Classic Period Dramas

[MonsteraAddict]

I'm going through a bit of a phase of watching period dramas - ideally book adaptations...
I love Dickens, Hardy - a bit of Austen.
What are you favourites?

I have loved The Mayor of Casterbridge, Little Dorrit, Great Expectations etc
I wondered if you had any more classic drama adaptations to suggest? I've been looking for the old Tom Jones but it's only paid for on Prime 😟

I love Wives & Daughters, it’s a shame it doesn’t seem to be better known as it has a brilliant cast and great characters.

I love also…

Tess of the D’Urbervilles (BBC / Gemma Arterton)

Jane Eyre (BBC, Toby Stephens - swoon!)

Far from the Madding Crowd (film with Carey Mulligan)

Great Expectations (BBC series / Gillian Anderson)

Emma (recent film with Anya Taylor Joy and Bill Nighey - really fun version)

LOVE the Camomile Lawn. More Toby Stephens!

Not really period dramas/based on books, but Stephen Poliakoff’s dramas might be worth looking up… Perfect Stangers (Matthew McFadyen) and Summer of Rockets (Keeley Hawes and more Toby Stephens - sorry, little bit obsessed) are great, both mini series.

And a couple of more modern ones based on books (both based on the same street in London actually)…
Love from Nina
Lady in the Van

The book is a mood, and this adaption is the closest to capturing it.

It fills me with horror to describe this as a period drama, but as it's not far off 50 years since it was made 😱what about the wonderful, wonderful BBC version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guinness? The 1970s feels like yesterday to me, but every so often I realise with a jolt that it's not.

Have you ever seen Tenko? Brilliantly acted and I love that they show the aftermath as well.

North and South is one of my go-tos…. but then it has Richard Armitage dressed as a gentleman so that might explain a lot of it!

Downton!
Poldark

Also Katherine the Great on Channel 4

I absolutely loved this series and the opening music fills me with bitter sweet nostalgia . I watched it with my dear old mam and we would buy all sorts of nice things to eat from Marks whilst we watched it and pretend we were landed gentry

Brideshead Revisited that should have said!

We really enjoyed Dickensian at Christmas.

I love the Catherine Cookson dramas too @Mumptynumpty
They show them regularly on the Drama channel on Sunday afternoons and it doesn't matter which it is I will sit and watch - sometimes I even know the lines!

The Moonstone with Keeley Hawes and Greg Wise.
I also recently enjoyed the Woman in White with Jessie Buckley - it was on netflix at the start of the year so might still be streaming.
The Samantha Morton Jane Eyre.
The 1990s film of The Secret Garden has always been a favourite.
Every version of Little Women.

This is the drama I watch again and again. I love it!

I love the Julie Christie/Terence Stamp Far from the Madding Crowd.

Where are people finding period dramas please?

I think there should be a period drama channel!

@MonsteraAddict if you haven't already seen Daniel Deronda, that's great. I would love to watch that again.

The Thornbirds
The Far Pavilions
The Onedin Line

Jamaica inn has completely disappeared. Wanted to rewatch it and I can't find it anywhere

I'm afraid I stopped watching this
Being unable to see in here half the action was just too much. Although I love the book

The main thing I remember about that was the hilarious comments on Twitter, which my boss read out in the office and she literally had tears streaming down her face. She was laughing that much.

In the spirit of this thread, I am just settling down to watch the Ciaran Hinds Persuasion.

The bbc 90s Vanity Fair (before the movie) is great.

Opened this thinking it was about menstruation 😂

Would Upstairs Downstairs suit?

The original. And the original Poldark.

Not a book adaptation - When the Boat Comes in with James Bolam.

Very popular at the time but not sure it's stood the test of time - The Onedin Line. On YouTube.

Some really good recommendations!

The 1980s Jewel in the Crown I completely adore. It's a really meaty adaptation with an amazing cast and beautiful scenery. It has a young Charles Dance in as well.

Also the Fortunes of War with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Brangh.

The Jewel in the Crown - about the last days of the British Empire in India. DH and I have just been talking about it we were watching The Woman in Cabin 10 and I recognised Art Malik from all those years ago.

But of course I Claudius. It doesn’t come much better than that.