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A lot of times when I post about period dramas, many Freepers rave about Downton Abbey. I finally took the plunge. I will not go into the plot but make some observations. In my mind the show is conservative. The Earl of Grantham views himself as a steward of the family tradition, including the estate, even if it comes at a cost to his own family. For the Downstairs component, the butler Mr. Carson holds onto the importance of tradition. The eye candy is top notch. Highclaire Castle is beautiful and refined. Although the story has the estate in Yorkshire...

President Trump’s daughter-in-law, and newly minted Fox News contributor, Lara Trump says liberals are hypocrites when it comes to their concerns or lack thereof about the current humanitarian and law enforcement crisis at the southern U.S. border prompted by a massive surge of illegal migrants, including minors, that has overwhelmed facilities and resources there. Lara Trump particularly called out a currently far less vocal U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) who famously had a picture-taking session outside a detention center when she expressed her fury over the faux kids-in-cages controversy during President Trump’s administration. “It’s total hypocrisy,” Lara Trump said on...

I finished Dickens’ “Dombey and Son” as part of a group read on the Goodreads site. I found the novel a classic. I blew ahead of the schedule of the group read as I could not put the novel down. As I am wont to do, I enjoy seeing adaptations of the 19th century novels I read. I found this French adaptation from 2007 free for Amazon Prime members. Of course, the dialogue is in French so I followed via the subtitles. The adaptation is broken up into two parts with a little over a 3 hour run time. As...

Disclaimer: I must admit I have never read a biography of Queen Victoria. My knowledge of her as a person has been accumulated by reading articles, mentions in non-fiction books, watching documentaries, and listening to podcasts. As a side note, if you are interested in the Victorians the “Age of Victoria” podcast is excellent. After an excellent start to the series with season 1, season 2 keeps up the quality as Victoria and Albert enter the 1840s. I find this series is quite subversive in our post-modern world. What do I mean by that? Starting with Lytton Strachey publishing “Eminent...

I must admit I have never read a biography of Queen Victoria. My knowledge of her as a person has been accumulated by reading articles, mentions in non-fiction books, watching documentaries, and listening to podcasts. As a side note, if you are interested in the Victorians the “Age of Victoria” podcast is excellent. Let us get the two major items of artistic license out of the way. The first is William Lamb, Lord Melbourne played by Rufus Sewell. 2nd Viscount Melbourne was 59 years old when the 18 year old Victoria became Queen. No source I have been exposed to...

This is my fifth adaptation of Jane Eyre. The others are the 1943 movie with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine, 1970 movie with George C. Scott and Susannah York, 1983 with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clark, and 2006 with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. The version starts by not following the chronology of the novel. The first image is Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre running from Thornfield Hall. Of course, anyone has read the novel knows why she is fleeing. She eventually finds refuge at the Rivers’ home. There is stunning scenery in this part as the filming was done...

When Mary Chater’s husband, the Rumpole of the Bailey actor Julian Curry, died last June, a friend recommended that she should read the speech in King John in which the widowed Constance laments the loss of her young son. “ ‘Grief fills the room up of my absent child/Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me’,” quotes Chater who, like her husband, is a former RSC actor. “ ‘My life, my joy, my food, my all the world’. I’ve never read or said out loud words that so chimed with my emotions, especially immediately after Julian died. I...

Disclaimer: I did not read the Catherine Cookson novel that is the source material. I was just wasting time on YouTube when this complete upload of a TV miniseries came up on the recommended list. After some checking out some brief clips, I decided to invest the hour and 45 minutes and watch it. One thing I immediately noticed in the beginning was most of the characters have Northern English accents. The setting is in County Durham close to Newcastle during the early Victorian era. I believe the term for the accent from that region is Geordie. One of the...

Disclaimer: I have not read the Daphne du Maurier novel this is based on. My first encounter with the enchanting Rachel Weisz was playing at the age of 29 the spunky, and intelligent Miss Evelyn Carnahan from the 1999 movie “The Mummy”. At the age of 47, when she starred in this adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel, she is still a stunning and alluring woman. One can easily see a younger man falling for her. What is very interesting about this adaptation is how earthy it is. Phillip Ambrose definitely does not have the manners of a member...

