Wolf Hall is coming to an end next week so what will all us period drama fans do then? Well, thankfully, there’s the beautiful Channel 4 drama series Indian Summers that’s just started (blog post coming soon!) and two brand spanking new shows on the horizon.
Now, I was a massive fan of the original British version of Being Human (don’t get me started on the US version) and loved, loved, loved both Aidan Turner and Russell Tovey. This rather quirky series helped both actors to become household names and now they’re back in what looks like two brilliant 18th Century based stories, Poldark and Banished.
Poldark is a remake of the original 1975 series about a British officer who, upon returning from fighting in the American Revolution, finds his old life in turmoil. His friends and family believed him to be dead and everyone, including the woman he had hoped to marry, has moved on.
Alongside Aidan Turner, who shows off his beautiful body rather a lot, even in the trailer (!!!), is Eleanor Tomlinson who played Georgiana Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberely and Jack Farthing who played the hilarious Freddie Threepwood in Blandings.
Poldark will start on the 8th of March on BBC1.
Banished is also set in the late 1700s but this time in Australia. It tells the story of English convict Elizabeth Quinn who is sent down under for her crimes and on her voyage to the penal colony she falls for a fellow prisoner. Russell Tovey plays another convict on board the same ship who forms a friendship with the two.
This is a period drama lovers dream as it stars a whole host of recognisable actors. Ripper Street’s MyAnna Buring plays the main role of Elizabeth and appears alongside her fellow Ripper actor David Dawson, Ewen Bremner who played King James VI in Helen Mirren’s version of Elizabeth I, Orla Brady who played Taryn in Sinbad and Countess Vera Rossakoff in the final Poirot series, Joanna Vanderham from The Paradise and Dancing on the Edge and Cal MacAninch who plays Mr Thackeray in Mr Selfridge. Phew, that’s quite a list!
Banished will start on the 5th of March on BBC2.
I, for one, am very excited about both series and cannot wait until they start but which one will you be watching?
Ooh, I wasn’t aware of either of these! Poldark definitely looks like a winning watch, looking forward to that! I too am watching Indian Summers on C4; the costumes are so swoon-worthy. Intrigued to see where the storyline & plot will go with that one (I even spent some time online researching the series to see if it was adapted from a book so that I could read said book, but alas it was not).
Thank you for drawing these shows to our attention; they should help to brighten-up a few rainy nights in our British weather 🙂
xxx
Indian Summers is so good. I was a bit weary of it at first because it was quite hyped in the press but as soon as I saw that orange dress on Alice I was hooked! I an’t wait for this week’s to see what’s going to happen. x
Hi There,
We thought you would be interested to know that Poldark is one of our features at this years Radio Times Festival!
Come to The Making of Poldark where you will get the inside story of the BBC series from executive producers Karen Thrussell, Damien Timmer and Debbie Horsfield, the writer responsible for turning Winston Graham’s novels into sparkling scripts. Leading members of the cast will also attend (to be announced). Joining them will be Andrew Graham, who will be on hand to talk about his father’s writing, including the book Poldark’s Cornwall, which is about the other star of the show — the beautiful county of Cornwall itself.
Our first festival will take place on the green at Hampton Court Palace on 24-27 September. It will be a TV, radio and book festival and we have already got some great names confirmed including Sir David Attenborough, Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi, Wolf Hall, The Archers, Call the Midwife, Silent Witness with Emilia Fox, Life after Strictly, Tony Parsons, Linda La Plante and many childrens sessions with David Walliams, Julia Donaldson, Shaun the Sheep, Little Princess and Thomas The Tank engine. Adult tickets start from £10 and children tickets cost £6 per session.
Being a new event, we were hoping you could promote our event on your website and related social media pages. We also offer 10% discount to group bookings.
Further details of the event and show listings can be found on our website radiotimesfestival.com. If you have any questions or would like more information then please get in touch.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Ella Sage
Marketing Executive
Radio Times Festival
Thank you for the heads up. It looks like an interesting festival with lots of different things on offer. I’ll have a good look through the website and let my readers know of anything that may be of interest to them, obviously including the Poldark feature!