favorite historical tv shows

[sea_changed]

There was discussion about making a post where people could share their favorite historical TV shows, so I thought I would go ahead and do that: I'd love to hear people's favorites, and I'm always looking for recs.

A few of my own favorites, to start us off--I'm undoubtedly forgetting many, but here are a few off the top of my head that I love:

Black Sails - Early 18th century pirates. The first season starts out somewhat trashy, but the show quickly matures into a fascinating and beautifully-done meditation on the stories we tell--about history, about others, about ourselves--and what stories get preserved and remembered and what stories are forgotten or destroyed. Excellent LGBT rep. Four seasons.

The Hour - 1950s BBC news reporters. The cast here is stellar--Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Dominic West--and the production and writing utterly stunning. This isn't an era or a subject I would be naturally drawn to, but everything about this show is just so extraordinarily well done. Two very short (six-episode) seasons.

Deadwood - 1870s gold-mining town in South Dakota. The one, the only. A cult show for a reason--you either love it or you, well, don't--this show is incredibly well-acted and written like nothing you're likely to hear on television before or since. Three seasons.

North and South - Victorian England. The most goddamn romantic thing you'll ever see in your life. Based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel, this follows a woman from the south of England and a man from the north, and deals with social and class issues in the mid-Victorian era while telling a nuanced and compelling love story. Also contains the best refusal of a marriage proposal scene ever. Miniseries.

ETA: I knew I was forgetting something important--the HBO John Adams miniseries. It's absolutely wonderful--the acting is incredible (almost everyone's perfect, but their Jefferson is especially perfect), the production is stellar, and it's for the most part quite remarkably historically accurate. A definite recommendation.

Comments

[lettered]

Oh, is this a new Vanity Fair? I'm a huge fan of the 1998 BBC Vanity Fair, but have watched several different versions and am always up for a new one. I love the book.

[fucktheg0ds]

I didn't know there was a 1998 one, but yeah, it came out this year! I haven't read the book yet but my mum's got it on her bookshelf so I probably will give it a go. I wonder how the show compares?

[lettered]

I'd be interested to know what you thought of the book and how the recent adaptation works, but I'm really eager to see the recent one because of what you said about the 4th wall. I feel like Vanity Fair is a a hard book to adapt because you're not necessarily meant to get caught up in the characters and their plots--the book stands back and pokes holes in them throughout the entire thing, though I would not say it's unsympathetic.

I feel it is quite thoughtful and compassionate at many points, but like...more about people's situation in society and human nature than these particular characters themselves. Like, you're not supposed to like Becky, but you're also supposed to understand the many, many ways in which she is victimized; no one comes out the other end looking good, which was Thackeray's point, of course.

I think the 1998 one does a good job maintaining the farcical tone, though it certainly drags in places. I love the Dobbin so so much though that I get irrational about it.

There are several other adaptations but most of them are terrible.

[fucktheg0ds]

Hmm. I think this adaptation does do - or attempts to do - all of what you've said about the book. While watching it, most of the time I was yelling, "Why did you do that?" or "You're so stupid!" at the screen. But I'm keen to know what people who've read the book think of this version.

Anyway, you've convinced me to read the book (I'm pretty weird in this way but usually I watch a movie or TV show and THEN read the book). I'm reading Crime and Punishment at the moment though so... it might be a while!

[lettered]

Man Vanity Fair after C&P is such a good choice because C&P is so relentless. VF made me laugh quite a bit, though it's still heavy subject matter.

I love Dostoevsky but I think adapting him is hard. I've never seen an adaptation of C&P I like. (Kurosawa did an updated Japanese version of The Idiot, though, which is my favorite Dostoevsky book, and it's pretty good.)

[fucktheg0ds]

Huh, interesting. This is my introduction to Dostoevsky so... we'll see.

(Funnily enough, the other night I was watching this other show and a character said, "The only guy I'm interested in right now is Dostoevsky," and I was like DAMN, what are the chances of that.)

[lettered]

Unfortunately, C&P is my least favorite Dostoevsky. I still love it, though, so I feel like if it's not your cup of tea you probably won't like the rest.

...now I kinda wanna know what show you were watching. Dostoevsky is one of my favorite authors so I get interested in many things only remotely related to him. (...Though I have to confess never having finished The Brothers Karamazov. I LOVE it. But...it's very long.)

[fucktheg0ds]

I think I've heard before that C&P isn't the best Dostoevsky book, so that's interesting.

Lol, the show was Elite on Netflix. It's a teen drama, which is SO not what I usually watch. But it was Spanish (nice) and was labelled "thriller" (awesome) so I gave it a go. And I actually really enjoyed it and binged all 8 episodes in 12 hours.

And I don't know anything about The Brothers Karamazov (except that it's got a high rating on Goodreads) but I have read War and Peace and THAT is a bloody long book!