highly sensitive power

Shakespeare Retold – Loving or even tolerating Shakespeare is not a prerequisite for enjoying the Shakespeare tales retold in this BBC set. They’re so retold and modernized and re-set that even if you do know Shakespeare well, the freshness will intrigue. My favourites are The Taming of the Shrew, with tiny Shirley Henderson as the nasty-tempered Member of Parliament who’s on the rise in her career, but going nowhere in her personal life … until strapping Petruchio, played by Rufus Sewell, decides to tame her – and gets tamed himself in the process. My other favourite is Much Ado About Nothing, which takes place in the setting of a TV studio news program, where Beatrice (Sarah Parish) and Benedick (Damian Lewis) eviscerate each other with cutting banter until they’re each tricked into believing the other one is in love with them and mayhem and hilarity ensue. I found the Macbeth episode (with John McAvoy Keeley Hawes) too tragic, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream rather tedious.

Shooting the Past – In this beautiful, classy drama, the protagonists are a group of library employees who will stop at nothing to save the vast photographic collection they tend to which is housed in a large London house slated for redevelopment by a US property developer. The various strategies the librarians pursue and the tangles that result, are stunningly surrounded and infused by the photographs themselves. We, as viewers of the show, are treated to many, many curious, interesting, gorgeous, historical photos. In fact, the photos themselves play an important role in the outcome of the escalating tension between the developer and the archivists. This three-hour drama is unlike anything I’ve seen in its combination of pace, tension, art, twists, and outcome.

The Woman in White – Wilke Collins’ novel of the same name (a fine read, if you’re inclined) translates well in this dramatization. A Victorian gothic tale of conspiracy and desperate measures, the drama centers around a mysterious woman in white who may or may not divulge her secret in time, a secret which may save the lives of others.

Island at War – Until this mini-series, I knew nothing about the British Channel Islands, just off the coast of France. Set on the fictional Channel Island of St. Gregory, the multi-episode story covers a portion of the time the island is occupied by the Nazis during World War II, interweaving actual history – the real Channel Islands were occupied by the Nazis – and the detailed stories of individual characters. I found myself drawn in by the historical oddities brought to light in this slice of history, as well as by the changes the characters (Channel Islanders as well as Nazis) go through over the course of the series. (As an aside, I recently read and quite enjoyed a novel about the Channel Islands occupation and the time that immediately followed: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. If you think you’ll watch the series and read the book, I suggest reading the book after you’ve watched.)

Related Reading: British TV Crime Dramas – Parts One, Two, and Three
Gems | Movies | Unusual Love Stories