● Bleak House (BBC 2005) - Hands down my wife and my all-time favorite. This is a fifteen-episode adaptation of Charles Dickens’ great novel of the same name, which was originally published in 1852–53. Includes an all-star cast featuring Dennis Lawson, Gillian Anderson and Nathaniel Parker, to name a few. When the novel first came out in 1852 it got bad reviews but today is considered by most critics to be Dickens’ best. It was ahead of its time with all of its subplots and remarkable characters including police Inspector Bucket, who is widely considered to be the first literary police detective in English literature. (The first literary detective is generally considered to be Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe who first appeared in Poe's 1841 story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Dupin is an amateur detective whereas Bucket is a member of the police force.) A few of our other favorite characters in Bleak House are Harold Skimpole and Smallweed.
● Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995) is a six-episode adaptation of Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, respectively. Don’t miss David Bamber as Mr. William Collins, a sycophantic and somewhat dimwitted clergyman; and Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's meddling aunt. I’ve seen other TV/movie adaptations of this novel, and they don’t compare.
● Band of Brothers (HBO 2001) - This miniseries dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company: 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. It begins during Easy Company's paratrooper training and follows its participation in the Western Front of World War II. Damian Lewis (one of our alltime favorite actors) plays U.S. Army Major Richard Winters Lewis (Damian Lewis is the actor who played U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the 2011 Showtime series Homeland).
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07-13-2025, 05:01 PM
