I love Jane Austen and the best adaptation is a criminally underrated BBC show

The best Pride and Prejudice adaptation is fiercely debated among Jane Austen fans. It seems to me that your favourite says as much about your taste as the generation you grew up in.

As an impressionable preteen when the Pride and Prejudice film with Keira Knightley came out, it should be my favourite. It was a heady combination: the yearning (that hand touch), cinematography (six words: Mr Darcy walking through the field), and score (Elizabeth standing on the edge of the cliff while the strings soar gets me every time).

While I'm a Pride & Prejudice 1995 miniseries purist, I'm more interested to have it out over the best Emma adaptation. If I could get on soapbox and shout one thing, it's have you seen the BBC's Emma miniseries?

If you haven't had the pleasure of watching it, I'm actually jealous. I wish I could watch it for the first time with fresh eyes. Plus, it couldn't be easier to access. You can watch all four episodes on the BBC right now.

Of all the versions of Emma on film and TV, the four-part miniseries with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller is the one nearest and dearest to my heart. No lead couple have embodied Emma and Mr Knightley so perfectly to me.

Yes, Emma is self-absorbed and snobby, but she's also enchanting and a sweetheart who feels deeply, and Romola plays all these sparkly shades of her character like she's walked out of my own battered copy of the book.

Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley is just as he should be: the perfect foil to Emma; someone kindhearted and witty who keeps up with her and relishes Emma's own wit, charm and liveliness.

To be a perfectly cast male lead in an Austen adaptation, an actor must have that loaded, lingering stare down pat. Miller does and suffuses it with a warmth that makes his Mr Knightley the best.

When Emma and Mr Knightley's chemistry sparks and fizzes off the screen, four episodes feels so short. It all builds up to a declaration of love as deeply romantic and funny that no other adaptation tops.

Sixteen years later, just thinking about this series brings a smile to my face. I'm not a fanatic about physical media, but this adaptation of Emma is one of the very few TV series I have on DVD.

But it's not just me. It's got an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - 91% with regular viewers! - with the critics consensus saying: "Bolstered by a charming supporting cast, Romola Garai's enchanting performance as the titular heroine makes this Emma a commendable adaptation."

Garai was widely praised for her take on the titular character. "Romola Garai is irresistible as the willful, wrongheaded matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, all but eclipsing her many predecessors in the role," wrote critic Alessandra Stanley for the New York Times.

Even period drama cynics could be swayed, as writer Kat Halstead said: "Period dramas can get a bad reputation as a bit of an endurance test, but these four episodes fly by, light and whimsical, and full of humor to boot."

One Austenite on Reddit said: "This adaptation of Emma completely won me over and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I think this being a miniseries really proved to be a benefit as it allowed for Emma's growth and journey to be fully realised."

"The playful banter, the longing passion kept hidden and the harsh truth bombs and the constant roasting, I got, was here for and thoroughly loved every bit of it."

I'm determined that anyone who loves love will like this adaptation of Emma. Fire it up on BBC iPlayer - you won't regret it.