Good British Dramas

meoklmrk91

For years my lineup consisted solely of American TV, then I started watching Downton Abbey, this year I've also watched Whitechurch and more recently call the Midwife, I have been missing out on some really decent TV. I'll give pretty much anything a go although I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi. Big fan of Breaking Bad, Justifed, Game of Thrones, etc. etc. So what else have I been missing out on?

oswinoswald

Have you seen Sherlock? It's fantastic.

meoklmrk91

oswinoswald wrote: »

Have you seen Sherlock? It's fantastic.

Ah yes forgot about Sherlock, yes I have seen it and it is absolutely fantastic.

Sheela

The BBC mini series State of Play is really good.

It has a great cast - John Simm, David Morrissey, Bill Nighy and a very young James McEvoy. It has a few good plot twists.

mike65

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I Claudius
State of Play
Life on Mars
Boys From the Blackstuff
The Singing Detective

and other stuff from the last 40/50 years or so.

evilivor

mike65 wrote: »

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I Claudius
State of Play
Life on Mars
Boys From the Blackstuff
The Singing Detective

and other stuff from the last 40/50 years or so.

Edge of Darkness
Pennies from Heaven
Our Friends in the North
The Jewel in the Crown
Brideshead Revisited
Tenko
A Very British Coup
The Monocled Mutineer

Timmyctc

Sheela wrote: »

The BBC mini series State of Play is really good.

It has a great cast - John Simm, David Morrissey, Bill Nighy and a very young James McEvoy. It has a few good plot twists.

Ah here now don't be telling people that

mike65 wrote: »

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I Claudius
State of Play
Life on Mars
Boys From the Blackstuff
The Singing Detective

and other stuff from the last 40/50 years or so.

Have to +1 Life on Mars, fantastic.

Would also Suggest Thorne with David Morrissey.

Larry Wildman

Try and check out the "original" BBC version of House of Cards.

I think that one series was called "Making the Cut".

It centred around a Tory PM called Francis Urquat (I think played by a guy called Ian Richardson).

Superb stuff.

Dozen Wicked Words

Broadchurch
Line of Duty
The Fall
Luther
Peaky Blinders
Bodies
Whitechapel
Ripper Street
Hinterland
Touch of Frost

_Whimsical_

If you like The Midwife and Downton there's a new bbc drama on Sunday nights now that you'd probably like called Crimson Fields. It's a period drama set in a field hospital during WW1. It has some interesting characters and looks like it'll develop into something very good. It's intention is to highlight the role and struggle of women in the war so it's not just a medical drama.

The One Who Knocks

Now there's an oxymoron.

JP Liz V1

Shameless the first few seasons are very good, it is more of a dramedy


The Accused is also worth a look

pickarooney

The Village is pretty decent.

mel.b

I've just started watching Spooks on netflix and am really enjoying it.

rednik

The first couple of seasons of Between the lines.

Yamanoto

Tinker Tailor & its follow up Smiley's People are on Youtube in full.

I came at them having seen the recent Gary Oldman film and really liked the feel of it.

With Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Patrick Stewart & Ian Bannen, it's little wonder it's such an enjoyable watch.

Guinness is just superb as George Smiley.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZgTRl3lj78&list=RDiZgTRl3lj78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dh4tnvx2b8&list=PLJjcokH41XXmnJ46DKCRf6wkzNZvtOm1S

mel.b

Silks, season 1 & 2 on netflixs is also very good.

Sideshow Mark

18 posts in and nobody has yet said Cracker? One of the best ever.

Of the more recent stuff, Luther, The Fall and Broadchurch are the crime dramas I'd highly recommend. For non crime stuff Misfits and Being Human were both excellent for the most part.

If you've missed out on Love/Hate it's worth catching up on. Seems to have peaked in its third season.

Brendan Flowers

Hustle
Life on Mars
Sherlock
Spooks
Luther
Mad Dogs

iba

What is the follow up to Life on Mars called - thats good too.

And recently:

The Tudors, The Muskateers and The Crimson Field.

