British Costume Period Dramas (any recommendations)

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  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    Ondine wrote: »
    Couldn't agree more. It was brilliant.

    Glad to hear you enjoyed it too. It's one of those good dramas that seem to get forgotten. It was well acted, directed, written and the music, well the music just spells out what is wrong with costume drama today, no sense of period atmosphere. 'Clarissa' was steeped in an 18th Century 'feel' that was fascinating. And did you know that the novel pre-dates the similar Dangerous Liasons?
  • ilovewallanderilovewallander Posts: 41,273
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    Ondine wrote: »
    Couldn't agree more. It was brilliant.

    I mentioned Clarissa earlier in the thread, I've got the dvd and have watched it over and over I think it's that good. I never tire of it!
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    I mentioned Clarissa earlier in the thread, I've got the dvd and have watched it over and over I think it's that good. I never tire of it!

    I know, it's great. They repeated it once and never again. When I think of all the rubbish that does get repeats it annoys me.

    'The Secret Agent' from 1992 is great too.
  • AbrielAbriel Posts: 8,525
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    Does Ripper street count?
    Re tenko, I loved it at the time have it on series link off Drama channel I think it is, for a nostalgia fest at some point
  • JohnnyForgetJohnnyForget Posts: 24,061
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    Barely remembered but highly watchable BBC period dramas from the seventies:-

    The Roads To Freedom
    (very good dramatisation of Jean Paul Sartre's acclaimed trilogy)

    War and Peace
    (multi-episode dramatisation of Tolstoy's famous long novel - starring a then little known Welsh actor named Anthony Hopkins)

    When The Boat Comes In
    (excellent original drama starring James Bolam - set on Tyneside, commencing just after the First War War and ending in 1936).
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 372
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    I would recommend all of the above and
    Any Catherine Cookson film on DVD.......brilliant:)
  • duncannduncann Posts: 11,969
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    greengran wrote: »
    BBC 2 are showing 'The Pallisers' from Monday afternoon, a costume drama which was a very good adaptation of an Anthony Trollope novel, originally made in the '70s. I remember watching it then and am recording it to see if it's still as good as I remember.n

    I am watching it, and the answer is, yes it is as good. It's incredibly apt because of the public discontent today with politicians and the super-rich. Actually it's an adaptation of several linked novels written over most of the 1870s and it goes on for 26 episodes, with a huge cast with a lot of well known names of the day, and of today - when they were younger! Loving it! Hope you are too.
  • nethwennethwen Posts: 23,374
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    I love period dramas. :) Well, quite a lot anyway.

    Some of my favourites have already been mentioned in posts above, so may I add two more to the mix?

    Jane Eyre (2006)

    which is fabulous imho!

    Well, apart from Young Jane (can't remember the actress's name atm but she is annoying - again imho). But she is only on mainly for the first 15 minutes of the first episode.

    but once you get past her and go on to the adult Jane (Ruth Wilson) and Mr Rochester (Toby Stephens) - they are electric together. Seriously.

    And it looks as though the whole series is up on YouTube.

    Another favourite of mine is:

    The Barchester Chronicles

    especially Alan Rickman as Mr Slope. :D

    Donald Pleasance and Nigel Hawthorne also play magnificent roles.

    And this drama too seems to be up in full on YouTube.
  • nethwennethwen Posts: 23,374
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    So many great series out there.

    Some of my personal favourites which haven't already been mentioned:
    Silas Marner (BBC, Ben Kingsley)
    Our Mutual Friend (1976 version from the BBC, Leo McKern)
    The Barchester Chronicles (BBC, Nigel Hawthorne, Geraldine McEwan and a truly splendiferous performance from Alan Rickman as Obadiah Slope)
    To Serve Them All My Days (BBC, John Duttine)

    And if by any chance you can get hold of it, the 1974 version of David Copperfield simply has to be seen for the tour de force that is Mr Nice Guy Martin Jarvis as an utterly loathsome Uriah Heep.

    Oops, beg pardon, Friday's child.

