# Help me ID this British historical drama **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093 "2015-07-24T19:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/1 "2015-07-24T19:35:34Z")
It was a miniseries, I think, and aired on PBS in the 1990s or early 2000s. The protagonist was a short-ish and thin-faced man, with dark, thinning hair (I think I’ve seen the actor in at least one British police procedural since). He is in college in early episodes, which I think were set just before WWII. He is introduced by his best friend to the best friend’s girlfriend, a beautiful local girl who serves them tea in her family home, apparently oblivious to just how gaga the best friend is for her. Later, the protagonist himself secretly has an affair with her. Can’t remember if the best friend ever finds out. The protagonist eventually goes overseas and has another affair with a woman he meets in (IIRC) an embassy or government office’s waiting room. He eventually returns to the UK, marries another woman but is unhappy in his marriage, and feels disconnected from British society. That’s about all I remember. Ring a bell for anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/2 "2015-07-24T20:10:24Z")
[Any of these titles look familiar?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_television_programmes) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/3 "2015-07-26T17:23:43Z")
Judging by the second paragraph of the Wiki intro, it would be a miniseries and not on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/4 "2015-07-27T03:39:43Z")
Your description reads in some way like **Brideshead Revisited**. But not all the details match. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/5 "2015-07-27T03:55:40Z")
I thought perhaps Brideshead Revisited, but like Askance said, not quite. A Dance to the Music of Time is another possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/6 "2015-07-27T04:35:15Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I thought perhaps Brideshead Revisited, but like Askance said, not quite. > > A Dance to the Music of Time is another possibility. I’ve now read descriptions of both, and don’t think it’s either. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/7 "2015-07-27T09:22:15Z")
I recall what you describe as being the substance of the previews of this show … unfortunately, I didn’t watch it at the time so it’s out of reach for me. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/8 "2015-07-29T04:55:35Z")
Did it involve time travel, at all? > **[Goodnight Sweetheart (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Sweetheart_(TV_series))** > > Goodnight Sweetheart is a British science fiction time travel sitcom, starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, and produced by the BBC. The sitcom is about the life of Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life through the use of a time portal, which allows him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the London of the 1940s during the Second World War. The sitcom's creators, who also created Birds of a Feather and The New Statesman, Again, some details match but not all. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/9 "2015-07-29T12:32:45Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Did it involve time travel, at all? > [Goodnight Sweetheart (TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Sweetheart_(TV_series)) > Again, some details match but not all. Don’t know the answer to the OP’s question, but I can say without a doubt that it is not _Goodnight Sweetheart_, which was a morally dubious sitcom about a time travelling adulterer. OB ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/10 "2015-07-29T14:37:48Z")
Could it be the 2002 remake of _ **The Forsyte Saga** _ (although PBS also broadcast the original black and white version from 1967) based on the books of the same name? The remake starred _ **Damian Lewis** _ who went on to star in US drama _ **Homeland** _. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/11 "2015-07-29T15:02:45Z")
Condensation? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/12 "2015-07-29T16:57:30Z")
Definitely no time travel involved. Having read the description, it’s not _The Forsyte Saga_, and funny as that was, no, it’s not the multi-Emmy-winning PBS masterpiece _Condensation_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/13 "2015-07-31T02:50:49Z")
I browsed [the list of BBC shows on PBS Masterpiece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Masterpiece_Theatre_episodes), and this one looks promising > **[Reckless (TV serial)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reckless_(TV_serial))** > > Reckless is a British television serial written by Paul Abbott. Produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, it aired in six parts in the UK in 1997. > A two-hour sequel, Reckless: The Sequel, was shown in 1998. > Dr Owen Springer is a surgeon in his thirties, on his way from London to Manchester to move in with his ailing father. On the train journey, Owen needs to make an urgent phone call but the only person who will allow him to use her mobile phone is fellow passenger, Anna Fairley, ... The main problem is it’s contemporary 1990s, not pre-WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/14 "2015-09-01T14:05:55Z")
Thanks, but it’s not _Reckless_. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/15 "2015-09-01T14:42:27Z")
It sorta sounds like something [Catherine Cookson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177541/)might have written, a lot of her books were adapted as miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/16 "2015-09-02T20:23:10Z")
Much obliged, my Irish friend, but none of those titles ring a bell. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/17 "2015-09-03T11:42:00Z")
How about [Strangers and Brothers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088186/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_1), based on the novel by C. P. Snow? Sounds a bit like one of his plots, although it’s years since I read his books. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-british-historical-drama/726093/18 "2015-09-03T13:38:01Z")
That’s from 1984, and it wasn’t that old. Doesn’t look like any of the characters I (vaguely) remember, either. I thought the star might have been Robson Green, [Robson Green - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338292/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1), but none of his credits match up.