Would second all of these:

Hustle
Life on Mars
Sherlock
Spooks
Luther

And what about the classics like Minder, Faulty Towers, Yes Minister, and Only Fools and Horses.

Sheela

iba wrote: »

What is the follow up to Life on Mars called - thats good too.
.

Its called Ashes to Ashes

iba

Throwing in Whitechapel and ripper street

Started on dracula last nite, not sure if it is American or not

Twiki

The Cops
Outlaws
Bodies

OldRio

Morse. Showing its age but to me the best detective out there.

Endeavour. Very very good. Great acting and script. I can see the character 'Thursday' having his own show.

Wire in the blood (Very dark. Ahead of its time. You can still catch it on ITV3 or ITV4)

Sherlock. The first two series are brilliant. As for the third series? Self indulgent cr@p. It pays homage to its self.

Cracker. We all like a flawed 'hero' and this man is it. Creaking a little but still an excellent watch.

Smileys People. Just wonderful. A landmark.

Riskymove

Larry Wildman wrote: »

Try and check out the "original" BBC version of House of Cards.

I think that one series was called "Making the Cut".

It centred around a Tory PM called Francis Urquat (I think played by a guy called Ian Richardson).

Superb stuff.

there were 3 series

1 House of Cards
2 To Play the King
3 The Final Cut

all worthwhile

and then you can try and identify the characters and plotlines in the new US House of Cards

Skerries

OldRio wrote: »

Wire in the blood (Very dark. Ahead of its time. You can still catch it on ITV3 or ITV4)

That was excellent but I thought Robsons other drama Touching Evil was more sinister

Lavinia

I started SiLK yesterday and have to say it is a really good show. I read some critiques how it does not depict the reality of British Bar but I find it good enough and well entertaining. Looking forward to next episodes : )

Jimbob1977

Our Friends in the North was one of the greatest drama series ever produced by the BBC.

Daniel Craig, Mark Strong and Christopher Eccleston.

The ITV production of Sherlock Holmes in the late 1980s with Jeremy Brett was outstanding.

darkdubh

Edge Of Darkness,mentioned already but one of the finest political thrillers ever.Don't bother with the American remake with Mel Gibson.

Ralf and Florian

The Red Riding trilogy.Pretty disturbing stuff that takes in real life events like the Yorkshire Ripper case.In retrospect theres stuff in it that chimes with what was going on with Jimmy Saville,it came out in 2009 when he was still alive and the public largely didnt know about rumors.Sean Beans character in the "1974" episode has a lot on common with Saville.

Rjd2

Not going to name the ones that have been said already.

Utopia is a little overrated but has moments of absolute greatness. Neil Maskell the star of the show. its the most stylish thing you will ever see on Uk telly though for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJnN3WMwDsk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Southcliffe is worth a go, it has the superb sean harris in a small town who goes on a killing spree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyi3yyBHNEw

The Shadow Line

Chris Eccelstone and Chiwetel Ejiofor in a fantastic crime drama with lots of twists and turns. It got a lot of love back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNYCSNsTZSc

Happy Valley which is on now and well known is quite good, but only so much youtube I can link to:o

maudgonner

Why just British?

Scandi-Noir is fantastic (the Killing, The Bridge etc), and Borgen is one of the best political series ever. The German miniseries Generation War is great too.

If you prefer non-subtitled stuff, there's some great Aussie shows. Since you like Justified it might be worth trying one called Underbelly.


But if it has to be British, I'd add State of Play, a really good miniseries about politics and journalism. It was remade as a film with Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe, but the TV version is miles better.

Lavinia

maudgonner wrote: »

Why just British?

Scandi-Noir is fantastic (the Killing, The Bridge etc), and Borgen is one of the best political series ever. The German miniseries Generation War is great too.

British as it is the topic here I presume. And cause they do have something specific about them. : )

But I totally agree about The Killing (one of the best shows I ever watched, loved Danish version too), and The Bridge, those are so underestimated IMO.



