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champagne
01/10/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
I want to see gritty versions of period pieces and literary adaptations on BBC and Boston's Masterpiece Theatre but I also want my bonnet escapism too. I look forward to checking out their new programming however I still love the classics. I always will.

I would love to see more ancient Roman stories and as far as the semi-period stories I hope we see more emigre stories not just about white europeans, and stories about the working classes and the poor and the people who struggled whilst the papmered society people sipped tea and brandy.

Anything with bona fide bohemians in dowdy pubs and bordellos into art and poetry and Life with a capital l is alright in my books!
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Glitterbug (likes life shaken, not stirred)
01/10/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
Look, BBC, all we're asking is for handsome men in cravats and breeches. It's not that hard, alright? Make some "gritty" shit in your own time and stick it on BBC2, but I tell you this, when I relax on a Sunday evening, I expect a period drama, I expect there to be bonnets and I expect even the orphans and homeless people to look like they've had dirt and sweat sprayed onto them by the costume people.

It's not too much to ask, is it?
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resonanteye
01/10/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
If it goes like Jabberwocky/Terry Gilliam style, it might find a whole new audience.
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theruraljuror
01/10/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
FYI for all the ladies who have Netflix: there are TONS of period costume dramas on instant view right now. "north and south", "the buccaneers", "jane eyre", older versions of "sense and sensibility" and "pride and prejudice" among others.

i've been stuck in my house for 2 weeks and have been keeping myself entertained by watching them all. enjoy!
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Tart of Darkness
01/10/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
Also they won't be showing the big dog show at Crufts. Because PETA talked them out of it. Frankly I think they are big sissies to not show it because Crufts is the biggest dog show in the world and doesn't just include "pretty" (conformation showing) but also performance showing like obedience and agility and herding and stuff -- people and their dogs having fun.

The more people see the wonderful ways they can play with their dogs and enhance their lives, the better off dogs and their people are.
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aspiringexpatriate
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
THin kabout it guys, it'll be humourous and working class grit. The Cheap and Cheerful grit. Not annoyingly melodramatic.
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Mrs. Jones
01/10/09

@aspiringexpatriate: I sense an oncoming warm front of Cockney accents ...
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aspiringexpatriate
01/10/09

@Mrs. Jones: And cursing! Oh wait it's BBC. It'll be all about the triumph and nobility of the average working schlub. Not a bad way to go, but could lead to boring and simple stories.
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Ratinski
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
As long as they don't get rid of my beloved slashy magician and assy prince drama, I could care less.

*wants more Merlin NOW, please*
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Arbolgirl
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
I hope by being gritty they don't go the direction of Romeo and Juliet. You know the one with Leo Capicorn and that chick from My So Called Life.....I hate change.
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Kivrin
01/09/09

@Arbolgirl: But Leo was SO CUTE in that movie!!!

Ahem. I'm sorry. Just thinking about that movie causes me to briefly revert to my 16 year-old self, when that movie soundtrack (and Leo) rocked my small world.
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CrankyOldBroad
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
No bonnets in I, Claudius...why not remake that sweeping epic? Can't get much grittier than those Caesars.
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Kivrin
01/09/09

@CrankyOldBroad: OMG, I totally want HBO to remake "I, Claudius" as a continuation of their "Rome" series.
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choinski
01/10/09

@Kivrin: I watched Claudius as soon as Rome ended - I think there is a 10 year gap between the two series, and the two combined cover over 100 years.
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Kivrin
01/10/09

@choinski: Yeah, I know -- that's the big problem -- Titus and Pullo would definitely have to die fairly early in the Claudius story, and then it wouldn't be "Rome" anymore! Still, I wish that someone with a big budget would remake "I, Claudius."
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jigglyball
01/10/09

@CrankyOldBroad: LOVE that book since I read it as a tween. Was a movie made of it an I just totally missed it?
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CrankyOldBroad
01/10/09

@jigglyball: Oh my dear, it was made into a most spectacular mini-series in the 70's by the BBC. Had people riveted to their televisions on Sunday nights. It is still obtainable on DVD, and sits alongside my Rome dvd set quite happily. EPIC win.
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champagne
01/10/09

@Kivrin:

First of all LOVE LOVE LOVE ... I, Claudius.

Secondly, LOVE LOVE LOVE LUST... BBC's/HBO's ROME!
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NotChoinski
01/12/09

@jigglyball: Tween indeed. Jeez I'm old. PS - You get to see patrick Stewart's original hair, and Ass, and the former wasn't resrtricted to the latter.
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BeckySharper
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
Dickens and Sarah Waters and Thomas Hardy aren't exactly frou-frou. WTF is grittier than workhouses and prostitutes and destitute peasants?
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jigglyball
01/10/09

@BeckySharper: Seriously, Thomas Hardy was hell-bent on making sure no one finished his novels with a smile. How is that frou-frou?
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Mr. Mittens (né nodoubt9203)
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
james mcavoy and hugh dancy sammich anyone?
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@Mr. Mittens (né nodoubt9203): Did you see the Beeb's 2002 version of Daniel Deronda? Awesome. [www.imdb.com]

