Can anyone suggest a series like Downton Abbey? My parents are watching

[applegrove]

it and really love it. I'm trying to think if there is anything else on PBS that they would really like.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. The original Upstairs, Downstairs.. also

the Dutchess of Duke Street

and The Forsyte Saga

[applegrove]

2. Those are all great ideas. Bookmarked.

[bikebloke]

16. Also, the new Upstairs Downstairs

Only three episodes for the first season, but they're good. I read they were going to make another season with more episodes.

I watched most of the original series during it's original broadcast over here. Brilliant.

[Bucky]

17. Upstairs Downstairs is like Downton Abbey with good writers

and original plot ideas.

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. And the ability to keep story lines going more than 10 seconds.

We found that the last season of Downton, esp the last few episodes, suffered from ADHD - clearly short attention span theater! We loved the nice gentle pacing of the original Upstairs, Downstairs....Downton, not so much.

[avebury]

24. Totally agree with those choices. If they belong to Netflix

they can find all kinds of British TV shows that they can watch. There is also a British Show called London Hospital, I found it on Itunes.

[grasswire]

3. there are some past series that are available on DVD

Lots of them, actually.

Charles Dickens' Bleak House is just amazing.

The man who created Downton Abbey has a different 4-part series coming up soon.

"Doc Martin" is an ongoing more modern series about a doctor in a small British village in Cornwall.

And Downton Abbey will have at least three more years.

Lots of comments over at the Entertainment forum.

Note: my teabagger sister refuses to watch the episodes of Brit shows that show "sinful" behavior.

[applegrove]

6. I will look for those. Thanks.

[KatyaR]

4. "Cranford" and "Return to Cranford."

Incredible cast (Judy Dench! Michael Gambon! Imelda Staunton!), bit earlier time period, very, very good.

Another one is "Little Dorrit." Again, really really good.

[applegrove]

5. Thanks.

[femmocrat]

7. "Brideshead Revisited"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brideshead_Revisited_%28TV_serial%29

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. both the original and the remake are well worth it. great recommendation

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Lark Rise to Candleford?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lark_Rise_to_Candleford_%28TV_series%29

[Justice wanted]

10. I was just going to say that! That show was show awesome NO reason why it was cancelled.

[grasswire]

11. here you go -- coming in April

"Titanic," a four-part miniseries written by "Downton Abbey" creator Julian Fellowes, will attempt to tell the whole story of what really happened on that fateful night in 1912 like you've never seen it done before.

"This is a portrait of a ship in a way that other versions haven't been," Fellowes told The Daily Mail at the press launch of the miniseries at the London Film Museum. "'A Night to Remember' is a wonderful film but its mainly about the officers. James Cameron's was another wonderful film, but that is a love story set against the sinking of the Titanic... We, right from the start, set out to tell the story of the whole ship."

The "Titanic" miniseries will follow the stories of characters from steerage, second class and first class, as well the servants and the officers. Its premiere will mark 100 years since the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage to New York on April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg, costing the lives of approximately 1,500 people.

Fellowes' "Titanic" will make its US debut on Saturday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Parts one, two and three will air on April 14, and the miniseries will conclude with part four on Sunday, April 15 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

[TuxedoKat]

12. Under The Greenwood Tree, The Forsyte Saga

Here's a description:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/greenwood/notes.html


Here's a partial archive:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/archive/programs.html

My husband likes the Foyle's War Series too.

[LanternWaste]

13. I'll second Lark Rise and Cranford, a few more in addition...

I'll second Lark Rise and Cranford. In addition, a small mini-series, The Cazalets (about a genteel British family on the cusp of WW2-- and it stars Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame).

Garrow's Law is another good series-- a British barrister in the 18th century as the world's "first" defense attorney.

You can't go wrong with the re-boot of Upstairs Downstairs-- and it's been renewed for another season.

North & South (from the Elizabeth Gaskell collection who brought us Cranford) is a grim love story about a young, genteel British girl who moves with her family to the industrial north and is confronted by the grim nature of the industrial movement writ small in a cotton mill.

I'll think of some more by lunch and post again if I can

[IcyPeas]

14. I totally, totally, second...

Bleak House (even guys like this one)

Forsyte Saga

[ceile]

15. And don't forget Mystery!

Masterpeice Mystery is excellent as well. Here are some that take place between the 20's and 40s that they may like:


Foyle's War
Poirot
Miss Marple
The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries

Others:

Cadfael
Touch of Frost
Jericho
Hetty Wainthrop
All Sherlock Holmes (old and new)
Inspector Morse
Inspector Lewis

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. If you don't want to sign up for Netflix streaming and really like British content

Acorn Media (which otherwise has really high prices for DVD) has a streaming service for $25 a year. They have about ten series of British dramas and comedies available at any one time and rotate them in and out on a weekly basis.

Some of them are not available on Netflix at all, much less on streaming.

Currently available are

4 episodes of Poirot
The first two seasons of Prime Suspect
The original Brideshead Revisited
Season 4 of Foyle's War
Monroe (a medical drama)*
A Woman of Substance*
Wish Me Luck
Season 4 of Doc Martin
Season 1 of The Commander
Season 2 of The Murdoch Mysteries (a Canadian series set in Victorian-era Toronto)

*Not on Netflix

I just watched the newest series of Midsomer Murders, which was pulled on Sunday evening and replaced by other content. The annual charge for streaming costs less than the box set of the same episodes.

[TuxedoKat]

21. Just thought of something else...

Some years ago A&E put out a series of Horatio Hornblower movies, there are either six or eight total. They were very well done and acted. You might be able to check the DVDs out from a library if you can't find them on Netflix. I keep hoping they'll make some new ones and continue the series, but haven't seen anything in awhile. Try and watch them in the correct order as you get to see his progression up the ranks.

Sorry, posted this in the wrong place.

[avebury]

25. I was able to get a few of the Horation Hornblower shows from Itunes. nt

[sarge43]

20. Poldark is an excellent costume drama n/t

[eShirl]

22. The Duchess of Duke Street, might still be on Netflix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duchess_of_Duke_Street

"The Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietrix of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, Marylebone, in London."

[bif]

23. Doc Martin

[emilyg]

26. Excellent.