Bridget Jones's Diary

It chronicles the life of Bridget Jones, a twentysomething (or is she thirtysomething, can't remember off the top of my head) Singleton woman living in London, surrounded by a 'surrogate family' of friends as she tries to make sense of life and love in the ' 90s. Often hysterically funny, the column accurately lampooned the obsessions of women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan and wider societal trends in Britain at the time.

The columns were later fixed up into a novel in 1996, a sequel (The Edge of Reason) following in 1999. The first book was turned into a successful movie in 2001, starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth as Bridget's 'true love' Mark Darcy. (Before the film came out, a considerable amount of controversy surrounded the casting of the American Zellweger as what some saw as a quintessentially British heroine, but her performance is widely considered to be of a high standard. Also notable is the decision to cast Colin Firth as Darcy, since he played the 'real' Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Bridget interviews the actor himself in the second book!)