50 Great British Period Dramas
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- CreatorEileen AtkinsStarsGordon JacksonDavid LangtonJean MarshThe lives and fortunes of the Bellamy family and their below-stairs servant staff at 165 Eaton Place play out against the social, political and historical backdrop of Edwardian London from 1903 to 1930.
- CreatorRosemary Anne SissonFrank MarshallStarsNorman RodwayBarbara MurrayBelinda Lang1920s family of actors deals with the day to day of the theater business.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsGemma JonesVictoria PlucknettJohn WelshLouisa Trotter works her way up from being a skivvy to being the queen of cooks, cook to the King, and owner of the Bentinck Hotel. Her life and happenings among the guests and staff of the hotel make up the 31 episodes.
- StarsIan RichardsonCharles EdwardsSimon ChandlerCertain events which had an impact on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, while he was still a medical student under the supervision of Dr. Bell, his teacher and mentor, on whom the character of Sherlock Holmes is partly drawn from.
- StarsEric PorterMargaret TyzackNyree Dawn PorterSpanning decades, the saga contrasts obsessive Soames, clinging to wife Irene, and Jolyon, leaving for his kids' governess. Their diverging paths intertwine, bringing highs and lows to the upper-class Forsyte clan.
- CreatorEileen AtkinsJean MarshStarsStella GonetLouise LombardAden GillettTwo sisters in 1920s London work to achieve success in the dressmaking business.
- StarsChristopher TimothyRobert HardyPeter DavisonThe trials and misadventures of the staff of a country veterinary office in Yorkshire from the 1930s to the 1950s.
- CreatorJohn FinchStarsColin DouglasBarbara FlynnLesley NunnerleyThe lower middle class Ashton family of the city of Liverpool deal with life on the home front during the Second World War.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsJeremy BrettDavid BurkeRosalie WilliamsSherlock Holmes and Dr Watson solve the mysteries of copper beeches, a Greek interpreter, the Norwood builder, a resident patient, the red-headed league, and one final problem.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthJohn WhitneyStarsAnthony AndrewsMaurice RoëvesGeorge InnesThe series chronicles the exploits of the fictional Royal Engineer Tunnelling Company 97, which has been made a bomb disposal unit to deal with the thousands of unexploded bombs ("UXBs") in London during the Battle of Britain.
- StarsKeith MichellAnthony QuaylePatrick TroughtonA six-episode dramatization of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.
- StarsAnthony HopkinsMorag HoodAlan DobieNapoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia including his disastrous 1812 invasion serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of five aristocratic Russian families.
- StarsFrancesca AnnisCatherine FellerPeggy Ann WoodSeen on Masterpiece Theatre, starring Francesca Annis in an award-winning performance, Lillie vividly captures the complex woman who became one of the most notorious and respected figures of the Victorian era.
- StarsNicola PagettStuart WilsonEric PorterAnna Karenina is the young wife of an older husband. She has an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky. By following her desires, Anna complicates her life.
- StarsGlenda JacksonRonald HinesRobert HardyWhen Elizabeth Tudor comes to the throne, her (male) advisers know she has to marry. Doesn't she? Thus starts a decades-long political/matrimonial game, during an age of high passions and high achievement.
- StarsDavid RintoulAnnette CrosbieIan BannenFollowing his service in World War II, Dr. Finlay returns to the practice at Arden House, at a time when the National Health Service is about to be instituted.
- StarsMargaret TyzackThorley WaltersHelen MirrenA poor and homely spinster, who feels she's been walked on all her life, teams up with a scheming courtesan to wreak elaborate revenge on her rich and handsome relatives.
- StarsRobin EllisAngharad ReesClive FrancisIn 1783, Ross Poldark returns from the American wars to his native Cornwall to right wrongs and reunite with the love of his life.
- StarsSusan HampshirePhilip LathamBarbara MurrayBeginning with the forced marriage of Glencora (Susan Hampshire), the lives of the friends and children of this couple are the subject of study. The backdrop is the House of Commons in England as we watch the comings and goings and loves and tragedies of the powerful and not-so-powerful.
- StarsJohn NevilleSusan HampshireJohn StandingThe lives of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, and his wife Sarah.
- StarsHelen MorseBryan BrownGordon JacksonSet against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades.
- StarsRobert HardySiân PhillipsNigel HaversThe story of Winston Churchill's life between 1929, when he lost his cabinet position, and 1939, when he joined Great Britain's War Cabinet - a period he described as the most difficult in his life.
- StarsDenholm ElliottSuzanne BurdenJonathan MooreThe great case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on, an obsession to all involved. Then a question of inheritance becomes a question of murder.
- StarsNicol WilliamsonJanet SuzmanIan RichardsonThe Story of the last viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten
- StarsWendy HillerHarry AndrewsMaurice DenhamAfter decades as a politician's wife, 85-year-old Lady Slane retires to a cottage after her husband dies. Struggling to rediscover her identity, she contends with intrusive family members.
- CreatorKenny McBainStarsChristine KavanaghIan McNeiceZoë WanamakerThe investigation of Paul Vandervent into the mysterious death of his father brings further discord among two feuding families tied together in business and marriage, living under the same roof.
- StarsEmma ChambersJulia SawalhaKeith AllenOld Martin Chuzzlewit is nearing his death. Who will inherit his riches? With such a prize to play for, the Chuzzlewit family bring forth all of their cunning, greed and selfishness. Adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens.
