Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London.

She regularly worries about dying being eaten by dogs when her singleness causes her death not to be discovered promptly, an obsession that a USA Today reviewer called "one of [Bridget's] more cheerful daydreams".

Bridget's second relationship is with the stuffy human-rights barrister Mark Darcy, whom she initially dislikes when they are reintroduced at a New Year's party where her mother reminds them they were childhood playmates.

Her mother is an overconfident, doting woman who is constantly trying to marry Bridget off to a rich, handsome man; and her father is considerably more down-to-earth, though he is sometimes driven into uncharacteristically unstable states of mind by his wife.

The film stars Renée Zellweger (in an Academy Award nominated role) as the eponymous heroine, Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Mark Darcy.

British pop singer Lily Allen wrote the score and lyrics, and Stephen Daldry was said to be directing, joined by his co-worker Peter Darling, who would have served as choreographer.

An official cast for the production was never finalised, but workshops for the show did begin with TV actress and star of Legally Blonde the Musical, Sheridan Smith, in the title role.