27 thoughts on “Frock Flicks Guide to Masterpiece Theater

  1. I have so many, starting with the glorious Glenda Jackson as my all-time favourite Elizabeth Gloriana, muse to authors, musicians – you name it in ELIZABETH R. Then I Cla-Cla-Claudius. Middlemarch, Cranford, Wives and Daughters, Jewel of the Crown, Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs. Also Mr Selfridge, sure missed Lady Mae this year. Only one I didn’t care for was original Poldark. Like new one tons. Team Demelza all the way.

    1. Yes yes yes! I love Masterpiece! I hear Lady Mae is coming back to the next season of Selfridge (the actress was pregnant so she didn’t missed the last season).

    2. The original Poldark was Alistair Cooke’s least liked of all the Masterpiece programs he hosted.

      1. Not only does W&D have one of my all-time favourite actresses: Francesca Annis, it has a young Keeley Hawes, Justine Waddell who hold their own against Ms Annis’ Hyacinth. Also Rosamund Pike as the marquess’s daughter, who admires Molly. Super costumes NY Deirdre Clancy are eye candy.

  2. Nice article!

    I love so many of these, but I have to vote for I, Claudius as my favorite show. I actually didn’t discover it until last year, but I ended up watching it all the way three times in a row in a month. I’ve never done that before with anything.

    Costume-wise, Downton Abbey is my current favorite, though I feel like the quality of the show itself has declined.

      1. Definitely! I still watch Downton and enjoy it as a guilty pleasure, but I feel like it’s really starting to show its age.

  3. I liked the original Anna Karenina. Can’t remember what year it was on. Not a multi-year series, but a beautiful mini-series.

      1. There have been quite a few adaptations of Anna. As far as I know however none with Francesca Annis. I think the version you are referring to is the excellent 1977 version with Nicola Paget and Eric Porter, unless he was in more than one version. That is still my favourite adaptation. I would be interested to hear how the costumes compare with those of the 1997 version.

      2. You must be referring to 1977’s Anna Karenina with Nicola Pagett and Eric Porter but it’s not difficult to confuse her with Francesca Annis in Those lovely costumes I believe they even recycled some from Francesca’s Beautiful Madame Bovary (1975) So good I didn’t mind rewatching it in Russian to see it’s full restored glory

  4. All you listed were (and are) wonderful. I would add “Six Wives of Henry VIII:, “By the Sword Divided”, “Sharpe”, “Lillie”, “Disraeli” and “Shoulder to Shoulder”.

    1. I thought I was the only one who remembered Shoulder to Shoulder. Loved that series. And By The Sword Divided covered a period of English history about which most American know very little.

      1. Shoulder to Shoulder is also a favourite. The suffragette movement with the Pankhursts as leads made me want to see Meryl, Carey and Helena in Suffragette.

    1. Not only some more favs, but I became a Susan Hampshire fan after her Fleur Forsyte, Sarah Churchill, and her Glencora in the Pallisers. Also Barchester with her, and a very young Severus, er, Alan Rickman, Donald Pleasance in his tour de force performance as a minister who sees God in music and last but not least Sir Humphrey Applegate, er the late great Sir Nigel Hawthorne

      1. The Forsyte Saga was actually not officially part of Masterpiece Theatre although it was the jumping-off point for it. Alistair Cooke used to frequently point out that Forsyte was independent and came before Masterpiece and used to chuckle at those who got it wrong.

  5. And P & P! Pride and Prejudice in 1995 was on rewind and repeat when I was 16! The pond diving was for me, like many, very important to me as I entered womanhood!

  6. I *loved* the first season of The Paradise. I thought it was so much better than Mr. Selfridge! It was a shame it got cut, although season 2 wasn’t nearly as good as season 1.

  7. Hello, I just found your blog. I think I’m among kindred spirits. I watched Masterpiece Theatre from when I was a tot. I met Alistair Cook once and it was awesome. He was a wonderful man. I think most of my masterpiece favorites have been named but I’ll do a role call anyway

    Elizabeth R
    Six Wives of Henry the VIII
    In the Shadow of the Tower (I don’t think it was shown in the US, discovered it via Youtube)
    Upstairs, Downstairs (the original of course)
    Duchess of Duke Street
    Edward the King
    The First Churchills
    Danger UXB (couldn’t stand the hair of the woman Anthony Andrews’ character falls in love with, I can’t abide by 80s hair in dramas set in the 1940s)
    I Claudius
    The Pallisers
    Shoulder to Shoulder
    By the sword divided (trying to get ahold of the second season was an exercise in frustration ,but someone finally uploaded it to youtube)
    The Rolls Royce episode of the Edwardians

    Love the costumes, the historical accuracy of plots, backgrounding… the incredible ability of the actors, and the fact that you saw a whole bunch of actors showing up in different series, and doing each of those roles very well , for example: Robert Hardy, Annette Crosby, Patrick Stewart, etc…

  8. I have to say that Poirot will always be my favorite! I love the way the costumes and actors evolved over the years.

  9. I wish I could have the cast of the original Poldark in the new Poldark, if that makes sense. The new one sticks to books so much better, but the casting in the original (especially Elizabeth!) was spot on.

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