Almost all of my period drama viewing is based on books from Austen during the Regency to the Edwardian E.M Forester. Given these are stories that say something about the human condition you do hope to extract something edifying. Then you have your books and period dramas that are analogous to grabbing a gallon of your favorite ice cream and just enjoying it as a guilty pleasure. Belgravia is an example of the second. I must admit when I saw the opening shot indicating we are in Brussels in 1815 I immediately paid attention. Yes, yes…they are going to re-create...

Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston play lovers Tallie and Abigail in a new trailer released for their upcoming film The World To Come. In the clip, it sees Vanessa, 32, and Katherine, 40, as Tallie and Abigail share several steamy kisses as their characters fall in love and embark in a secret affair without their husbands knowing. The film is set on the American East Coast in the mid-19th century, where two neighbouring couples battle hardship and isolation, and is based upon Jim Shepard's 2017 novel of the same name.

I finished season 1 several weeks ago and it took me awhile to process this. I guess I will just have a list of what I enjoyed and did not enjoy: The Bad: Gratuitous Explicit Sex: There was so much bonking it was ridiculous. One would think with all the sex, including interspecies, some disease like syphilis would be spreading like wildfire. In this alternative universe of the Late Victorian era there is still no effective birth control as there are several characters whose dubious parentage plays a key role in the plot. On top of it, it strains credulity...

The 19th-century English period drama Bridgerton, based on the series of bestselling novels written by Julia Quinn, has caused quite a stir among fans of the historical romance genre. Bridgerton refers to the large family navigating the high-society of England's lavish Regency Era. As young Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) comes of age and strikes up a romance when entering the marriage market, her life is forever changed. For similar cinematic experiences that deal with this historical age, scroll below.

I'm switching parties today from GOP to Independent. IF and when President Trump starts a new party for us, (I am recommending that it's the American or Freedom Party), I will join in a heart beat. These dumb @ss leaders, Romney, McConnell, Graham etc. think they can negotiate with the democrats, and they think Biden will contain China and the rest of our enemies. These are the worst of times. I pray for the safety of our president. Like Christ 2000 years ago, he's been forsaken by those closest to him.

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.

I have watched this wonderful adaptation of the Dickens novel free for Amazon Prime members many times. You know this is going to be an experience from the opening sequence; one of the most well done I have ever seen. This was going to top notch as the screenplay was written by the King of the Period Drama Andrew Davies. As I mentioned before in regards to Dickens, you go on an emotional roller coaster. The Amazon version is seven episodes with a total run length of around 6 hours. The extended length allows the wide plethora of secondary characters...

I was on YouTube just wasting time before midnight to start the new year. As a side note, I am the Ebenezer Scrooge of New Year. I hate this "holiday" because I feel like I have to "celebrate" and the only thing I associate the night with is debauchery. I saw this period drama I have never heard of before pop up on recommended videos. Watching this appeared much more preferable to sitting on the couch listening to the Bidens and watching musicians I do not care one iota for. This period drama is "East Lynne" based on a novel...

I remember seeing commercials for this adaptation of the Thomas Hardy classic, if me memory was right, on CBS. I thought it quite weird at the time that one of the the major broadcasters would even put a Brit period drama on a primetime slot when that was the exclusive purview of PBS. The novel does have a special place in my soul. When I first read it 30 years ago, I was awestruck by Hardy's introduction of the raven haired bewitching beauty Eustacia Vye. I have never read anything since that is as romantic and dramatic of an introduction...

"Bridgerton,” the new series based on Julia Quinn’s romance novels and developed by hitmaker Shonda Rhimes and showrunner Chris Van Dusen for Netflix, is a Christmas cookie of a show — a sugary, sparkly treat that serves as a comfort in a grim winter. And in integrating the predominantly White world of romance novels by making some of Quinn’s characters Black, the show inadvertently provides a useful lesson for an entertainment industry struggling to meet viewers’ demands and corporate mandates for more diverse programming.