Review: Jane Eyre (2006)

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I know, the last review I did was for Jane Eyre (2011) (granted, a long time ago), so you're getting two Jane Eyre reviews in a row. But I had been curious about this version despite its content issues. This one was not available on Netflix, but it was uploaded on YouTube, so I watched it there. This would be Jane Eyre Version #5 that I've seen, so I have plenty of other adaptations to compare to, which can be both a good and a bad thing. On the upside, there is plenty to compare to and any unique aspects of this miniseries would be easily recognizable. The bad side: I already have ideas on how adaptations of Jane Eyre should be (but not that's ever stopped me before). From reading around on other period drama blogs, the impression I had of this version before viewing it all the way through was that the major objection to this version was the content, but that the rest was pretty good, so I tried to keep an eye out for scenes that might have content issues (which did detract from my enjoyment of the miniseries, to be honest) but at the same time watch and see how this adaptation presented the story.

Synopsis
(Synopsis taken from my review of Jane Eyre (1983) )
Young Jane Eyre, an orphan, lives with her rich but cruel Aunt, Mrs. Reed and her cousins at Gateshead Hall until Mrs. Reed sends her away to Lowood School to be educated and be rid of her. Ten years after receiving an education and without connections, Jane becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall to young Adele Varens, the ward of Thornfield's master, Mr. Edward Rochester. Thornfield itself holds many secrets and Mr. Rochester is very mysterious and strange, but Jane eventually falls in love with him.

Review: The Paradise -- Series 2 (2013)

Okay, so I watched Series 2 of The Paradise after I finished watching the first series and intended to review the second series almost right after watching it. Then school happened (like I've said before, it was a brutal semester), so this review got pushed aside along with everything else. But here it is! As you might have noticed, Series 2 has not been released in America yet, but I caught it online and watched it. I really liked Series 1 and, since there was the wedding cliffhanger at the end, I was curious to see what was going to happen next. So, when I found Series 2 online, I simply couldn't resist! So, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see what happened immediately when Katherine got jilted at the altar... Or what Lord Glendenning said to Moray about the whole thing... But still! The story continued and there was more drama to come!

Note: This review will contain spoilers from Series 1. If you do not want to read about Series 1 spoilers, I suggest watching Series 1 before reading this review. Here is my review for Series 1 if you are interested.

Synopsis

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After being stripped of his store and sent away to Paris, Mr. Moray returns to The Paradise as a manager determined to buy his store back. The Paradise is now owned by Tom Weston, a former soldier and the new husband of Moray's ex-fiancee, Katherine (née Glendenning), who inherited the store from her father who has, since Series 1, passed on. Meanwhile, Denise and Moray have become engaged and are working together to win The Paradise back. However, this proves to be difficult as Tom Weston is not a man to be trifled with.

Review: Mr. Selfridge -- Series 2 (2014)

When I watched Mr. Selfridge a year ago, I was not all that fond of it. I said that I was going to watch the next series because Series 1 ended on a cliffhanger and I wanted to know what happened next, but I didn't have high hopes for it. It was a lackluster show in which I could relate to none of the characters and where nearly all the characters had loose morals. But when this year came and I didn't hear any word on the new series, I was wondering if it was still going? But then PBS announced it and after Downton Abbey ran its course (which I still watched even though I had already seen it), I watched Series 2 of Mr. Selfridge as it aired on PBS. Were my suspicions correct? Or was I pleasantly surprised? Well, read on and find out!

Note: This review will contain spoilers from Series 1. If you do not want to read about Series 1 spoilers, I suggest watching Series 1 before reading this review. Here is my review for Series 1 if you are interested.

Synopsis

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After living in America for five years after leaving England, Rose Selfridge returns to London for the fifth anniversary of Selfridge's. While Harry tries to reconcile with his wife, Rose still resents his philandering and keeps her distance from him. Meanwhile, Rose has befriended Delphine Day, the owner of a night club with a scandalous past (of which she writes about publicly). Meanwhile, Agnes Towler returns to Selfridge's as head of departmental displays after training in Paris and develops a rivalry with Mr. Thackeray, the new head of fashion. Lady Mae Loxley's life is turned upside down with the arrival of her husband, Lord Loxley, who has taken a sudden interest in parliament. All of this is occurring with World War I in the near future, and Selfridge's sees the toll of the war on the store.