Maybe a new thread with Good TV dramas could be opened to include other shows.. not sure if there is one already? I love watching (spec crime TV dramas) and have so many so far so would would be nice to have a general chat about it.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Cracker
Inspector Morse
A Touch of Frost
Prime Suspect

All top quality crime drama's.

maudgonner

Lavinia wrote: »

British as it is the topic here I presume. And cause they do have something specific about them. : )

But I totally agree about The Killing (one of the best shows I ever watched, loved Danish version too), and The Bridge, those are so underestimated IMO.



Maybe a new thread with Good TV dramas could be opened to include other shows.. not sure if there is one already? I love watching (spec crime TV dramas) and have so many so far so would would be nice to have a general chat about it.

I'd go for the original Danish (or Danish/Swedish) versions of The Killing and The Bridge though, I think they're both much better than the remakes. For Sarah Lund's geansaís if nothing else.

Lavinia

I am just watching the Line of Duty show, second season.
I cannot decide if it is the worse crime drama I saw or it is good..
But from some reason I find so many characters repulsive, specially female but male also...
Makes me sick to me stomach but still watching... :

Strazdas

They have a great tradition for science fiction too. I thought the BBC apocalyptic drama 'Survivors' (2008-10) was a fine drama series.

Strazdas

Strazdas wrote: »

They have a great tradition for science fiction too. I thought the BBC apocalyptic drama 'Survivors' (2008-10) was a fine drama series.

The original 1970s version was superb, I remember it for the lack of incidental music which added to the eeriness of of it!

Strazdas

zorro2566 wrote: »

The original 1970s version was superb, I remember it for the lack of incidental music which added to the eeriness of of it!

Day Of The Triffids (1981) was very enjoyable too. Not a light hearted romp either, quite a dark and serious portrayal of life in a post-catastrophe Britain.

Waitsian

Penny Dreadful is fantastic, well worth a watch.

Lavinia

Started watching Spooks, thought I will not make it to episode 3 but I'm still watching, on episode 5, will see what comes out of it. If anything..

JP Liz V1

The Night Manager on BBC 1 Sunday nights at 9pm

Lavinia

Had to abandon Spooks. The pace of conversations is like everyone is on some kind of speed : o) just was not watchable.

Started watching Luther, not too bad so far.

Of course I've heard the first two seasons are the best but that's as with the most shows.. Will give it a go.

Eugene Norman

If you like downton then Brideshead Revisited will blow you away.

Lavinia

Finished Luther, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars, was enjoyable to watch (season 4 just started so only 2 episodes in it, but yes it is a bit "weaker" than the previous seasons).

Started Whitechapel now, yet another recreation of Jack the Ripper set as copycat murders in modern London, so interested to see how they did it...

Edward Hopper

Lavinia wrote: »

Finished Luther, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars, was enjoyable to watch (season 4 just started so only 2 episodes in it, but yes it is a bit "weaker" than the previous seasons).

Started Whitechapel now, yet another recreation of Jack the Ripper set as copycat murders in modern London, so interested to see how they did it...

Whitechapel got a bit ridiculous at the end imo.

Lavinia

Edward Hopper wrote: »

Whitechapel got a bit ridiculous at the end imo.

Oh, well I just literally started the S1 E1, but thanks for the "tip" so not to give my hopes up high

Lavinia

Finished Whitechapel, I enjoyed it, overall mark - 7.5 out of 10. For me the second season was the weakest but glad I watched it finally was on my list a while. Last season with format of 1 case over 2 episodes worked better for me.

I'm starting now with Babylon (BBC mini TV series), satirical story of "police vs people" in London, see how it goes

Lavinia

Finished Babylon, was getting better as it went on;

now watching BBC's Peaky Blinders historical fiction drama series with Cillian Murphy, it's quite good I must say.

Edward Hopper

You're rattling through them Lavinia.

I recommend River for your next watch, thoroughly enjoyed that.

xalot

I loved 'The Missing' from 2014, wouldn't be a huge James Nesbitt fan but it's really fantastic and it's great to see something from a father's point of view. The ending divided viewers but I thought it was brilliant.

It's pretty disturbing stuff, some of it has really stayed with me.