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Recommended (and Not) Viewing on Prime
I thought I’d do you the favor of listing some more quick Amazon Prime Video recommendations so you don’t have to waste your time wading through mediocre productions. This is assuming our tastes align, but have I gone wrong before?
You’re welcome.
I sifted through the mountain of Dickens productions to find these gems:
Dickensian– 10-Episode Series- Highly Recommended. I kept scrolling past this one, and then decided to try it. Dickensian, for me, was one of those transporting, elevating pieces of entertainment. It brings together a number of Dickens’ characters for an original story arc, a murder mystery, but so much more than that formulaic genre. It’s really about people, about human nature and what individuals will do to get what they want, at others’ expense. Some pursuits are petty, some are avaricious, and unfortunately all feel true to life. It’s also about sacrifices and the remarkable lengths that some will go to ensure that right wins in the end. And there is another truth explored: that real honesty–difficult reality brought to the light–is loving and cleansing, even to those who do not want to be reached.
Although sometimes dizzying with its carousel of plots and characters, and at times lacking subtlety in final resolutions, this is a beautifully filmed, scripted, and acted series. It is also great fun to recognize Dickens’ characters, made to live again in new stories that are nonetheless respectful of their original source material. And the men and women I don’t know–Jaggers, for instance, and Honoria–have sparked my curiosity so that I will have to look them up. Bucket of the Detective, who might be an original Dickensian creation, is odd, clever, and warm-hearted enough to be one good reason I revisit the series every few years.
Oliver Twist-(1985) 12-Episode Series-Recommended. Because this is more than three decades old, I was skeptical about the production value. But while it does somewhat have the feel of being filmed on a stage, and costumes and sets are not always convincing, the acting and script are solid, and I found myself getting absorbed in spite of myself. I realized that this Oliver is one of my favorite Dickens TV adaptations to date.
David Copperfield (1999) 4-Episode Miniseries- Recommended. This is colorful, well-acted, and well produced, with funny and kind, evil and tragic characters. The actors are appealing, and the film sets beautiful. I would watch it again just for the wallpaper at the great aunt’s house–just splendid.
Our Mutual Friend 6-Episode Series- Recommended. Yet another Dickens adaptation, this production is a little hard to follow at the beginning, and actually more than a little creepy. Yet the story is not without hope, and the engaging, compelling actors won me over.
Movies with some real historical context that I enjoyed for their unusual settings and production values: Thousand Pieces of Gold and The War Bride. Both have their coarse, gritty details, but made me appreciate the predicaments of the characters.
Next, here are some that are okay picks if nothing else is on:
The Indian Doctor– This series, featuring an Indian couple in the 1960’s who took the doctor’s post in a small Welsh town, is a great concept, with charismatic main actors and beautiful filming. I got mostly through the third season, but have not yet returned to finish it due to over-the-top humor and obnoxious, cliched story arcs.
The Special Needs Hotel: This reality show about a hotel set up to train young people with autism, Down syndrome, and other special needs impresses the viewer with the effectiveness of the program and the kindness of the staff. There are some segments that are gems, such as one resident supported as he plans his big birthday party while practicing phone communication. But it is a reality show, so some awkward love scenes are clearly staged, to the detriment of the actors, perhaps, and for sure the discomfort of the viewers. In another big puzzler, the residents are offered alcohol at their dance parties. However, should a second season be offered, I would watch it.
Home Fires: This series about families left at home in an English village while World War II raged abroad had me electrified. I was delighted to discover a second season, to live again with characters who loved their families and struggled through physical and emotional challenges. Later, however, it felt like the stories burned less brightly, their moral core dampened by BBC writers once again. The series was then consumed in an abrupt blaze, a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers that was never resolved due to cancellation of the show. Watch at your own risk.
Aristocrats: Six episodes cover the lives of four sisters, English nobility from the 1700’s who make disappointing choices and still have to live with themselves. The series attempts to capture the long sweep of their lives, and so makes a jarring turn at the end, when main actors are replaced by older ones in order to more convincingly show these men and women in their dotage.
