Should we really love period dramas most ardently?
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]rom Pride and Prejudice to Poldark, there’s nothing TV networks like more than a big-budget costume extravaganza in which British actors remove their shirts. But, Aiden Turner’s abs aside, should we really love period dramas as much as we do?
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After a long day of lectures, one of the best ways to unwind is with a great TV show… and what’s more cathartic than a costume drama?
Whether it is wrought with political intrigue like Wolf Hall, or a murder mystery like Death Comes to Pemberley, there’s a piece for fans of every genre. Networks like the BBC and ITV provide an impressive catalogue to choose from.
On New Year’s Day, the costume drama special of Sherlock raked in over 8 million viewers, surpassing every other show aired over the Christmas/New Year period. ITV’s Downton Abbey was bringing in over 12 million viewers at its height.
Indeed, if we consider the list of shows we watch, we’re sure to find a costume drama or two… or five!
So what makes them so loved? Let’s face it, not many of us can say we live in a majestic country house with 126 rooms, or periodically find ourselves riding a horse into a swashbuckling adventure.
The excitement and grandeur is instantly appealing, the locations and costumes adding just a little bit more to the drama
I’m a history enthusiast, so my enjoyment comes in seeing the old world before my eyes. Whether I’m cheering over a true story being retold in its original location, or sighing at the inaccuracies, period dramas offer me the opportunity to travel to a world I’ve only ever known in textbooks.
Colin Firth, known for his iconic interpretation of Darcy. Image: Nicolas Genin / Wikimedia Commons
Through retelling these stories we are given an insight into our past, and how things have (or haven’t) changed.
Many period dramas are based on books, and it’s always compelling to see the worlds you’ve imagined in your head come to life. Great novels reach a new audience and are opened up to new kinds of discussions.
Plus, there’s always the satisfaction when your favourite Austen hero is perfectly cast.
Costume dramas are so loved because they bring a new characteristic to the usual television drama. Besides, who wouldn’t want to adventure with their childhood favourite Musketeers every week?
So, until I find myself a £1 billion budget, or invent the first time machine, I’ll happily enjoy my trips to the past via the TV screen.
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Period pieces, the outfits, the drama, the stunning backgrounds: I do love them, but now it feels like we’re drowning in them.
Castle Combe, a popular location for filming period dramas. Image: W. Lloyd MacKenzie / Flickr
From the endless literary adaptations of Austen and Dickens, to quaint BBC dramas, it’s all a bit too much. There’s only so many times you can see creative liberties taken with history to allow yet another sex-filled romp in picture-perfect surroundings, all filmed in sepia tones.
In fact, the majority of these costume dramas are dedicated to a central love story and the various difficulties tragically keeping the couple apart.
Although the male leads like Mr Darcy can set your heart pounding with their manners, romance and gallantry, the longing glances and impassioned speeches can get a bit same-y.
Not to mention the obstacles in the way: class, inheritances, and money. These just aren’t as relevant today.
While this exploration of class is important, and may hopefully touch upon sexism, this is sometimes to the detriment of showing the less pretty parts of history such as war, suffering, racism, and oppression.
British dramas are particularly guilty of this, waxing nostalgic about the past greatness of Britain.
The latest YouGov poll discovered that 44% were proud of Britain’s history of colonialism, and in the same poll 43% thought it was a good thing, whereas only 19% considered it to be bad
This is in spite of the horrific death rates of the Kenyan Kikuyu people, Boer population, and black South Africans during the Mau Mau Uprising and the Boer War, as well as the massacres in India and Bengal. In fact, these groups’ requests for reparations are met with demands to be grateful, and imperial amnesia.
You could go as far to say that period dramas are both a cause and symptom of this. We allow TV to inform our opinions, therefore – if the prevailing image of the past comes through rose-tinted glasses – it may easily begin to permanently colour other thoughts.
As with most things, moderation is key, and the current domination of period pieces needs to give way to a more balanced selection of programs.
Comments (1)
Are these comments below for real?
Damn right there are way way too many ‘cosy’ period drama’s on British television especially so over the last 5-10 years being blunt I’m absolutely fed up at they coming out the woodwork at the rate they have been recently! Maybe people like the ‘escapism’ the likes of say Call The Midwife, Downton Abbey, Mr Selfridge, Austen, Bronte and other costume/period dramas etc. etc. give them and I accept there’s a need to show the nice and genteel. However for me they always seem to show a period dreamland that can be sold abroad – a viewpoint people ‘want’ to have of Britain where everything in the garden’s rosy and the past was a paradise island type scenario. It ISN’T like that!
No one is making the type of gritty British drama that writers and producers like Alan Bleasdale, Alan Clakre, David Leland, John McKenzie, Ken Loch, Trevor Preston and others of that scene/period did so well which showed contemporary issues which perhaps did raise questions and made you think about things around you. I definately don’t see any contemporary versions of say Scum, Made in Britain, One Summer, Boys from the Blackstuff, Out, Our Friends in the North, etc. where that form of drama is more relevant than ever. Moreover nothing is reflecting the multicultural Britain we have now, but as we all know it doesn’t sell well to abroad especially to the Jane Austen lovers in the USA.
I mean considering my point yet another three series have been commissioned for Call the Midwife when in my opinion it’s sugar coated tosh and never should’ve got beyond 1 series.
Personally we’ve had too much period stuff about time British TV drama especially that made by the BBC started reflecting grittier and real issues which are current and relevant in Britain – even if it’s not necessarily a nice view of British life that it depicts!
Come on BBC start taking risks instead of making big money abroad selling this period garbage!