Give me your favourite period drama adaptations

[PicklingGherkins]

I have a rare day to myself. I usually fall upon Pride & Prejudice (BBC Jennifer Ehle version). I remember liking the BBC version of Vanity Fair and Wives and Daughters but haven't seen them since they first aired. Any other ideas or should I resign myself to an afternoon of wine and Colin Firth (there is no right or wrong here)

It has to be the Kate Beckinsale Emma, the Gwyneth one was Not Right

Lark rise to Candleford

I love you all for your help. I've made a solid list for my bullet journal, should I mention I also used to love a good Catherine Cookson adaptation? The dwelling place, the tide of life and the girl. Mansfield Park sounds ace though (because I love Jonny Lee Miller - I perv on him and Lucy in elementary)

North and South has got me through some dark times I can tell you...

Cold Comfort Farm - sadly no Colin Firth but Rufus Sewell nearly makes up for it.

do also quite like The Mill on the Floss with Emily Watson

I quite like Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility too.

If you missed it, and are a Dickens fan, then Dickensian is wonderful.

I wish someone would make The Definitive Middlemarch!

Rather fond of the 2008 BBC Sense and Sensibility with Charity Wakefield/DanStevens/JanetMcTeer/David Morrissey/Dominic Cooper. And like everyone else has already said, North and South with Richard Armitage.

In a completely different vein, the 1985/87 versions of Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows.

Oh and He Knew He Was Right with baby David Tennant and the most unflattering hair he has ever sported.

Brideshead revisited - not the new film. The tv series from the 80s. It's amazing

Room with a View with Helena Bonham Carter.

I'm rather fond of the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma – features Alan Cummings and Juliet Stevenson as the execrable Eltons. Also starring Ewan McGregor's Very Bad Hair.

1. north and south (armitage)
2. pride and prejudice (bbc with Firth)
3. room with a view (bonham-carter)
4. wives and daughters (Waddell and Hawes)
5. our mutual friend (friel)

These are my top 5 but there are soooo many good ones

And a bonus one that's a bit random (prob not available anywhere) but I loved it:

6. taming of the shrew (sewell and Henderson) - part of the Shakespeare retold series and contemporary adaption

Parade's End is utterly brilliant.

Shakespeare in Love is another highly enjoyable pastiche, like the marvellous Dickensian mentioned above.

Howard’s End and Sense and sensibility with Emma Thompson
Pride and Prejudice 80’s BBC serial their Mr Darcy Imo was better than Colin Firth
Slightly more modern The Jewel in the Crown and The Balkan Trilogies are fine viewing

Much ado about nothing with Emma Thompson was good... if no one has mentioned it yet (didn't spot it after a cursory read)

If you can get hold of it, The Barchester Chronicles with a very young Alan Rickman. It's utterly wonderful.

I second the 2008 Sense and Sensibility!

BBC's "Wolf Hall".

Still waiting for Mantel to finish writing the 3rd and final installment of the Cromwell saga. She seems to have writer's block!

I am going to be controversial and put in a vote for the Keira Knightley film version of P&P. I like Colin Firth as Darcy slightly better than Matthew Macfadyen, but everything and everyone else about the film version is better than the TV series.

Other than that YY to Anne of Green Gables, A Room with a View and North and South. I also quite like the version of Middlemarch with Rufus Sewell.

Also: the Buccaneers is fun. The book doesn't have an ending and the one they added is slightly preposterous, but: Greg Wise.

And Enchanted April.

Oh yes. Middlemarch is amazing. And enchanted April.

Came to the thread to say Persuasion, it is tricky to stream though- I have the DVD.
I am also a big fan of Emma with Johnny Lee Miller and Romola Garai, (Tamsin Outhwaite and Michael Gambon too!)

Marking my place and offering in return:

The Forsyte Saga with Gina McKee and Damian Lewis.