While Hollywood is often seen as the best place in the world to make entertainment, you’ve probably wondered on more than one occasion whether that was actually the case. After all, in spite of their much smaller population, the Brits seem to churn out some pretty excellent films and TV shows at a pretty regular clip.
And what’s even better is that they don’t keep to the same kind of rigid schedule that many U.S. shows do. Shows return only when they want to, and can run for as long as they please. Americans have started to adopt that model more recently, and to great success. If you’re looking for the real thing, though, it’s better to just check out what’s available on BritBox, which is home to plenty of great British-made content. We’ve pulled out three shows from the streaming service worth checking out this month.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
The debates over which adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is the best will likely rage forever, but one of the definitive versions is undoubtedly 1995’s Pride and Prejudice miniseries, which stars Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Anyone familiar with the story of Pride and Prejudice won’t be confused by what happens in the miniseries.
Like the widely beloved novel on which it’s based, the series follows the Bennet sisters as they try to navigate class and polite society in an attempt to find genuine relationships. This adaptation is great not just because of Firth, but because it understands Austen’s slightly sardonic tone.
Chewing Gum (2015-2017)
Before she became the creator of I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel created another brilliant series with Chewing Gum. The series follows Coel’s character, a Beyoncé mega-fan, as she navigates the transition to full adulthood, and has to deal with the strictures of her religious beliefs.
While I May Destroy You had its moments of levity, Chewing Gum is a much lighter series that is more focused on slices of life, even if that life is a bit heightened. Michaela Coel has emerged as one of the great creative voices of her generation, and Chewing Gum will get you in on the ground floor of everything that makes her brilliant.
House of Cards (1990)
The American House of Cards was one of Netflix‘s very first hits, and while its legacy is complicated now, anyone who loved that show would certainly be fascinated by the British miniseries that it’s based on.
In many ways, the backroom dealing and underhanded corruption that characterized House of Cards was always a better fit for the British parliamentary system than it was for the U.S. And, because this original version is a limited series, it doesn’t devolve into more cartoonish villainy the way the show eventually did.
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Joe Allen
