 | Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996)
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $16.42 A classic! Far superior to the more recent Keira Knightley version.
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 | The Forsyte Saga, Series 1
Buy new: $52.49 / Used from: $32.75 This remains a favorite -- wonderful Victorian era soap opera! The acting is superb, costumes equisite, score haunting, screenplay poetic.
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 | North & South
Buy new: $17.49 / Used from: $17.40 One of my favorites! About the industrial revolution in England (not the union and confederacy in the US; that's a different North and South) and the conflict between the northern business and southern intellectual classes, played out in the initially antagonistic relationship between the two strong-willed lead characters.
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 | Wives and Daughters
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $18.86 Another favorite! Great script, characters, and acting.
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 | Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition)
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $3.75 This version, scripted by Emma Thompson (who also plays Elinor), is superior to the most recent version by master storyteller Andrew Davies.
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 | Persuasion
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $6.27 I loved this version of Persuasion (far superior to the recent Masterpiece version, despite wonderful Rupert Penry Jones). Just watch the subtle play of emotions within the main characters, Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. This is really fine acting!
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 | Emma
Buy new: $12.49 / Used from: $4.47 I love this version of Emma, with a star-studded cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Colette, Jeremy Northam, Greta Sacchi (sp?), Juliet Stephens, Alan Cummings, Sophie Thompson (Emma's sister), and Polly Walker.
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 | Lark Rise to Candleford: The Complete Season One
Buy new: $38.99 / Used from: $40.99 I just recently purchased this -- it's a winner! Can't wait for season two (only available in Europe at this time). Season three is in production.
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 | Cranford
Buy new: $19.49 / Used from: $19.68 A gem! Wonderful story, a musical score that undulates like the hilly countryside, fine acting, and characters you love and love to hate! A fine ensemble caste, headed by Dames Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench, some veterans like Francesca Annis, Julia Sawalha, and funny Imelda Staunton, along with some fabulous newcomers.
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 | Bleak House
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $18.69 Wonderfully modern version of a "bleek" Dickens tale. Superb acting by the likes of Gillian Anderson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Charles Dance, Denis Lawson, and that adorable love interest of AMM's, along with memorable character actors.
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 | Little Dorrit
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $26.99 Another dark Dickens tale recently released, with excellent acting and masterful screenplay. A keeper!
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 | Middlemarch
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $6.95 I loved this DVD and thought the ratings should have been higher. Great George Eliot study in contrasts between characters with a conscience and those who are led astray by the temptations of materialism and ego.
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 | The Inheritance
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $8.38 The triumph of authenticity over pretension.
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 | Daniel Deronda
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $6.99 Another George Eliot study in contrasts -- this time between the kind-hearted Hugh Dancy and calculatingly evil Hugh Bonneville. Good triumphs over evil, but this is really a story about finding one's identity and true place in the world, whether the world approves or not.
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 | The Buccaneers
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $8.31 Great story with a simple theme: Money can't buy happiness!
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 | Upstairs, Downstairs - Collector's Edition Megaset (The Complete Series plus Thomas and Sarah)
Buy used from: $99.85 This wonderful series from circa 1971 remains engaging and moving 38 years later. A classic!
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 | Berkeley Square
Buy new: $32.99 / Used from: $25.00 Wonderful story about the "downstairs" folk!
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 | The Jewel in the Crown (25th Anniversary Edition)
Buy new: $37.49 / Used from: $22.94 I've only watched this once, but found it engaging and memorable.
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 | A Passage To India (2-Disc Collector's Edition)
Buy new: $22.49 / Used from: $13.11 Another great period drama set in India. A case study in hysteria and what havoc occurs when a young woman doesn't want to marry the man she's engaged to but can't let herself be conscious of that fact.
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 | The Flame Trees of Thika
Buy new: $14.95 / Used from: $5.92 I remember watching this as a young teenager and loved it. Thirtysomething years later, it's just as engaging. Not at all dated.
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