Review: The Paradise -- Series 1 (2012)

On the similar path as Mr. Selfridge, The Paradise is another show about a store that came out around the same time as Mr. Selfridge. I've seen around the period drama blogging world that people who have seen both Mr. Selfridge and The Paradise usually prefer one over the other. While I did enjoy the business aspect of Mr. Selfridge, it simply wasn't the best period drama I've seen since the main character was hard to sympathize with (here's my review of Mr. Selfridge if you're interested). Was there a chance that I could prefer The Paradise over Mr. Selfridge? Yes, and I proceeded to find out a couple of weeks ago.

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Synopsis
Denise Lovett arrives at her uncle's drapery shop looking for work. When her uncle, Edmund Lovett, cannot give her work, Denise seeks out a position at The Paradise, the growing department store across the street, much to the chagrin of her uncle who thinks that The Paradise is driving small businesses into bankruptcy. Denise earns a position in the ladies' wear department and immediately excels at her job and shines in the eye of her employer, Mr. Moray, a man with a troubled past.

Review: Downton Abbey -- Series 4 (2013)

Okay, I confess! I have already seen Downton Abbey: Series 4! This review might be coming a little early to all my readers here in America (since Downton's fourth series aired yesterday, I think?), but I'll take care about spoiler warnings.

But anyways, after last series's finale with the untimely death of Matthew in a car crash, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this series. I knew Downton Abbey wasn't going to be as good as it was previously, but maybe it was going to be better than I expected. I spent all of last year saying that I would be surprised if Downton was going to last past this fourth series, but with the commission of the show's fifth series, I was proven wrong. But what did I think of this series? I had mixed feelings about it to say the least, but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. This series exhibited a lot of changes to the show to lead it in a new direction. There were plenty of changes that occurred in this series, and I only commented on the major ones. If you would like to know my opinion on a change that I didn't comment on, leave me a comment and I'll answer it!

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Note: This review may contain spoilers from Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 of Downton Abbey without warning. If you have not seen a previous series, you may not want to read this review at this time. I have reviewed the previous series if you would like to read the reviews.

Synopsis
Six months after the tragic death of her husband Matthew Crawley, Lady Mary continues to mourn the sudden loss of her husband. Matthew's estate is called into question since he did not leave a will, leaving Lord Grantham to look over Downton by himself while he allows Mary to mourn. The rest of the Crawley try to bring Mary out of her mourning. Tom Branson continues to raise his daughter, baby Sybbie, at Downton, but questions whether he belongs at Downton. Lady Rose takes up residence at Downton while her parents are in India.

Review: Mansfield Park (2007)

I finally got to watch a version of Mansfield Park! I had intended to watch a version of it after I finished reading it, but since my progress through the book was slow and required me to start over again due to a busy schedule, I watched it without finishing the book. However, I did read enough of the book to get a good sense of what the book is like. I heard a lot about this adaptation: I had heard that it wasn't a good version of Mansfield Park, but that it wasn't as bad as the infamous 1999 version (which I don't really intend to watch). Eventually I will watch the 1983 version of Mansfield Park in its entirety, but for now, here is the 2007 version.

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Synopsis
Meek and timid Fanny Price, the eldest daughter in her family, is taken in by her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram (a baronet) and his wife Lady Bertram to be raised alongside their children Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia since the age of ten. Though Fanny is brought up along with her cousins, she constantly reminded that she is inferior to her cousins due to her low birth. The only one that Fanny becomes close to is Edmund, who she falls in love with quickly. However the arrival of Henry and Mary Crawford creates an upheaval in the lives of the Bertrams and Fanny.

Review: Little Women (1978)

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After The Inheritance, I finally got to watch this older version of Little Women. I wanted to watch it, but I didn't expect to like it very much. So why did I want to watch it in the first place? I wasn't all that fond of the 1994 movie of it. I've heard bad reviews of it (that it was a poor production). I even admitted that I liked The Inheritance better than Little Women. So why watch this version? One word: Shatner. That's right: Star Trek actor William Shatner is in this version of Little Women. Now I wouldn't classify William Shatner as the greatest actor, but he has such a presence that makes him enjoyable to watch. I was lucky to find this version of Little Women online at Hulu.com. Hulu is a free site if you use it on the computer, but if you want to watch it on your tablet or TV, you have to get a subscription to Hulu Plus.

Synopsis
Adapted from my review of Little Women (1994)
Little Women revolves around the lives of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March, and their mother, Mrs. March [called Marmee]. Mr. March, Mrs. March's husband and Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy's father, is off fighting in the Civil War. Jo March, the main protagonist, becomes quick friends with Theodore "Laurie" Laurence who falls in love with her. 

