Why do some big successful brands go bust?

Toast is back for a new series, taking a look at the decisions that often left investors burnt.

I'm Sean Farrington, a BBC business journalist. I'll be hearing about the hype.

They're going to do the deal that makes them the most money at that point of time.

And I'm picking what went wrong, talking to owners and employees to ask, what can we learn?

It was being undercut by similar rivals. It just couldn't survive.

Toast. Listen first on BBC Sounds.

Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service. We're your statistical guide to the numbers all around us in the news and in life, and I'm Tim Harford.

Today we're focusing on one of the burning questions of the moment, which is just how rich

was the fictional heartrob Mr Darcy, one of my personal favourite figures from early 19th century

English literature. Also, as it turns out, our producer Charlotte MacDonald is a fan, and

Charlotte, just in case some of our listeners aren't as familiar with him, tell us who is Mr Darcy?

So Mr Darcy was very rich.

I had a lovely house and he famously had this £10,000 a year.

Charlotte, do you have a cold? That doesn't sound like you?

Yeah, no, well spotted Tim.

That's actually Stephen Broadbury, who we're going to hear from in a moment.

He's here to help us with our question this week.

He's Professor of Economic History at Oxford University.

And now, after some probing from us, he's also an expert in Jane Austen's male love interest

in her 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice, which which yes, I am a fan of.

And it has been translated into several languages. I would have thought most of the languages.

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