I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, (probably multiple times) but I really love British television. Well, basically anything British based off of a classic novel (preferably Austen or Dickens, but more obscure authors will do.) My current obsession is actually not a classic novel, but a series of books written in the 40’s and 50’s about a character named Poldark, which is the name of the current series. Apparently there was a Masterpiece series that was really quite popular back in the 70’s but that was before my time and I had never even heard about it until I stumbled upon the current Poldark series on Amazon Prime. Now I am completely hooked.
What I like about British television-
1- Their films based on books are usually very long miniseries. Have you ever seen Pride and Prejudice (The Colin Firth one)? How about Bleak House? I love that the stories get drawn out, much like reading the books, and therefore you get the chance to really get to know the characters.
2- The accents- Let’s face it, British accents are beautiful.
3- The clothes and locations- The costumes are always beautiful and the locations are always stunning!
4- They don’t always use ‘beautiful’ people. In American films, you can pretty much count on the overweight character to be the comic relief, or the plain character to be the bad guy or the sad, single loner- but not so in British tv. They are much more likely to use people that look like everyday, normal people and they aren’t the butt of every joke. I find that very refreshing.
5- Comfort. We’ve all heard of comfort food. For me, watching period pieces is comfort television. I can have it running in the background while I do the dishes, I can lay in bed and watch it on silent with the subtitles running. It easily becomes familiar to me, and I like familiar! Tim always laughs at me that I watch series over and over again, but hey, I don’t have to pause it when he talks to me because I already know what is going to happen. 🙂
So I thought I’d leave you with a list of some of my favorite British shows and mini-series that you should check out. Let me know if you have watched any, which are your favorites, or if there are some missing from my list that I need to check out!
- Poldark (obviously, because that’s what I’m watching right now.)
- Pride and Prejudice- This is an absolute classic, a litmus test to compare all other book adaptations to.
- Bleak House- Based on Dickens’ greatest novel, it is kind of dark, but has a very agreeable main character. (And it also stars Gillian Anderson, who is of course awesome.) It’s also pretty quotable and you will find yourself saying things like “Shake me up, Judy!”
- As Time Goes By- A tv series staring Judy Dench that ran in the 90’s. It’s funny and nostalgic.
- North and South- Based on an Elizabeth Gaskell story that I think has a much better ending than the actual book.
- Wives and Daughters- Also an Elizabeth Gaskell. If you’ve ever been tempted to read this book let me warn you, it is huge. Also, I should also tell you that Elizabeth Gaskell actually died before finishing the book so it literally ends in mid sentence. (I had no idea when I started this book, so imagine my anguish when it just cut off!) However, the mini series is quite enjoyable.
- Little Dorrit- Another Dickens makes the list! It’s long, but enjoyable.
- Jane Eyre- There are quite a few versions of this one, but I recommend the one that came out in 2006. (BTW- this is one of my favorite books of all time.)
- The Paradise- This one a stumbled on a couple of years ago, and of course got sucked in. It’s set slightly later than most of the others on this list.
- Emma- The 2009 version definitely puts the american version to shame.
- Downton Abbey- I actually loved and hated this show at the same time. Some of the plot lines and characters were irritating, however it was beautifully shot and acted, and I think the pros outweighed the cons on this one.
- Sherlock- So very, very, very loosely based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels as to be barely negligible as the same, however the show is excellent.
Well, if you are experiencing a television slump and have no idea what to watch, might I recommend something from the list above!
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