    I didn't see your inclusion of 'Barchester Chronicles' there. :)

    And oh, yes, 'To Serve Them All My Days' is another classic period drama.
  • pugamopugamo Posts: 18,039
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    Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.
    The Tudors.
  • EurostarEurostar Posts: 78,519
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    A fine one from Ireland is 'Strumpet City' (1980) which is set in Dublin from 1907 to 1914. It's available in full on Youtube......possibly regarded as the best ever Irish TV period drama.
  • beaky29beaky29 Posts: 367
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    North and South is one of my favourites. It's based on Elizabeth Gaskell's Victorian novel about a middle-class girl from London who moves to the North with her father and falls in love with the brooding mill owner John Thornton. It's a powerful, moving, shocking and wonderfully compelling period drama I am sure you will love. If you can find it on DVD, make sure you buy it.

    I was just going to say this.
    I've just watched it again...LOVE it!
  • intruder2kintruder2k Posts: 318
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    Another recommendation for the Catherine Cookson adaptations they did in the 1990s. Most of them are brilliant - look for titles like The Man Who Cried, The Gambling Man etc. All set in Newcastle/Durham during the early 20th century and filled with more drama than you could hope for.
  • Ancient IDTVAncient IDTV Posts: 10,107
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    Hornblower
    Sharpe
    By the Sword Divided
    The Far Pavilions
    Robin of Sherwood (if that counts!)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,363
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    The TV channel "Yesterday" often shows feature length Catherine Cookson period dramas. These are really quite well done.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 142
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    The 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice is one of my absolute favourites. It's so beautiful to look at, and is on BluRay now which is great.

    A rarer costume drama is the 1995 version of Persuasion, which I think is very underrated and well worth watching.

    Going further back, I love the series of Sherlock Holmes that started in 1984 and stars the late Jeremy Brett. If you like the Victorian era, it's perfect.

    Other fantastic Victorian era (my personal favourite time period) dramas are Ripper Street and the new Penny Dreadful, both very atmospheric.
  • Walter NeffWalter Neff Posts: 9,129
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    I really recommend Edward the Seventh with Timothy West, and Annette Crosby as Queen Victoria. This also featured Francesca Annis as Lillie Langtry. Francesca went on to star in a series of her own about that lady called "Lillie" which won her a Best Actress BAFTA. These two great series are both available on DVD.

    I also love Mapp and Lucia, with Geraldine McEwen and Prunella Scales which is set in the early 1920's.
  • Tangledweb7Tangledweb7 Posts: 3,890
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    I have just completed the entire series of The Forsyte Saga from 1967 yes its in Black and white but it did not put me off watch it just for Eric Porters performance if nothing else. Also as they are remaking a favourite of mine Poldark I am rewatching the 1975 version. Can't beat Ross and Demelza.;-)
  • PretzelPretzel Posts: 7,858
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    The Duchess of Duke Street
    Edward and Mrs Simpson
    A Testament of Youth (think that's being remade)
    Flambards
    The Monocled Mutineer
    Hornblower
    Lady Chatterleys Lover
    Our Friends in the North (probably not quite what you're looking for but still worth a mention)

    Films

    The Go Between
    Dangerous Liaisons

    are both quite adult in content but also fit the bill as costume dramas.
  • annielouannielou Posts: 10,246
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    Just thought of Jewel in the Crown from about 1984,ITV, About the last days of the Raj in India. Would love to see it repeated.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 142
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    annielou wrote: »
    Just thought of Jewel in the Crown from about 1984,ITV, About the last days of the Raj in India. Would love to see it repeated.

    You can buy it on DVD.
  • LMLM Posts: 63,249
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    Thanks for the additions
    I watched a few episodes of Duchess of duke street. The lead actress was brilliant as was June Brown but found it dull after a few episodes.

    I checked out Bramwell which stars one of Vanessa Redgrave's daughters. It's like a British Dr Quinn: Medicine woman but the major cast changes and completley going off track spoiled it.

    I watched a show called The Grand. It's like Upstairs downstairs but set in a hotel. Made in the 90's and is set after the first world war. Written by Russell T Davis. But the writing wasn't very good and it became a bit OTT so i stopped watching. I love a good soap opera and I know Soaps can be a bit silly, camp and OTT, but this show just went beyond that.

    I have been watching Land Girls. It ran for threes series for a total of 15 episodes. It was one of the BBC's daytime dramas. It's a good show about women working on the land when all the men were sent to war during WW2. But 5 episodes per season spoil it. It needed more than at, as everything feels rushed. I personally don't think a show can develop with just 5 episodes per series. 8 would of been better. It's a shame BBC stopped making it. Yet another period drama they chucked.
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