BFI announces shortlists for greatest screen couples poll

LOVE is in cinemas and online from October to December 2015.

So many lovers just don’t make the grade. That’s been the case here with our poll to find the greatest screen couples. Two shortlists – one for film, one for TV – remain, and your vote could be crucial.

In film, Gone with the Wind’s Rhett and Scarlett face Casablanca’s Rick and Ilsa, while the current re-issue of Brief Encounter has helped propel its accidental lovers into contention.

Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ trilogy couple Jesse and Céline are a current front-runner, but they compete for your affection with such favourites as the tentative duo from In the Mood for Love and Brokeback Mountain’s cowboys Jack and Ennis

The list also features fairy tales, outlaws and one very memorable May-to-December romance. Meanwhile, Simran and Raj from the much-loved Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge fly the flag for Bollywood.

For television, sitcoms are well represented, with Tim and Dawn from The Office up against Boy Meets Girl’s Judy and Leo – the only two British comedies in contention. Five American shows face them down, including Friends, Glee and Parks and Recreation.

Love and lace dominate the poll, with period dramas forever associated with romance. It’s 20 years since the TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but its power has not waned. Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) and Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) are nominated alongside Poldark’s Ross and Demelza.

Amazon’s drama Outlander spans period drama and sci-fi. It’s leading couple Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser compete with otherworldly rivals including Doctor Who and Rose, plus Torchwood’s Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully also figure, just weeks before The X-Files returns in January 2016.

Now’s your chance to have your say. There can only be one TV and one film couple who triumph. Who will it be? Hurry, the vote closes on 7 December.

The film shortlist

• Jesse and Céline – Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013)
• Laura Jesson and Dr Alec Harvey – Brief Encounter (1945)
• Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist – Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Rick and Ilsa – Casablanca (1942)
• Simran Singh and Raj Malhotra – Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
• Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler – Gone with the Wind (1939)
• Harold and Maude – Harold and Maude (1971)
• Ron and Hermione – Harry Potter saga (2001-2011)
• Su Li-zhen (Mrs Chan) and Chow Mo-wan – In the Mood for Love (2000)
• Buttercup and Westley – The Princess Bride (1987)
• Han Solo and Princess Leia – Star Wars saga (1977-)
• Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson – Titanic (1997)
• Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman – True Romance (1993)
• Bella Swan and Edward Cullen – Twilight saga (2008-2012)
• Sally Albright and Harry Burns – When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

The TV shortlist

• Judy and Leo – Boy Meets Girl (2015)
• The Doctor and Rose – Doctor Who (1963-)
• Monica Geller and Chandler Bing – Friends (1994-2004)
• Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes – Gilmore Girls (2000-2007, 2016-)
• Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson – Glee (2009-2015)
• Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf – Gossip Girl (2007-2012)
• Tim Canterbury and Dawn Tinsley – The Office (2001-2003)
• Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser – Outlander (2014-)
• Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt – Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
• Ross Poldark and Demelza – Poldark (1975, 2015-)
• Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy – Pride and Prejudice (1995)
• Homer and Marge Simpson – The Simpsons (1989-)
• Tony and Carmela Soprano – The Sopranos (1999-2007)
• Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones – Torchwood (2006-2011)
• Fox Mulder and Dana Scully – The X Files (1993-2002, 2016-)