Leslie, disgraced former presenter of Blue Peter, took to the boards of a provincial theatre as a minor character in a very clunky adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

The other truth universally acknowledged is that where such a fallen TV presenter goes, there go a pack of journalists.

The reporter didn’t care much for either the production in general or Mr. Leslie’s acting skills in particular:

When the usher announced that “use of photographic equipment is strictly forbidden”, he did so with the sort of knowing inflection in his voice which told you that he was well aware of the three or four photographers hidden in the audience.

Unfortunately, the usher could have given Mr Leslie a lesson or two about using knowing inflection in his voice.

Ouch! The rest of the cast wasn’t exactly spared the snark:

And if ever a role needed hamming up then this was it. Particularly given the dreadful overacting going on from the likes of Rula Lenska and Sylvester McCoy as Mr and Mrs Bennet.

Instead, John Leslie acted as if he had just landed a title role in a pantomime of Babes in the Wood. And not playing a babe either.

Double ouch!

A wire report, picked up in several papers on the AustenBlog radar screen, was better pleased with Mr. Leslie’s portrayal, though not exactly enthusiastic:

Sacked from his £250,000-a-year job as a presenter on ITV`s This Morning programme when allegations of indecent assault - for which he was cleared - were made against him last year, Leslie is now reported to be earning a jobbing actors wage of around £250-a-week.

And worth it, on the strength of last night`s performance.

He acted convincingly in front of a three-quarters full theatre. His performance included dancing, singing and even piano playing.

One spectator said afterwards: “He was okay - not anything amazing but he did well enough. He`s very tall isn`t he?”

We hope Jane is having a good laugh about it all in Literary Heaven.