Posted on 01/05/2021 1:17:25 AM PST by C19fan
There is something comforting about a period drama. Perhaps it's the escapism we're afforded by looking into an era we don't live in, or the aesthetic that's unfamiliar to our own - or maybe it's the lavish production that often accompanies period pieces, offering endless hours of dreaming and distraction. Whatever the reason for their appeal, costume dramas continue to beguile contemporary audiences, as proven with the recent popularity of Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton.
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And Fall of Eagles (another pre Jean Luc Picard Patrick Steward feature with him as Lenin).
The korean dramas are also very good and popular here in Asia.
Crash Landing on you. Is this year’s big hit
THE KING - Hercule Poirot starring David Suchet. The various Miss Marple series are also good.
The Closer starring Kyra Sedgwick can get hokey, but there were some good shows (some very funny). Lots of good actors and guest actors.
Midsomer Murders with John Nettles as Tom Barnaby are good. The later ones with Neil Dudgeon as John Barnaby are not good.
The 1978 Australian mini-series, “Against the Wind” is a great epic. It covers the lives of Irish commoners being banished to far away New South Wales colony.
The cinematography is breathtaking, with a great cast and score.
I am currently watching Midsomer Murders. They are on Tubitv which is free.
I agree. It’s not the acting so much as the story lines and settings. They seem to have lost that quaint English village vibe.
Foyle’s War — one of my all-time favorites.
A couple of other older Brit series that weren’t huge-budget productions but were really good:
“Danger: UXB” — amazing character development of the men who disarmed unexplored bombs in WW II
“Piece of Cake” — an obscure WW II show, but wonderful story about a Spitfire squadron.
Just curious, what streaming services are you using to find all that material?
I think Midsomer has more murders per capita than any other county on Earth.
I download most of my shows from private sites. The Midsomer Murders channel I mentioned is on Samsung TV plus and came installed on our TV.
Why do “period” movies always have to be Victorian? I’m beginning to think that it’s subliminally a sexist term. (Movies for people with periods.)
My votes for best period dramas: The Temptation of the Christ, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans...
How does Mr. Selfridge not make the list?
It’s because Midsomer also has the most lackadaisical cops and citizens investigating or reacting to those murders. The body count usually reaches four or five before the cops figure out who the murderer is or before the citizenry has the good sense to stay home with the doors and windows locked, or otherwise keep their guard up at all times.
A lot of the people in Midsomer who are murdered are also wealthy. If I had the kind of money to afford to live in Midsomer I’d use it to buy a house somewhere else and move away.
I loved the first three seasons. After that it went downhill because they killed off their most beloved characters (and because I have no interest in the 1920s, for some reason.)
2:The Crown: My bonnet filter.
I grew bored and bailed after about 5 episodes.
3:Poldark: I get my fill of Georgian at Colonial Williamsburg.
Never seen it. Just doesn't sound interesting, but maybe I should give it a chance.
4:Firth/Ehle Pride and Prejudice: My daughter is going to read P&P for AP English Lit. I am re-watching with her and my wife. They are swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.
I love this one. I had it on VHS until it wouldn't play anymore. Then I got it on DVD. I can recite whole passages of it.
5:Atonement: My bonnet filter.
Yeah, no thanks.
6: The French Lieutenant's Woman: I watched a long time ago. Forget about it.
Heard of it.
7: Brideshead Revisited: Some freeepers screamed bloody murder when this was excluded from a previous list.
I read the book. It was kind of interesting, but not astoundingly good, IMHO.
8: Life is Beautiful: Fuggedaboutit.
Yeah, count me out.
9: Bright Star: Never heard of this one before.
Me neither.
10: A Room With A View: I do remember seeing this decades ago.
I love this... this is another one I can recite parts of.
Ones I'd add:
-North and South (2004)- The shabby but snobby genteel clergyman's daughter from the dainty South of England meets a blunt industrialist from the gritty North of England. Starring a very sexy Richard Armitage. Mm.
-Wives and Daughters (1999) - Pretty young Molly deals with a new step-mother and prettier step-sister in Victorian England. She loves the country squire's son, but he is dazzled by the new step-sister, who has secrets. The hairstyles alone are riveting.
-Clarissa (1991) Based on the 1748 novel that inspired Dangerous Liaisons, starts out tense and eventually turns nasty, and then tragic. The novel is 1500 pages long and I've read it twice because it's just something that stays with you. A young Sean Bean stars, so you know there's no happy ending. But it was a very important book in its time, and its influence touches even those who don't realize it (like if you've read any Louisa May Alcott or Jane Austen or George Eliot...)
-Middlemarch (1994)- Old money in the country, new money in the town, several stories woven together (the pretty heiress, her politician uncle, the new doctor, the old banker, the clergyman, his hot young cousin, the manufacturer's daughter, the old miser, his young nurse...) it's a soap opera set in the 1830s English countryside. Based on the best novel in the English language, seriously. I've read the book and watched the series so many times...)
-Cranford (2007)- Same idea but a little less psychologically lofty. Very watchable, though. Hey, Judi Dench!
Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - NSFW - Starring young Uma Thurman's breasts...LOL... fantastic production, though. Based on the French novel about bored aristocrats who destroy others through seduction and betrayal. But what goes around comes around, even for the Let Them Eat Cake crowd.
Titanic (2012) Not the Jack & Rose one, this one isn't a Hollywood production. It's a four part mini-series with much more class drama and much less diamonds and guns.
Sense & Sensibility (1995) Ang Lee (yes, Incredible Hulk Ang Lee) It's pretty faithful to the book... a couple minor characters and one rather important scene left out (I'd compare it to how Zefferelli left out Romeo killing Paris in the 1968 R&J... important yet not important.) Stars a young Kate Winslet looking radiant, beautifully filmed, lots of comic moments.
-Emma (1996) I don't like Gwyneth Paltrow, but this is the best version in my opinion. Doesn't drag it out.
Gosford Park (2001) - The only one set after the 1920s that I like. A murder mystery in a country home in the 1940s during a shooting party. By the same writer who did Downton Abbey. SO GOOD! Oh, how I loved it. Love the music, too. Just elegant and touching and interesting and lovely...
House of Mirth (2000) - It was good enough to get me to read the book. After I'd read the book, I was no longer satisfied with the movie because I now realize the two main leads were really miscast. But they did a good job, and it's an interesting book. It's one of my top three (with Clarissa and Middlemarch). The movie is a gateway into the book.
Midsomer Murders, obviously! 22 Seasons, I think...
If you’re talking series, Larkrise to Candleford is excellent.
Also liked the original House of Cards - not to be confused with the over the top remake.
Broadchurch was GOOD! There’s a French series called Balthazar (about a forensic pathologist) that was pretty good. It’s all in French, but there are sub-titles, and it kept my attention.
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