I didn't really notice Dancy at first because Romola Garai and her outfits were so very very pretty.
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Mr. Mittens (né nodoubt9203)
01/09/09

@ilikenoise: awwww nice. i think i may have but all of dancy's period appearances tend to blur together in my perverted mind. :)
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
Um- hello? Bonnets are totally gritty. You know how Amy Winehouse is said to hide her stash in her beehive? Well guess where the Austin ladies held theirs?
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@ilikenoise: Austen. AUSTEN.
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aspiringexpatriate
01/10/09

@ilikenoise: In the bottle of Laudanum in their purse of course.
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Liz11685
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
I think the idea of making some period dramas with more realism is a good thing, but I also like the very sanitized adaptations that are made already. The costuming better not go by the wayside.
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trixavicious
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
"The move comes after ratings dipped for BBC1's most recent costume drama, Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit, which sank to a low of 2.5 million viewers for one midweek episode last month. By comparison, The Diary of Anne Frank pulled in about 4.5 million viewers, while The 39 Steps, starring former Spooks actor Rupert Penry-Jones, attracted 7.3 million"

Dear BBC, this has less to do with viewers wanted less Dickens than it does with viewers wanting more Rupert Penry-Jones. Keep putting RPJ, Toby Stephens, and Richard Armitage in cravats and I promise you we'll keep watching.

Alternatively, go for it. Take a swing at this gritty thing but do not neglect the casting of hot mens.
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TheFormerJuneBronson
01/09/09

@trixavicious: Was The 39 Steps a remake of the Hitchcock picture?
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@trixavicious: I would watch Penry-Jones in a dramatisation of Deal or No Deal. That said I effing loved that version of the 39 Steps and thought it was the best (except, of course the very first one from 1935).

I pretty much watch all Frocks on the Box though. Especially the BBC ones.
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trixavicious
01/09/09

@ilikenoise: I am ridiculous when it comes to the BBC minis! (Frocks on the Box! I love it!) And isn't RPJ just brilliant? His Captain Wentworth in particular melts my brain!

I was really hoping that the success of the recent version of Tess would lead to the production of more Thomas Hardy adaptations. Under the Greenwood Tree from a few years ago is absolutely delightful, and I just crave a new version of Far From the Madding Crowd since the existing versions aren't available in Region 1. And I could on at ridiculous length about my love for the genre, but I'll try to contain myself.
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@trixavicious: I just saw Under the Greenwood Tree last week! There was a good version of Jude the Obscure with Christopher Eccleston in the 1990s. I always fancy more George Eliot myself- there was an okish version a few years ago with Emily Watson (whom I love) and James Frain (Thomas Cromwell in The Tudors).
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@ilikenoise: ... version of Mill on the Floss, I mean.
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belle TL
01/09/09

@trixavicious: A-fucking-men.
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applejuice
01/10/09

@trixavicious: Seriously, and that Little Dorrit just looked boring in the ads.

That probably had more to do with the fact that people had little to no name recognition of the book or the actors.
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sybann
01/10/09

@trixavicious: And Dickens is depressing. D'OH!
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belle TL
01/09/09

In reply to No More Bonnets
Praise Jeebus that they made North and South when they did, because I lurve my period dramas. It's gritty, but completely realistic and actually topical to our times--and the ending is pure magic to the point it makes your toes curl. Richard Armitage brings the sexy to this miniseries in spades. Seriously ladies--if you like Pride and Prejudice you will love this--and the heroine is feisty and unafraid of being unliked, and unlike P&P, she saves him.
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trixavicious
01/09/09

@bellethellama: What you said. Everyone go Netflix this yesterday!
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Cerridwen
01/09/09

@trixavicious: I'm a huge P&P fan and this has been recommended to me multiple times recently. Looks like I have some weekend viewing!
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TheFormerJuneBronson
01/09/09

@bellethellama: Did you read the trilogy too? I thought I was ready after seeing the miniseries, but holy crap, it's gritty.
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ilikenoise
01/09/09

@bellethellama: North and South has to be my favourite TV Costume Drama, EVER. And it was gritty- in that it showed what life was like for people across the whole social spectrum.
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belle TL
01/09/09

@TheFormerJuneBronson: In the process. It's sooo gritty. Gaskell is not Austen by any stretch, but she writes pain so well...
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LadySoprano is a Fat-Fighting Superwoman
01/09/09

@bellethellama: I LOVE that one! I watched it on TV when I was living in England and then bought it here in the states. Another one, based on another novel by the same author, is Wives and Daughters, which I also love.
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sassy
01/10/09

@LadySoprano: Wives and Daughters is such a good book, I was so upset when I got to the end and realized there wasn't one.
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sassy
01/10/09

@sassy: Also, the only North and South I am seeing has Jonathan Frakes, aka Riker?? It's too good to be true.
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jigglyball
01/10/09

@bellethellama: Oh, I don't think Mr. Darcy saves Lizzy! He certainly rescues her financial predicament, but I think she saves herself by realizing what a blind spot she had allowed her own wit to become.

/end thread jack
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