As you can see below, there's even porn:
Oh baby, yeah, that's the way I like it, right under the bridge...
Firth/Ehle Pride and Prejudice: Would be on my list.
Thompson/Winslet Sense and Sensibility: Would be on my list. One thing I loved about this version was little slices of life including a steam engine and horse poop.
Recent version of Emma: On my to watch list.
The Crown: No bonnets so me don't watch.
Lark Rise to Candleford: Seen snippets but seems a bit overrated to be on this list.
Call the Midwife: No bonnets so me don't watch.
Gentleman Jack: Good gawd...like I would have any interest in some lesbo blood blue Tory.
Downton Abbey: Never watched an episode so shame on me.
Wilson/Stephens Jane Eyre: Oh yes. This is the best version I have ever seen.
The Darling Buds of May: First time I have ever heard of this. No bonnets me don't watch.
Tomlinson/Turner Poldark: Not a huge fan of the 18th century setting but that is just a matter of taste.
Atonement: No bonnets me don't watch.
A Room with a View: On to watch list.
Gillian Anderson Bleak House: Would be on my list. What a wonderful full dissection of Victorian society.
Redmayne/Atherton Tess of the D’Urbervilles: On my to watch list. I did see the Roman Polanski version
Macfayden/Foy Little Dorrit: Recently watched via Amazon Prime. Really puts one through the emotional ringer with amazing acting.
The Forsyte Saga: Watched bits and pieces.
The Favorite: Nope. Not a fan of early 18th century setting.
David Lean 1946 Great Expectations. The definitive adaptation of the Dickens novel.
2012 Great Expectations: This version ramps up the emotional intensity. The cinematography, settings and costumes pure eye candy.
Mulligan Far from the Madding Crowd. The movie is just gorgeous.
Thompson/Hopkins: Howard's End
I thought the Wilson/Stephens Eyre was very good....
...until I rewatched the Zelah Clark/Timothy Dalton......even better!
Heavens to Murgatroyd. I’ll watch the Terminator or Die Hard. Yippee kai yea MF.
Damn...I forget the Richard Armitrage North and South. the first half is some the best I have ever seen.
I hated “Atonement” and “The Favourite.”
“The Forsyte Saga” with Damien Lewis was very good.
I would have included:
Cranford
Return to Cranford
Wives and Daughters
The Hercule Poirot series with David Suchet
The Way We Live Now with David Suchet
He Knew He was Right (the version with David Tennant)
The Barchester Chronicles (can’t miss Alan Rickman as Mr. Obadiah Slope)
Wolf Hall
As you can see below, there's even porn:
Oh baby, yeah, that's the way I like it, right under the bridge...
Seen all you listed except: Gentleman Jack, The Darling Buds of May, Call the Midwife. No intention to watch any of those.
I’m a sucker for British period dramas - bonnets not necessary
North & South (2004) shouldn't be missed.
The miniseries version of Emma (2009) with Ramola Garai is choice.
Persuasion (1995) rivals the Ehle Pride and Prejudice for greatness.
First season of Lark Rise is decent but falls off a cliff after that.
I like the ones made in the 1970s that include:
The Onedin Line
Fall of Eagles (Jean Luc Picard playing Lenin)
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (Lee Remick in leading role)
The First Churchills (the first series on Masterpiece Theatre)
The Duchess of Duke Street
Elizabeth R (Glenda Jackson in lead role)
How could they omit the king of them all - Brideshead Revisited (Jeremy Irons & Anthony Andrews)
Jeeves and Wooster with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry is also great.
Bonfire of Destiny is 1897 Paris, so it’s post bonnets but worth a watch. I think it’s on Netflix.
“After a devastating fire in 1897 Paris, three women find their lives upended by betrayals, deceptions and romantic turmoil. Inspired by real events.”
It’s Australian but “A Place to Call Home” is phenomenal. No bonnets, though.
Loved “The Crown”. Have not seen the most recent season with Diana.
Loved Downton Abbey.
Loved “The Tudors”
Loved Foyle’s War
Did not like Call the Midwife.
I find all of the British produced television dramas so much better written, acted produced than almost anything on us television. US TV actors are models who look good on camera. Very few can act.
Not period pieces but I also loved Broadchurch, Shetland, Black Mirror, Luther, The Fall, Doc Martin, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, and especially Hinterland.
This is opposed to the absolutely crap that is on ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Someone at my office suggested I watch “Big Sky” an ABC David Kelly show. David Kelly has produced some decent shows such as “Goliath” with Billy Bob Thorton.
My wife and I made it through 2 1/2 episodes before we had enough. We were actually laughing because is was so stupid and filled with liberal propaganda. Plus is was such a rip off of “Yellowstone”. An actual good American cable show.
Not on the list, but I think very worthy of mention are both the Granada Television Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett (IMHO, the best screen Holmes, ever) and All Creatures Great and Small.
Loved your take on each one!
Just wanted to put in a good word for Downton Abbey though. Honestly it’s one of the absolute best series I have ever watched. I was a late adapter to it, binge watching it well after the rest of the world swooned. Binge watching is putting it mildly, as I just could. Not. Stop. Each episode was like an excellent feature film. The costumes are drool worthy. The dialogue, the acting, the sets - you just feel as though you are there, part of all of it. After convincing my mom she needed to treat herself to it, I re-watched every episode so she and I could discuss them the next day, and it was like seeing and being with old friends again. Seriously, do yourself a favor and add it to your list, you will be so glad you did!
Also, not a “classic” per se, but an excellent series (on Prime), was Dickensian. I’m a huge Dickens nerd, and this one season series blended characters from multiple Dickens novels into a murder mystery (which was merely the underlying thread which tied all the characters together in the storyline). Truly excellent! Again, the costumes, settings, incredibly realistic actors - a real treat. I’d recommend adding it to your watchlist too!
Enjoy!
Meanwhile, I am going back through your list to find some to add to my watchlist!
Now that winter's here I'll be binge-watching both of them.
Did you watch Belgravia? Worst ending ever.
Downton Abbey was an entertaining effort to rehabilitate the image of the Edwardian feudal system.
Gentleman Jack was another effort to — in the words Daniel Patrick Moynihan — define deviancy down.