Beyond Jane Austen: Period British Mini-Series & Movies

For fans of period British movies or mini-series, here's some titles beyond the Jane Austen fare. Hopefully some will be new to you. These are my title/version preferences; please share your favorites in the comments below! 

Jane Eyre – 2007 version staring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. In high school I read Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë) and wasn't enamored. Once I watched this version I finally understood the hype. Mark my words, Ruth Wilson will win many, many awards in her career.

North & South – starring Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage. Based on the book by Elizabeth Gaskell, this is a bit of a cult-classic (no, this is not the Civil War TV mini-series from the 80s...). The north and south in the title refers to the lifestyle of the more gentile south and the industrial north, which is of course, a metaphor for our main characters. The chemistry between the two is perfection.

The Buccaneers – starring Carla Gugino and Mira Sorvino. New-money American young ladies are brought to England to make matches with the cash-strapped ton. Carla Gugino shines in this early role where her character turns from a naive young lady to a morose married woman.

Little Dorritt – starring Claire Foy and Mathew Macfayden. Based on Charles Dickens' novel, Amy Dorritt (Foy) is one of the more sympathetic female characters in  Dickens' oeuvre. She braves the challenges of living in debtor's prison with her father, who is a bit of a high-maintenance diva really. Great ensemble work here. 

Wives and Daughters – starring Justine Waddell and Anthony Howell. Another story by Elizabeth Gaskell about the rocky relationship between a step-daughter and step-mother. The romance aspect is well-played.

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will - starring Imogen Stubbs and Toby Stephens. This is probably my favorite piece by Shakespeare (what can I say, I like farces). Also, Toby Stephens is really dreamy in this.

Must-See Miniseries: The Hour

The Hour (2011).  
The Hour. Season 2 (2013). 

If you are looking for something new to watch now that most of the network TV shows have ended for the summer, check out the BBC miniseries The Hour.  Set in mid-1950s in London The Hour is about the creation of an current affairs news show for the BBC.   Hardscrabble journalist Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw) is tired of his job covering entertainment news (which he views as beneath him).  Lucky for him, his best friend/ creative partner Bel Rowley (Romola Garai) is recruited by their mentor Clarence Fendley (Anton Lesser) to help produce a brand new news program called The Hour.  Clarence decides on the upper-class, handsome news anchor Hector Madden (Dominic West aka. McNulty from the Wire) to host the program. 

The Hour is full of Cold War paranoia and intrigue, yet the stories covered have clear parallels to modern day.  As a huge Broadcast News fan,  I really enjoyed the love triangle plot between Freddie, Bel, and Hector.  There's definitely a clearer choice here than in Broadcast News, but it was nice to see a more sympathetic portrayal of the Aaron Altman character.  Garai, Whishaw and West all give excellent performances. I particularly enjoyed the chemistry between Garai and Whishaw as friends in the first season.  It was interesting to see West with his native British accent, since my main exposure to him was on the Wire.  He definitely comes off as far more gentlemanly than Jimmy McNulty.  I was also interested in the 1950s fashion aspect of the show.  Whishaw looks even cuter than usual in his tweed business wear, and Garai's wardrobe had me perusing Boden USA for similar styles of dresses.  Check it out!

Actor to Watch: Benedict Cumberbatch

Although he's already quite well known in the UK and to Masterpiece Mystery fans, Benedict Cumberbatch is poised to break out in the United States this year.  First up, he's appearing as the villain in the new sure-to-be blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness.  Later on this year, he's appearing alongside Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County and in the Steve McQueen directed, Ten Years A Slave, which has one of the best casts around including Brad Pitt, Michael K. Williams, and *most importantly* Michael Fassbender.  He is also playing controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Fifth Estate. 

The first film I remember seeing Cumberbatch in was Atonement, where he plays a creepy, creepy character.  He was excellent in that small part, so good in fact, that I initially ignored watching Sherlock because the actor still gave me the creeps.  However, when I finally broke down and watched the series, I was blown away.  Cumberbatch's Sherlock manages to balance the character perfectly, he's intelligent, charismatic, while also amusingly irritating and rude.  Cumberbatch can actually make the act of thinking look compelling on the show, and his chemistry with Martin Freeman's Watson makes the show fun to watch. 

