Thursday Movie Picks: Television Edition: Period Dramas


Hello and welcome back to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.

Closing the month of March is another television edition, period dramas to be precise. A genre I am not very familiar with. So it was a really tough week for me, but I didn't give up and I managed to pick not just three shows, but three awesome shows, hoping that they fall into the period drama category.


Poirot (1989-2013)

Set in the early 20th century, it sees Agatha Christie's enigmatic and eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solving a crime mystery, mostly murders, for a paying client. I grew up watching this and I absolutely loved David Suchet as Poirot. 

Medici: Masters of Florence (2016- )

Set in Florence in the early 15th century, after the death of his father, Cosimo de' Medici finds himself the helm of his dynasty family and must find out who killed his father in order to protect the power of the family. I'm not going to lie, I watched this for Richard Madden. But it turned out to be a very engrossing drama with great performances and very beautiful to look at.

Peaky Blinders (2013- )

Set in the early 20th century, it follows Tommy Shelby and his gangster family challenged by the arrival of a ruthless copper who wants to clean up the city. Like above, I decided to watch it because of Cillian Murphy, but I fall in love with it. The script is fantastic and so is the setting. The performance from Murphy and Sam Neill are phenomenal, but my favourite part is the music, one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a TV series. 

7 comments :

  1. Peaky Blinders I've had in my Netflix queue for years. I really need to start watching that. I have Medici in there too, also for Richard Madden perving purposes. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've only seen Poirot of these three but I'm always on the look out for new things to try and being British/European based makes them all the more alluring. I don't love this version of Poirot preferring the movies with Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov but will watch an occasional episode.

    As I said British period drama is something I gravitate towards so my three are just that.

    Poldark (2015-present)-In the 1780’s Ross Poldark returns to his ancestral home on the Cornish Coast of England after fighting in the American Revolutionary War to discover in his absence the advent of several distressing facts. His father has died leaving their lands in disarray, he himself had been presumed dead and Elizabeth, the woman he loved in despair has married his cousin. Times are hard and Ross has to find a way to rise out of penury, resolve his feelings between the now out of reach Elizabeth and Demelza the woman he has turned to while dealing with a despicable and shameless foe. Brooding and frustrating at times but consistently interesting.

    Call the Midwife (2012-present)-Wanting to help others young, well to do Jenny Lee becomes a midwife in London’s East End during the late 50’s and early 60’s. To do so she must live in a convent among sisters trained in midwifery as well and slowly loses her naiveté about the way the world really works. Terrific mix of pathos, joy, triumphs and sorrows played by a cast of great British actresses with nice period detail. Based on Jennifer Worth’s memoirs and narrated by Vanessa Redgrave.

    The Grand (1997-1998)-As WWI comes to a close the Bannerman’s reopen the family’s hotel The Grand in London after a refurbishing done in hopes of revitalizing business in the postwar boom. They are also hoping to provide a comfortable return for their soldier son who has come back from war with what was then termed battle fatigue. However problems quickly arise forcing the inclusion of an unwanted partner. From here the series deals with the conflicts that arise within the family and the guests, some of whom are there for a day and others long term. The excellent ensemble includes the great Susan Hampshire and as the shell shocked son Stephen Moyer who is better known as Bill Compton from his years on True Blood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I figure out most of us like British TV from one show or another:) I love Poirot and try to watch it when I can...love the books. I haven't seen the other. 2 but would like the one set during the Tudors

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just added Peaky Blinders to my Netflix. I like mob shows, I can't believe I didn't know about this one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Peaky Blinders is fantastic. Love all of the actors there and so excited about Adrien Brody being in upcoming 4th season

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love Poirot!! Him and Miss Marple - completely obsessed! So sad it ended. But with Kenneth Branagh bringing back Murder on the Orient Express with him playing Poirot...our little Belgium genius might make a comeback. But Suchet will always be the ultimate.

    Still rreallly need to watch Peaky Blinders dammit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love Peaky Blinders.

    Medici: Masters of Florence - came to my attention because Richard Madden too, I hope it gets picked up by a streaming service here so I can watch it.

    ReplyDelete