- StarsEdward FoxCynthia HarrisDavid WallerThe events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
- StarsChristine McKennaRosalie WilliamsSteven GrivesIn the early 1900's in England, young Christina is orphaned and goes to live with her Uncle Russell, and two cousins. Christina finds herself struggling with classicism and during War must keep the Flambards afloat by herself.
- StarsPeter BowlesBryan MurrayAnna ManahanWhen sent to Ireland as magistrate, Major Yeates discovers the justice system must bend to suit local needs, where not everything is as it seems.
- DirectorTom CleggStarsSean BeanAssumpta SernaBrian CoxGeneral Wellesley sends Major Hogan, Sharpe, the chosen men and the South Essex Regiment to destroy a bridge. Sharpe is immediately in conflict with two junior officers of the South Essex and their incompetent commander.
- StarsTim Pigott-SmithGeraldine JamesWendy MorganThe sweeping drama about the ruling and ruled classes of WWII India, trying amidst the turmoil to come to terms with the drastic changes taking place around them, knowing that their lives will never be the same again.
- StarsShaughan SeymourPaul HastingsEdward HardwickeAs World War II looms in Europe, an ambitious young English lawyer embarks on his tempestuous career, and even stormier romantic life.
- StarsWilliam SimonsPatrick MalahideBelinda LangDrawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this BBC series.
- StarsDerek JacobiMichael CulverJulian FirthThe medieval era cases of a Crusader-turned-Monk who investigates mysteries in the Norman English town of Shrewsbury.
- StarsNeil DudgeonDiana RiggPeter DavisonPaired with her reliable and devoted chauffeur, Mrs Bradley's finely honed skills of investigation seek out the truth behind the mysteries surrounding a death at the opera, crimes of passion at a circus, poisoning and family secrets.
- StarsJoan HicksonGwen WatfordMoray WatsonAmateur detective Miss Jane Marple investigates the murder of a young woman whose body is found in the library at Gossington Hall, home of Colonel and Mrs. Arthur Bantry.
- CreatorAnthony HorowitzStarsMichael KitchenHoneysuckle WeeksAnthony HowellAs WWII rages, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front; investigating crime on the south coast of England. Later series, see the retired detective working as an MI5 agent in the aftermath of the war.
- DirectorJohn BruceStarsWendy HillerHannah GordonBosco HoganTwo British women claim to have been thrown into a time warp where they saw Marie Antoinette as they were strolling through the gardens at Versailles Palace in France. After they tell their story to a psychic society, they find themselves the objects of derision and their jobs are threatened.
- DirectorJohn DaviesTony WharmbyStarsFrancesca AnnisJohn GielgudBernard MilesWhile golfing on the Welsh coast, Bobby Jones apparently hits a stranger who falls off the the sea cliff. His enigmatic last words are "Why didn't they ask Evans?"
- CreatorMarc MillerStarsRoy DotriceJohn F. LandryDiana CouplandCharles Dickens grew up in a family where his father was larger than life. The elder Dickens is a teller of tales and always seems to have ambitions that are well beyond his means or his capabilities. He is also constantly in debt and, at more than one point in his life, finds himself in debtor's prison, forcing Charles to leave school at the age of 12 and work. Charles finds success in his writing and marries, his wife Kate bearing them many children despite her delicate mental state. He has a touch of his father in him, however, particularly when it comes to money. He is of course remembered as one of the great writers of the 19th century.
- StarsJohn DuttineFrank MiddlemassAlan MacNaughtanDavid Powlett-Jones has just returned to England from the trenches of WWI. He was injured and shell-shocked and, after a spell in hospital he gets a job teaching in a boys boarding school in S.W. England. He is not at all sure he can do the job, but the avuncular headmaster has faith in him. David, although well educated, is just a humble lad from the Welsh valleys at heart and has to fit himself and his ideas into the heart of the English establishment.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsPeter DavisonBrian GloverAndrew BurtIn 1930s England, a man from an aristocratic family takes up the pseudonym Albert Campion and, with the help of his ex-burglar manservant, solves mysteries.
- StarsDerek JacobiJohn HurtSiân PhillipsThe personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
- StarsHayley MillsDavid RobbHolly AirdElspeth (Holly Aird) and her unconventional parents decide to settle down in Kenya and begin a coffee plantation. This is a time of discovery for Elspeth, as she encounters the incredible beauty and cruelty of nature, and new friendships with Africans and British expatriates. A side plot involves the beautiful and bored British Lettice Palmer (Sharon Maughan), who enters into an affair with a handsome safari guide. Eventually, however, the excitement of Elspeth's life is disrupted by the on-set of World War I, and the changes it brings.
- StarsMel MartinChristopher BlakeSherrie HewsonA coming-of-age story perceived from the acts and feelings of Edward Richardson, a junior journalist who falls deeply in love with the enchanting and reckless Lydia Aspen, heiress of the welthy but on-decline Aspen family.
- StarsAlan BatesJanet MawJack GallowayIn a drunken and disheartened state, Michael Henchard sells his wife at a fair. When he becomes sober again, he realizes what he has done, and though unable to find his wife and child, changes his ways. He becomes the Mayor of the town. Nearly twenty years later, his past comes back to haunt him.
- StarsCheryl CampbellEmrys JamesJane WenhamVera Brittain's world falls to pieces around her as, one by one, the young men of her circle are caught up in the Great War.
- StarsJames WilbyXavier DelucSerena GordonTwo men, one an aristocrat, and one a drunken lawyer, fall in love with the same woman during the early stages of the French Revolution.
- StarsEileen AtkinsTom BellKarl JohnsonBBC adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel about a sensitive young man growing up in a Nottinghamshire mining community.