Cumberbatch is an interesting actor, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what he'll do in even bigger roles and movies.  Check out one of his films:

Starter for Ten (2006):  A cute, British slice of life comedy about a working class kid (James McAvoy) as he navigates his first year at Bristol College, joining the academic team and deciding between two girls (Rebecca Hall and Alice Eve).  Cumberbatch plays the uptight academic team leader. 
Find it in the catalog!

Atonement (2007). 
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The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).
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The Last Enemy (2008).  A Masterpiece Contemporary miniseries about a researcher Dr. Stephen Ezard (Cumberbatch) who returns home after his brother's death, only to fall for the brother's widow and get involved in an government conspiracy (whoops!).
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Four Lions (2010).
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Sherlock!:  Seasons 1 and 2. 
A modern update on the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books. Highly recommended!

War Horse (2011):  Steven Spielberg's World War I drama about a boy and his horse, featuring just about every famous Brit you can think of (minus Hugh Grant)!
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).
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Dreamy Men of Masterpiece Theater

There are lots of good reasons to check out Masterpiece Theater.  It has quality shows, helps you pretend to have read classic novels like Great Expectations or Tess D'Ubervilles, and there really isn't too much else on Sunday nights (when Breaking Bad and Mad Men are off season). But best of all, it has handsome British men in period dress!  Who could ask for more?

Below we* list our favorite men of Masterpiece Theater.  Since PBS has created a  Men of Austen website, so you can rank which Austen hero is the most eligible bachelor (surprise, surprise: Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is winning), I'm leaving them out of the running (though, Rupert Perry-Jones as  Captain Wentworth would have been my pick). 

Matthew Crawley
Found On: Downton Abbey
Played by Dan Stevens
Why we love Matthew:  Those blue eyes.  And he's the least terrible of Lady Mary's many suitors.
The down side: Matthew can be a little bit stubborn.   

Also worth mentioning from Downtown Abbey:

William Mason (Thomas Howes) looks like a younger, blonder, old-timey sibling of John Krasinski.  William is also a sweetheart and can play the piano. 

Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) is terrible.  But he's gorgeous and he seems to have curtailed his bad behavior a little bit in Season 2. 

Sherlock Holmes:
Found On: Sherlock.
Played by:  Benedict Cumberbatch
Why we love Sherlock:  He's brilliant, has a great head of hair, and looks equally great in a suit or a towel. 
The down side:  His personality is a lot to tolerate on a daily (or even hourly) basis.

Also worth mentioning from Sherlock:

Martin Freeman makes an adorable Dr. Watson.  He's definitely the more marriageable one of the duo.

Magnus Martnisson:
Found On: Wallander (seasons 1 and 2).
Played by:  Tom Hiddleston.
Why we love Magnus:  He's dashingly handsome, but his longish curly hair makes him look nerdy enough to be attainable.
The down side:  Martinsson saves the day on at least one occasion, but some of the time he can be a little bit incompetent. 

Also worth mentioning from Wallander:

Kenneth Branagh is a little bit too mature to be my type, but his character Kurt Wallander seems to have a way with the ladies on show, in spite of his near constant dourness.

*All "we"s are meant in the royal sense. 

Must-see mini-series: Luther

From the U.K. comes a fascinating detective/crime mini-series. Idris Elba stars as John Luther, a moral detective who isn't always lawful. He is a complicated man leading a complicated life. As the mini-series begins, he is suspended from his job for one of his moral, but unlawful incidents and is separated from his wife Zoe (Indira Varma), although he doesn't quite understand why. Eventually reinstated, his first case back introduces him to Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), a psychopath, who he ends up befriending. In the context of the series, it makes sense: Luther goes to her to understand the mind of a criminal (besides the slight attraction they share). Their pairing is the most interesting dynamic of the show. It is this relationship that exposes Luther, and the viewer, to the moral ambiguity that sometimes exists in the world.

Each episode features a new criminal that Luther must catch, besides the other issues lingering in his life that tie in across all episodes. The format of the show is similar to Law & Order: Criminal Intent (if you're familiar), in which it allows the viewer in on the perpetrator from the beginning. We delve more into Luther's methods, rather than the criminals'. The last three episodes (of six) are extraordinarily compelling because Luther's personal and professional lives collide in a big way. Excellent viewing for cold winter nights.

It appears that BBC has ordered two more two-hour episodes of the show. Yipee!

Luther
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