The Best TV, Historical Drama?

[Speedbird-1]

We just re-watched the BBC's, superb 6 part series; WOLF HALL.

Highly recommend it.

[superdog]

I’m always blown away with Band of Brothers.

A shockingly impressive production. Can’t recommend it enough.

[austinp]

Originally Posted by superdog

I’m always blown away with Band of Brothers.

A shockingly impressive production. Can’t recommend it enough.

Agree completely. So well done. Watched it many times.


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[1William]

Band of Brothers is great.

[TK-710]

Turn


Band of Brothers was really excellent but I watched it after reading the book. Absolutely loved the book, one of my favorites, but gave away much of the individual character development and suspense built in the series.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by superdog

I’m always blown away with Band of Brothers.

A shockingly impressive production. Can’t recommend it enough.

Thanks for this. I was looking for something new and it looks like many here agree with you

[THC]

JFK, Oliver Stone (albeit, a movie)

Roots

[gnuyork]

Mad Men (not sure it's the best, but it's pretty good in my opinion).

[Speedbird-1]

A US, historical drama, I thought might be something like 'Wagon Train' or 'Gunsmoke'.



B of B was very well done though.
Michael Kamen's music, very moving.


I found Damien Lewis more believable as Henry VIII, than an American GI.

[DJ TT 2002]

I, Claudius

BBC with Derek Jacobi

[Plastique999]

Schumacher


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[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

A US, historical drama, I thought might be something like 'Wagon Train' or 'Gunsmoke'.
.

For my money, the best TV western was the mini-series Lonesome Dove.

I've read that when Larry McMurtry expanded his original story into a novel, he did so wanting to show life in the 'old west' as it really was. An incredibly hard, short, and often times violently ending one, not the Hollywood version depicted by so many movie westerns and TV shows. And while both the book and mini-series did show those things, in the end, they were so popular, it actually had the opposite effect, romanticizing life in the 'old west' more than ever.

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

I, Claudius

BBC with Derek Jacobi

Not, Up Pompeii, with Frankie Howerd?

[Chewbacca]

TV: Deadwood

Recent Film: Gladiator, Rob Roy, Braveheart. Too many to list really

Old Film: Spartacus, Gone with the Wind, 10 Commandments, Ben Hur, Bridge over Kwai, Tora Tora Tora etc. Again, too many.

[bremersm]

Poledark was amazing and there are a few seasons.

[Malak]

Borgia as historical series

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgia_(TV_series)

[TNT009]

Roots!



(honorable mention goes to Band of Brothers)

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Not, Up Pompeii, with Frankie Howerd?

Never even knew it existed
But now that I do, I’ll try to track it down.

Many thanks

[huncho]

band of brothers is probably the best out there, even if you watch it now as a 20 year old show it shows no signs of its age. also boardwalk empire is really good if you're into the mafia theme

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

Never even knew it existed
But now that I do, I’ll try to track it down.

Many thanks

Not sure I'd recomend it as a serious historical drama.
It was a 1970's very 'camp' TV comedy.....not very PC these days, and would look very dated. Frankie Howerd was an extremely popular stage comedian who made the transition into TV and Radio.
It's quite a funny series, in a sweet old fashioned way.



Have you seen Wolf Hall? That is really worth watching.

[Dr. Hips]

Band of Brothers for sure. Big ups for HBOs Chernobyl as well.

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by Dr. Hips

Band of Brothers for sure. Big ups for HBOs Chernobyl as well.

It's good, but it's no, Dads Army!

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Not sure I'd recomend it as a serious historical drama.
It was a 1970's very 'camp' TV comedy.....not very PC these days, and would look very dated. Frankie Howerd was an extremely popular stage comedian who made the transition into TV and Radio.
It's quite a funny series, in a sweet old fashioned way.



Have you seen Wolf Hall? That is really worth watching.

You had me at Mark Rylance
And it streams on Amazon Prime

[Blansky]

Father Knows Best and Ozzie and Harriet.

For those people pining for the 50s that never was.

I have a love/hate with historical dramas for the simple reason that many are propaganda, and in a lot of cases people believe the dramatization as fact.

I’m a lover of history and how people tick, and too many of the stories are Americanized, which is natural because most are made in the US, but the viewers can believe the stories to be factual, when they are not. And most people don’t try to search out “truth” after seeing them. They just go through life believing the stories and glamorized heroes. Life is far different from dramatizations.

I also loved Band of Brothers, and Roots and many others. Including Clint Eastwood’s, the Iwo Jima docudramas showing both sides of the story.

[gnuyork]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The question is though, is what you are watching actually an accurate portrayal of life then or just a stylized rendering. Did the writers actually live through the time.

That could be said about all historical dramas, I would argue that the writing on Mad Men is more authentic than Band of Brothers (I'm not saying it is, but one could argue), sheerly for the fact that there might be more writers alive that lived in the Mad Men times than there are writers that lived in the WWII era. Just a thought, I don't really know.

Anyway, some good watch content in Mad Men.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by gnuyork

That could be said about all historical dramas, I would argue that the writing on Mad Men is more authentic than Band of Brothers (I'm not saying it is, but one could argue), sheerly for the fact that there might be more writers alive that lived in the Mad Men times than there are writers that lived in the WWII era. Just a thought, I don't really know.

Anyway, some good watch content in Mad Men.

I agree and wrote that on my initial post. Exactly my problem with historical dramas. People believe that they are actually accurate.

Not defending Band of Brothers but the American star (Damien Lewis…a Brit actually) the character he played was an advisor on the show. Sorry forgot the names. But the fact is, all these docudramas are heavily massaged …….its show biz.

[emersm]

Originally Posted by superdog

I’m always blown away with Band of Brothers.

A shockingly impressive production. Can’t recommend it enough.

Agreed! I remember watching this when it first came out.

I received the blu-ray set for one of my birthdays a few years ago and have not re-watched it yet.

Might have to open the cellophane and binge watch this over the holidays

[White Collar Boy]

Originally Posted by gnuyork

Mad Men (not sure it's the best, but it's pretty good in my opinion).

This is one of my favourite shows too. I rewatched it a few months ago and enjoyed it even more than before, though some of the dialogue—so fresh the first time—now felt unintentionally hammy, distinct from the show’s dramatic irony.

I made the mistake of reading (show creator and main writer) Matthew Wiener’s awful novella, ‘Heather, the Totality’ in the intervening years. Amazingly bad, it sensitised me to something second-rate and hackneyed even in ‘Mad Men’ at times. Still, what a brilliant show — the writing generally excellent, and the characters compellingly flawed, sad and very funny.

[Speedbird-1]

American, idea of an HISTORICAL drama.......'Mad Men'.

[GoingPlaces]

Deadwood for me.