BBC’s Emma (2009 miniseries, currently offered through Britbox): I thought I would love this production, featuring Romola Garai. Every time I started watching it, it seemed superfluous given all the current Emma movies out there. It does have its charming, aesthetically pleasing, engaging side, good for dark winter evenings. However, I thought Garai came across too pouty and spoiled, making her Emma not likable enough to carry the scenes with Knightley.
Here are some to not bother with, in my opinion:
The Darling Buds of May: Cute concept, beautiful setting, and engaging acting, but the series celebrates excessive drinking and nontraditional living arrangements with lots of winks and merriment.
Lorna Doone: This was just meh for me. Two young people from opposing sides–one a daughter of a violent clan of outlaws–meet and carry on a dangerous connection. I stopped watching it, so I can’t tell you much else. It didn’t offer much depth to keep me watching.
Wild at Heart: Although some reviewers loved the series, I never finished the first episode. It sounds interesting: a family in England goes to South Africa and ends up staying to run a game reserve. But I thought the story details a little shallow and more suited to younger viewers.
What’s your list? Help us out and save us time by recommending your favorites and steering us away from less worthy material.
Published in Entertainment
We loved this show! I think when Amanda Bullmore’s character left, it lost just a little something.
I haven’t seen this one. It’s hard for me to get my husband to watch things with Rowan Atkinson. He was at Oxford with Atkinson and thought he was a complete berk. We did like Atkinson’s The Thin Blue Line, however. That series was hilarious. I’ll see if I can talk him into Maigret.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for these recommendations! Because of my situation, I need the pure escapism of TV series or mini-series. I am a huge old movie buff (mostly film noir) but nothing beats the anticipation for and the comfort of returning to a series after a hard day. I’m always looking for suggestions because I’m constantly running out of series.
I really enjoy my BritBox subscription, and for detective series, you can’t beat Inspector Morse ( and its prequel on Amazon Prime, Endeavour), A Touch of Frost (probably my all-time favorite) and Dalziel and Pascoe. These are well-written, have heart and are often hilarious – with none of today’s SJW preaching. Also love the Doctor Blake Mysteries and a few oldies but goodies: Blue Murder, Rosemary & Thyme, Prime Suspect and a charming, lighthearted series, The Last Detective based on a hilarious novel, “Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective” written in 1976. There’s a hilarious series on Amazon Prime called Vexed – at least the first season is, they changed lead actresses in Season 2 but Season 1 is brilliant.
I also devour foreign TV crime series but right now I don’t see any of them available on Amazon Prime or Britbox. There are two foreign streaming services, Walter Presents and MhZ that I used to subscribe to but I really don’t have the time to watch more than 1-2 channels. I also love the Acorn channel – I switch back and forth between it and BritBox throughout the year.
Sorry for being long-winded, my original purpose for posting was just to thank you for this post and comments.
My wife liked this.
There was only one season. The difference seems to be in how it’s been packaged. Apparently when it aired on television in the UK, it ran as twenty 30-minute episodes. When it began streaming here in the US, it was packaged as ten hour-long episodes.
I HATED it. Just found it excessively edgy, with a ton of profanity and unnecessary nudity. I couldn’t get past all that to see the story.
Just finished rewatching the Scott & Bailey series. Only the last 3 episodes without Amanda.
If you missed the last 3 outstanding seasons of “Unforgotten”, they are currently up on Prime.
Thanks for the recommendations.
Good to know. We watched the first two Unforgotten seasons and were waiting for the next one to go “Prime.” This series is really well done.
Another series I enjoyed starring Nicola Walker is The Split. I’m not sure there is a second season available yet.
Did you remember that Nicola Walker was in one of the Scott & Bailey stories?
Yes, Nicola Walker was stellar in her Scott & Bailey role. It lifted the whole series, in fact.
I saw the first season of “Unforgotten” and it was very well done. I eagerly started the second, but switched it off at the male to male kiss in the first 10 minutes or so. I’m tired of every PBS/BBC show having to include a numinous gay couple, with, of course PDA. No wonder people think the homosexuality rate is so high! If TV is used as the sample, it must surely be 25 to 35%! Which, of course, it isn’t.
