The top 10 list from this article and of course some of my commentary:
1:Downton Abbey: I know, I know...I am the English Lit major who has never read Shakespeare.
2:The Crown: My bonnet filter.
3:Poldark: I get my fill of Georgian at Colonial Williamsburg.
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.
5:Atonement: My bonnet filter.
6: The French Lieutenant's Woman: I watched a long time ago. Forget about it.
7: Brideshead Revisited: Some freeepers screamed bloody murder when this was excluded from a previous list.
8: Life is Beautiful: Fuggedaboutit.
9: Bright Star: Never heard of this one before.
10: A Room With A View: I do remember seeing this decades ago.
Foyle’s War should be on the list.
Screw the British crap that memorializes the Crown.
I Claudius
How does Mr. Selfridge not make the list?
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.
If you’re talking series, Larkrise to Candleford is excellent.
I’ve been impressed with The Crown so far, been watching the first season for the past few weeks. Lithgow was pretty good as Churchill.
Haven’t seen it but was Upstairs, Downstairs any good?
Hey! What about Dark Shadows?
; )