Review: Mr. Selfridge -- Series 1 (2013)

With Downton's series ended on Masterpiece and another year before Series 4 airs in the U.S., Masterpiece has to show something on Masterpiece Classic between now and then, don't they? Enter Mr. Selfridge, the story of the person who founded London's first department store. I had never heard of the store Selfridge and Co. (commonly referred to as Selfridge's), but it is a store that was opened in the Edwardian era and is still in business today. Since one of my majors is in Accounting, I naturally have an interest in business, so this was something that seemed interesting.

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Synopsis
Based on the story of Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of London's first department store who revolutionized the way stores sell merchandise, in Mr. Selfridge, Harry arrives in London and, unimpressed with the way stores sold merchandise, starts up his own store in an unfashionable side of town.

Review: The Mill on the Floss (1997)

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And now I'm back to reviewing! And for my returning review: The Mill on the Floss. I had seen the 1978 miniseries of it a long time ago, but wasn't very impressed with it. Due to the sad ending, I couldn't really bring my self to like it all that much. I still wanted to see the newer version to see how it would compare, but I didn't have any great expectations for it. But I watched it and I think I did enjoy it at times.

Synopsis
Taken from my review of The Mill on the Floss (1978)
Mill on the Floss follows the story of Maggie and Tom Tulliver, two siblings who live at a mill by a river. When their father, Mr. Tulliver, loses the mill to Mr. Wakem, a lawyer, he suffers a stoke. Mr. Tulliver stays at the mill as Mr. Waken's manager until his death, though he despises working for Mr. Wakem. Meanwhile, Maggie grows fond of Phillip Waken, Mr. Wakem's hunchbacked son.

Review: The Pallisers (1974) -- Episodes 20 - 26

And so I present to you my final review of The Pallisers. (Though, in truth, I finished watching it about a month ago). It was a great ride watching it with my mom, and as the 26 episodes drew to a close, I felt a little sorry that it had to end, but at the same time it ended at a good place. Some series tend to be dragged on further than when it should have ended, so I think Anthony Trollope (and by extension the screenplay writers) made a wise decision to end it when they did.

Note: This review contains spoilers from the previous sections. If you do not want to encounter spoilers, do not read this review. I do encourage you to read the first review, the second review, and the third review of The Pallisers, though.

Synopsis

The Pallisers finishes up with the concluding episodes chronicling the events that occur in Anthony Trollope's books, The Prime Minister and The Duke's Children. Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium, is raised to the position of prime minister, something which his wife, Lady Glencora, take advantage of socially. Plantagenet and Glencora's children, Lord Silverbridge, Gerald, and Lady Mary Palliser, have grown up and become main characters in The Pallisers and the story focuses on their lives.

Review: Jane Eyre (1983)

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And continuing on my quest to watch 12 - 15 period dramas for the Period Drama Challenge, I present to you my review for Jane Eyre (1983). Up to this point, I had seen two versions of Jane Eyre all the way through and clips from various other versions (this one included). The Jane Eyres I have seen up to this point weren't as accurate to the original story as it could have been, but I had heard good things about this version around the period drama blog world (and the clips I had seen of it reinforced the point). I had seen that this version on Netflix for a while, and I finally watched it over a week.

Synopsis
Young Jane Eyre, an orphan, lives with her rich but cruel Aunt, Mrs. Reed and her cousins at Gateshead Hall until Mrs. Reed sends her away to Lowood School to be educated and be rid of her. Ten years after receiving an education and without connections, Jane becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall to young Adele Varens, the ward of Thornfield's master, Mr. Edward Rochester. Thornfield itself holds many secrets and Mr. Rochester is very mysterious and strange, but Jane eventually falls in love with him.

Review: The Pallisers (1974) -- Episodes 15 - 19

And a Happy Birthday to me! :-D. So on my birthday, I will continue with my Pallisers reviews. And after this, one more Pallisers review and this review series will be complete. But anyways, I've had been enjoying The Pallisers at this point in the series and continued to watch and review it (I have finished it already, but I'm a little behind on the reviews). But enough of that: here's the review for the next part!

Note: This review contains spoilers from the previous sections. If you do not want to encounter spoilers, do not read this review. I do encourage you to read the first review and the second review of The Pallisers, though.

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Synopsis
These episodes of The Pallisers follow the events that happen in the book Pineas Redux in Anthony Trollope's Pallisers series. The story continues to focus on Phineas Finn's and Lizzie Eustace's stories, but slowly brings back Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser's story and chronicles Plantagenet's ascension to dukedom. After loosing his wife and child, the mourning Phineas Finn returns to England to continue his political career. While continuing his friendship with Lady Laura while she is separated from her husband, Phineas Finn makes an enemy out of Laura's husband, Robert Kennedy, who has lost his reason. Meanwhile, Lizzie Eustace has married Reverend Emilius, who treats her poorly and who may still be married to a woman in Prague. Lizzie manages to escape and finds refuge with the Bonteens, Mr. Bonteen being Phineas Finn's political rival.