I’ll second or third the recommendations above for “DCI Banks.” Very good show. And of course “Morse” and “Endeavour” and “Prime Suspect” (the original; I haven’t seen the available early years version) and “Foyle’s War.” They were all included in my earlier blanket recommendation of all things PBS/BBC/Mystery.
Another one I forgot–a rare comedy I love, love, love–is “Miranda.” It’s truly brilliant and at times tears-inducing funny. Full of people that are just a joy to spend time with. Such fun!
If there’s any way to get at it (I did originally see it on Prime), “Yes, Minister” and “Yes, Prime Minister” are timeless (made in the ’80s) and absolutely must-see. A primer on the corrupting influences of politics, both electoral and civil “service.” Both appalling and brilliantly funny.
For something completely different – Saving Face … One of the few movies I’ve seen this year without a shooting, car chase or body count – its a romance. It takes place in a traditional Chinese community in Flushing NY. About 1/2 the movie is in Chinese (with English subtitles) its very charming no foul language, no nudity, really it could have been made in the 1960s. Except for 1 detail. It stars 2 Chinese women.
Yes. What I call … great comedy!
That reminds me … The Royal Tailor, about, as you might expect, a royal tailor. He works for the Korean Emperor, and it’s a charming movie about the revolution of Korean fashion from merely mimicking Chinese costumes into identifiably Korean dress. There’s also some court politics and a love story, but in many ways, it is to clothes what Pixar’s Ratatouille is for food: a love letter to the artist and his creative genius in improving life.
And as you might expect, the costuming is amazing. The climatic costume for the empress is a replica of a historic court dress, and it cost $2M to make.
Another series I’ve just enjoyed watching through this option: The Queens of Mystery. One of the reviewers on Amazon described this series as a cross between Pushing Daisies and Agatha Raisin (both series I’ve enjoyed); and after watching it, I’d have to agree. It’s quirkiness is over-the-top and certainly isn’t for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully there’s a few more seasons in its future.
I enjoyed Rosemary & Thyme. I haven’t seen the others you mentioned, but I’m thinking about checking them out.
I also remember enjoying the first 2 or 3 seasons of Pie in the Sky, another light British mystery series available through Acorn TV. If I remember correctly, the premise changed a bit in the last season or two, and I didn’t enjoy it as much then. But it’s still a series I’d recommend checking out. I also think I remember enjoying the Australian show Mr. and Mrs. Murder, another light mystery series, via Acorn TV. (What’s that you ask? Why, yes. Yes, I do prefer my mystery series to be of the light/cozy-type rather than on the dark, grisly end of the spectrum. Why do you ask?)
And while I’m speaking of light mysteries, I remember enjoying the first 2 seasons of Death in Paradise, which is currently available on Netflix. The third season brought the beginning of cast changes; and a season or two later, I lost interest. But I definitely enjoyed the first two seasons.
We liked all of the seasons. Each time a new guy was sent from London, we expected not to like it. But each new character ended up being someone we liked.
The one theme many of our preferred shows seems to have is they are British productions. Could it be they excel at character development rather than violence ?
The problem for me was that by the fourth season (I think it was; the fifth at the latest) all of the original characters – the ones I had fallen in love with, really bonded with – were gone. I really, really liked that first set of characters. And while the new ones were ok, I just never jelled with them like I did the first, and the show didn’t feel like the same show to me. So the “problem” was probably more on my end than theirs.
Yes, but there’s more to it than that.
Yeah, it’s kind of puzzling. People 50+ are a large demographic and they tend to have more money than people in their 20s and 30s.
The old idea of “get them in their 20s and they’ll be loyal customers for life” is just that – an old idea. That dynamic doesn’t exist anymore.
Re: Harmon and Selleck, you can also add Sam Elliott to the list. It has to be said however, that they are all really good-looking despite being 67, 74, and 74 respectively.
