Best period dramas part 2

What did I miss?

Okay nobody sent me an angry letter in green ink about the first part of the list so I feel safe to carry on. 

8) Bleak House 

This probably should’ve been higher, if only for the number of episodes (15!! TV is never this generous anymore) and the insanely packed cast. Who would’ve thought an incomprehensible and ancient lawsuit would kick off a story this riveting? Only Dickens, which is why he’s on this list twice now (not a man who was nice to his wife though, so I’m not going to give him too much praise). There’s a lot of tragedy and evil plotting going on - Charles Dance plays a tremendously evil Tulkinghorn, Phil Davis does a great turn as the nasty Smallweed, while Gillian Anderson plays the hollowed out Lady Dedlock beautifully. But the comedy woven through the series is fantastic - the Guppys, Mr Bayham Badger, Inspector Bucket - so it never feels too, well, bleak. 

9) Cold Comfort Farm

Maybe we’re veering away from what I think of as ‘period drama cannon’ here, but Cold Comfort Farm deserves to be on all the lists and it’s currently on iPlayer so there’s no excuse not to include it. This adaptation of Stella Gibbons’s famous satire is played entirely for laughs, with an absence of the sentimentality sometimes prioritised in more modern period dramas (looking at you Bridgerton). Kate Beckinsale is stupendous as Flora Poste, the bright and ambitious young woman sent to her distant relatives farm. Enjoy every moment of her project to better her relations, and come back and tell me you wouldn’t kill to live on that farm, whatever nasty thing might be lurking in the woodshed. 

Would be worth 8 million now

10) A Dance To The Music Of Time 

Adapted from Anthony Powell’s series of novels released under the same name, this show is just four episodes, but manages to pack a lot of it in. Centred around four school friends, the show follows them as they move through the twenties and thirties, into the war period and beyond. It’s fascinating to see a portrayal of life before and after the second world war, when a whole world seems to just abruptly disappear. 

11) The Forsyte Saga

Between Damien Lewis portraying Soames Forsyte and currently being on TV as Henry VIII in the adaptation of Wolf Hall, my brain has just decided that he’s a terrible person. Maybe that’s unfair, but if he wants to be liked he needs to start taking on roles which don’t make me want to punch the TV. Justice for Irene! This might not make the show sound like a must watch, but I assure you it’s not only Damien Lewis being appalling. The show has a whole roster of characters not nearly as vile as Soames Forsyte (and even he gets a sort of sympathetic-ish second act) and it focuses heavily on themes like class, new money, repression (v English) and the fading old world. 

Woof

12) Emma 

I’m sorry, don’t hate me, but I do love Gwyneth Paltrow’s Emma Woodhouse. She’s so perfectly snooty, so confident in her status and privilege. Austen herself said that she was going to write a character that nobody ‘but myself’ would like, but I like her too (I also thought nobody would like my main character in HTKYF, and boy was I wrong). Maybe the snooty elements came naturally to Paltrow, but she also gives the comic parts of the story a good go. Also, Toni Collette as Harriet Smith is wonderful and Jeremy Northam is smouldering (a word only acceptable when used in relation to period dramas). As is true of all my favourite period dramas, I use at least one line in real life on the regular. “Badly done Emma,” is my go-to here. 

From here I’m just going to do honourable mentions, because otherwise this list will be far too long and I’ve got a book to write. 

The Cazelets - Adapted from Elizabeth Jane Howard’s magnificent series of novels The Light Years, this would’ve been higher if not for the fact that it’s only one series. Watch it, but make sure you read the books first.

Great Expectations (2012) - Good Lord I love Gillian Anderson. 

Larkrise to Candleford - Delightful. Much post office chatter.

Cranford - Judi Dench! Francesca Annis! Imelda Staunton! Railway drama!  

Dickensian - A mad mash up of Dickens stories but it works. 

Far From The Madding Crowd (2015) - Charming, many sheep. 

Wives And Daughters - I can’t find where to watch this right now! Do you know?

The Secret Garden - The 1993 version, you can’t go wrong with it. I’m in the gardddden.

Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) - It’s so bleak it almost didn’t make it onto this list, but the sadness doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s been done very well. Fuck Angel Clare.

I realise these are pretty much all British and that period dramas are not limited by region. What have I missed out? What can’t you believe I’ve been so disrespectful as to not mention? Hit me, I can take it.