# Dramas set in 19th century England with a romantic plot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674 "2014-07-08T23:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/1 "2014-07-08T23:13:13Z")
Someone I know really enjoyed North & South, has watched a half dozen version of Jane Eyre, enjoyed Pride & Prejudice (which is pre-victorian but still, 19th century England). Any other films or TV series (preferably if they are on netflix) she could watch? I recommended Bleak House and Wives & Daughters. I haven’t seen them, but they seems similar. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/2 "2014-07-09T00:38:34Z")
There are _plenty_ of Jane Austen adaptations, but personally I’d recommend the '90s film version of _Emma_ starring Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s really more a romantic comedy than a drama, but it has all the gowns, carriages, etc., one would expect. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/3 "2014-07-09T14:58:24Z")
[Here’s a list of period dramas set in the Victorian era.](http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000066901/) I also highly recommend **The Young Victoria** , which is about the young Queen’s early reign and romance with Prince Albert. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/4 "2014-07-09T15:12:19Z")
There’s masses, but one that sticks out in my memory is Middlemarch (by George Eliot), a BBC 6 part drama that is about 20 years old now, and is set around the 1830/40s. Also, the Forsyte Saga (stars Damien Lewis as a baddie). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/5 "2014-07-09T16:17:43Z")
Are we using “romantic” in the [del]“boy meets girl”[/del] “gentleman conceives admiration for lady” sense, or in some other, more philosophical/artistic/sociopolitical Rousseauvian or Byronic or Wagnerian or Nietzschean or [Romanticism Versus Enlightenment](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanticismVersusEnlightenment) sense? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/6 "2014-07-09T18:26:55Z")
It’s set in the late 18th century, but [Poldark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldark) held the UK gripped when it was broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/7 "2014-07-10T10:39:25Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s set in the late 18th century, but [Poldark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldark) held the UK gripped when it was broadcast. And not a few Americans! I watched that and was so enthralled that I read the books, too, there were several. Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dramas-set-in-19th-century-england-with-a-romantic-plot/692674/8 "2014-07-10T19:47:39Z")
There have been some great recent-ish adaptations of Dickens’ novels – I’m partial to the 1998 **Our Mutual Friend** with Keeley Hawes and Paul McGann, the 2008 **Little Dorrit** with Matthew MacFadyen, and the epic 2005 **Bleak House** , with too many amazing actors to list – not to be missed. Oh, and Elizabeth Gaskell’s [Wive and Daughters](http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70212569?strkid=2112729521_0_0&trkid=222336&movieid=70212569) is available on Netflix streaming, so get on that. 🙂