Oooh! I thought of another one that can be added to this group – Vera. This one is darker in tone than the other mystery shows I’ve mentioned – not what I’d call grisly dark, but darker nonetheless. The main character is an older, prickly, female detective in Northumberland. Beautiful scenery helps make the show engaging, but the actress does a very good job of keeping the character likeable despite her prickliness. It’s another show I’d suggest checking out.
I really enjoyed this series. I agree that the best were the first two seasons with Ben Miller as the lead character. But I did enjoy the later ones, just not as much. I thought the supporting characters (and especially the actors/actresses who played those) were quite good which made the series enjoyable even though the subsequent lead characters/actors weren’t as good as the original one.
I’m not very good at the technical criteria of “better actors,” but often the actors in the British shows look to me more like real people than do the actors on many American shows. The actors on the British shows may have unusual face shapes, or they may be a little pudgy, or they have wrinkles in their skin, and they don’t look like they’re wearing heavy make up (they may be wearing it, but they don’t look like it).
We (Mrs. Tabby and I) also note how many of the same actors keep showing up in many different shows.
I have read speculation that often by about the fourth season of a show something goes off the rails. Often it’s that the plots become ever more convoluted or more outlandish. Mrs. Tabby and I are working our way through the Longmire series (sheriff in fictional Wyoming county, probably not on Amazon Prime, as Netflix financed Seasons 4 -6). In Season 3 the writers took the characters far from the personalities that were represented in the books on which the television show was based and in the first 20 episodes. Characters who were always helpful turn mean; quirky characters turn dark and self-destructive; characters who previously tried to find good in people now quickly turn on others. In other words, many of the characters that had personalities that caused us to like them and to root for them became characters we began not to like and began not to care what happened to them. We are hoping as we begin watching Season 4 that the new financiers will redirect the series back closer to its origins.
Game of Thrones, with its huge cast, has that effect. Vanity Fair has two actors from the show; Wolf Hall has three or four. That was another great Prime find: it’s a miniseries about Thomas Cromwell and his role in helping Henry VIII get his divorce.
It’s not free on Prime, but a great show you can buy through Amazon is “The Hollow Crown.” Season one is the first half of Shakespeare’s Henriad: Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. Season two is the second half. Henry VI is compressed to two parts and it ends with Richard III. The cast list is amazing.
That certainly happened with a show called Haven. What started out as a relatively light, quirky show ended 5 seasons later as rather dark and gritty. And the change started somewhere around season 3 or 4. Same with one called Sanctuary. I don’t know what causes it – whether it’s a perceived need for change or what. But it does seem to happen quite frequently.
Yes, pet, we also like DCI Vera Stanhope, based on the Ann Cleeves novels, brought to life by Brenda Blethyn. Yes, her wardrobe is as dreary as the landscape and oh so slightly derivative of Columbo, but at least she bought a new one last season. Glad you noticed, luv!
We’ve watched all nine series, and eagerly await season ten. It grows on you, maybe because they’ve opened up the visuals to show business offices, a party boat, background actors, and other signs of civilized life in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Still, every time you see that long establishing shot of her trusty Land Rover driving across the frozen tundra, you know that she’ll be soon be in peril, out of cell phone range, and protected only by her signature hat.
@jimkearney, we got our 7-day trial of Britbox and have watched the first episode of Maigret. We both thought it was very well done – loved the period costumes and scenery. Atkinson was very good – very different than the type of role he usually plays.
Of course, we also had to watch some Thin Blue Line. That is one of the most hilarious series I have ever watched! The last time we saw it was 10 years ago on a Dallas PBS station. It has lost nothing over time.
Okay, who was it that recommended Ekaterina???? I watched the first episode earlier in the week. Looked promising. Last night, I sat up and watched the NEXT NINE to finish out the season. Really, I think we can cure the opiate “epidemic” by handing everyone an electronic gadget and access to an interesting series or two or three. I felt like a rat with a pellet dispensing lever. GIVE ME MORE!!!! Of course, then we’d have to cure the electronic gadget addiction crisis…