10/08/2017

PERIOD DRAMA NEWS: OLD FRIENDS AND NEW ACQUAINTANCES COMING SOON



1. GENTLEMAN JACK: SURANNE JONES + SALLY WAINWRIGHT + VICTORIAN ENGLAND

Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Save Me, Scott & Bailey)  and  Sally Wainwright (To Walk Invisible, Last Tango In Halifax, Happy Valley) are due on set together again to shoot Gentleman Jack, a coproduction BBC/HBO. Of course, Suranne Jones will lead the cast as the protagonist while Sally Wainwright will sign the screenplay and will direct the 8-part series.
If you love good TV drama you should at least be as excited as me. But if, like me,  you are also a period drama lover, you should be on seventh heaven since this new series is set in 1832.

It’s the story of Anne Lister (Suranne Jones), a remarkable landowner who - after years of exotic travel and social climbing - returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall.
To restore Shibden Hall to its former glory, Anne must re-open her coal mines and marry well. But this isn’t just another Regency romance. Charismatic, single-minded, swashbuckling Anne Lister - who dressed head-to-foot in black and charmed her way into high society - has no intention of marrying a man. True to her own nature, she plans to marry a woman. And not just any woman: the woman Anne Lister marries must be seriously wealthy.
Every part of Anne’s story is based in historical fact, recorded in the four million words of her diaries that contain the most intimate details of her life, once hidden in a secret code that is now broken.
Gentleman Jack is a remarkable and unlikely love story set in the complex, changing world of Halifax - the cradle of the industrial revolution - just as it’s all kicking off. The drama will explore Anne Lister’s relationships at home with her family, her servants, her tenants and her industrial rivals, who will use any dirty tricks they can to bring her down. At its heart is her relationship with her would-be wife, the wealthy heiress Ann Walker
Gentleman Jack will begin filming next year, with further casting to be announced in due course. Suranne will very soon be seen on BBC One in the second series of Doctor Foster.



2. THE CROWN SETS A DATE FOR SEASON 2 AND RELEASES NEW TRAILER

The second season of acclaimed series The Crown  will be available on Netflix from 8th December 2017.  Claire Foy and Matt Smith will reprise their royal tasks for one more season before passing their sceptres to more mature actors in the following series. Yes, unfortunately, because Netflix, after the great success of series one, is planning to follow the lives of the British Royal family for some more years and instead of aging young actors with make-up, they will cast new older actors. How long has Queen Elizabeth II reigned so far? There are plenty of materials for a very, very long saga. And we are glad and grateful, of course!

What do we learn about the new series from the just released trailer? Have a look yourself,  if you haven't done it yet!

1. Being  a monarch becomes harder and harder 
2. Prince Philip goes on being a wild spirit
3. There are rumours about Prince Philip's affairs with other women
4. Elizabeth has never felt so humiliated and isolated
5. Apparently Margaret has recovered from heartbreak. Peter who?
6.  We are going to meet Princess Margaret's future husband, Lord Snowdon aka Matthew Goode
7.  We are also going to see US President JFK and his wife Jackie's visit in the UK in 1961
8.  The Queen will have some troubles with her Prime Ministers, too. 

3. THE COUNTDOWN FOR OUTLANDER SEASON 3 HAS BEGUN



In exactly one month, 10th September 2017,  we will start a  new voyage into the Outlander world! I can't really explain how eagerly I have been waiting for the adaptation of my favourite book in Diana Gabaldon's saga, which is the third one, Voyager.  Will it bring Claire and Jamie back together after a 20 year's long separation? (Code word: Print shop

Like the previous two books, Voyager, the third one,  is so full of twists and turns that I can't imagine how thrilled those fans of the TV series who haven't read the book will be while watching!  However, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe have promised things will turn out in an unexpected way even  for devoted fans of Gabaldon. There will be surprises for everyone! What does that mean? I really don't know but I trust them after watching their excellent jobs in the first two series. 



4. US POLDARK FANS CAN REJOICE TOO 



BBC One broadcast the final episode of Poldark series 3 last Sunday and we are all already greatly missing Cornwall and our favourite Cornish people from the Georgian Era.  Instead, all the joys and all the sorrows we lived this season still have to land beyond the pond!  But Masterpiece PBS announced a date for the premiere of season 3 today:  Sunday October 1st! Not a very long wait, after all. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself, my dear US friends, because it is an amazing rollercoaster ride. 


5. GLORIANAAAA, ALLELUJA! VICTORIA SEASON 2 IS COMING SOON!


 PBS Masterpiece announced the second series of Victoria will premiere in January 2018  

1 comment:

dstoutholcomb said...

I knew the PBS Poldark date but didn't know Victoria--thanks for sharing that.


denise