Review: The Pallisers (1974) -- Episodes 7 - 14

Here is the next part of my review of The Pallisers. I was quite impressed with the first six episodes and eagerly continued to watch it. I expected the focus to still be on the Palliser family, though maybe not as a main focus, but to my disappointment the Pallisers were there only a little bit. However, there is still focus on a fairly interesting story line in that of Phineas Finn, an Irish politician, which becomes the main focus of these episodes.

Note: Unlike most multi-part period dramas, this review doesn't contain spoilers from the previous section. But I encourage you to read the first review.

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Synopsis
The Pallisers continues with episodes 7 through 14 recounting the events in the next two books in the Pallisers series, Phineas Finn and The Eustace Diamonds. Phineas Finn is an up and coming politician from Ireland that gains popularity quickly, though at times he can be a little naive about his fellow politicians. Later in the episodes, Lizzie Eustace, a recent widow, was given her husband's diamonds as he laid dying, but there is a question as to whether the diamonds actually belong to the estate and whether Lizzie has the right to keep them. Lizzie is determined to keep her diamonds by scheming those around her... until it all goes wrong.

Review: Downton Abbey -- Series 3 (2012)

Another year, another series of Downton Abbey. Yes, three series have already passed with a fourth series being lined up for next year. The show has, since first being aired in 2010, become immensely popular with more and more people tuning into Masterpiece Theater to watch the lives of the Crawleys and their servants (though I still say that I liked Downton before it was cool). The first two series of Downton were successful, and now Series 3 looks at the lives of the residents of Downton as they come out of World War I. How did Series 3 do? Well, read on!

Note: This review will contain spoilers from Series 1 and Series 2 of Downton Abbey without warning. If you have not seen either series, you may not want to read this review at this time. I have reviewed both previous series if you would like to read the reviews.

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Synopsis
With the end of World War I, the residents of Downton Abbey prepare for post-WWI life. With the impending marriage of Lady Mary to Matthew coming, Lord Grantham finds out that his investment in a Canadian railway company has failed, leaving Downton's future in jeopardy as they face bankruptcy. The expecting Lady Sybil arrives from Ireland with her new husband, former chauffeur Tom Branson, to attend Mary and Matthew's wedding; at Downton, Tom finds himself having difficulty fitting in with the Crawleys that he used to work for. Downstairs, Anna Bates continues to visit her husband, former valet to Lord Grantham John Bates, in prison as the two of them try to figure out a way to find him innocent.

Review: The Pallisers (1974) -- Episodes 1 - 6

My mom and I have started on another series a while ago! This will also be the first period drama that I will be watching for Miss Laurie's Period Drama Challenge (which if you're not participating in, you should be). I'm splitting up the series into multiple reviews since there is so much that is going on, but all the reviews will count as one period drama for the Period Drama Challenge.

But anyways, my mom and I started watching this series a little while ago. We had already seen three period dramas based off of the books of Anthony Trollope and we enjoyed them (some more than others). My mom happened upon this at Amazon and had asked if I had heard of The Palliswers (which I had heard of a while ago) and she bought it for us to watch. We didn't know too much about this series (I knew it had Susan Hampshire in it, who was also in The Barchester Chronicles, and that it was about politics), so we sat down to watch it without knowing very much of it.

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Synopsis
Adapted from The Pallisers series written by Anthony Trollope, the first six episodes follow the events in the first book in the series Can You Forgive Her?. Pressured by her aunt to marry the rich and future duke of Omnium, Plantagenet Palliser, Lady Glencora M'Clusky marries the older Mr. Palliser though she is still in love with the roguish Burgo Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, Glencora's cousin, Alice Vavasor, is engaged to John Grey, but she begins to fall back in love with her cousin, George, who she was engaged to but rejected due to his being unfaithful.

Review: Upstairs Downstairs - Series 2 (2012)

Took me long enough to review this. I actually watched Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 2 when it aired on PBS last year, but I ended up pushing this review back further and further, adding to it little by little until now. As you may remember, I was not a fan of the first series of the reboot of Upstairs, Downstairs, but I watched Series 2 hoping that it would get better. Though I didn't think it would live up to the original series, I still watched and expected it to be a decent period drama. How did I find it? Well, read on!

Note: This review contains spoilers from Series 1 of Upstairs, Downstairs. If you do not want to run into spoilers, then do not read this review. If you want to read up on Series 1, you can find it here.

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Synopsis
The story starts just before England entered WWII. Lady Agnes Holland has given birth to her second child, but does not have any more hopes of having any more children. Hallam's aunt, Blanche Mottershead, has moved in with the Hollands after the death of Hallam's mother, Lady Maud. Lady Persie returns from Germany after a riot breaks out and resettles back in 165 Eaton Place seeming to renounce her Nazi views. There is also some additions to the staff: Beryl Ballard as the new nursery maid and Eunice McCabe as the new kitchen maid.

Review: Poldark (1996)

I know, I know... I have said that I had no intention of watching this version of Poldark. After all, though it was planned to bring back Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees as Ross and Demelza Poldark, the film makers ended up recasting the roles to different actors! How could they! This sparked outrage in the Poldark fan base so much that actual protests were staged with the protesters wearing Georgian fashions. But my mom bought a Victorian movie collection that this Poldark was in (and from what I understand, the other movies were decent), so after we finished re-watching Series 2 of the original Poldark series, we watched this movie, though I didn't have any great hopes for it.

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Synopsis
Based off the eighth book in the Poldark Series, The Stranger From the Sea, Poldark (1996) tries to continue the Poldark TV series started in the mid-70s. The year is 1810, ten years after the original Poldark series ended. Jeremy Poldark, the son of Captain Ross Poldark and his wife, Demelza, find a strange man at a ship wreckage and rescue him while Ross is working in Parliament in London. As the man, Stephen Cravenson, recovers, him and the Poldark's older daughter, Clowance, fall in love, though Demelza senses that there is more to Mr. Cravenson's story than he is telling them.

Review: A Christmas Carol (1999)

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And just in time for Christmas! For a special Christmas review, I present you with a review of another version of A Christmas Carol. If you remember, I reviewed in June of 2011 the 2009 movie starring Jim Carrey and gave it a bad review (let's face it, not even Colin Firth could save that movie). But this time (and for Christmas, not in the middle of June like last time), I'm reviewing a version of A Christmas Carol that I could expect more out of: the 1999 version starring Patrick Stewart. I had seen parts of this version, but not the whole thing until last week. So now that I've seen it, I can review it!

Synopsis
Taken from my review of A Christmas Carol (2009)
It's Christmas time and everyone is in a great mood except for Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy old man who does not like Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner who announces that Scrooge will be visited by three more ghosts.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 1 (2010)

And now that I'm completely finished with the original Upstairs, Downstairs, it's time to start on the new Upstairs, Downstairs that came out a few years ago. I have heard some good things about the new series: there were even a couple of my readers that said that the new series was even better than the original series. When my mom and I heard that they were playing the entire first series one Sunday evening, we watched the entire first series! And since PBS was playing Series 1 before they aired Series 2, I was able to watch both series very close together (unlike some of the time where I have to wait a whole year for the next series *Cough*Downton Abbey*Cough*Lark Rise to Candleford*Cough*). But how did it compare to the original series? Well, let's find out!

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Synopsis
In 1936, Sir Hallam Holland and Lady Agnes Holland arrive at 165 Eaton Place six years after the Bellamy family left at the end of the original Upstairs, Downstairs. 165 Eaton Place is in disrepair and Lady Agnes renovates it and hires a new staff to work there with the assistance of Rose Buck, who was the original upper house parlor maid when the Bellamys lived at 165 Eaton Place and who eventually becomes the new housekeeper. When the Hollands move in, Sir Hallam's mother, Lady Maud Holland, arrives unexpectedly to stay and brings with her her secretary, Mr. Aminjit, and her pet monkey, Solomon.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 5 (1975)

Ah! The last series of the original Upstairs Downstairs! I'll admit that when I first started watching Upstairs, Downstairs, I wasn't all that impressed with it: I wasn't fond of the characters, the story, etc. But after watching it, I grew to really like it. I think that by Series 3, many of the problems from Series 1 and 2 were fixed and the show started getting good. And now that's all over. I feel a little sad, but I'm glad that the show improved so that I could like it.

Note: This review of Upstairs, Downstairs will contain spoilers from Series 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you have not seen any of the previous series and do not want to run into spoilers, you may want to wait before you read this review. I suggest that you read my Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 reviews first before watching. 

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Synopsis
Changes have occurred at 165 Eaton Place in the years after the war. Richard Bellamy has since married to Virginia Hamilton, a widow with two small children, and has become a Viscount. Georgina Worsley, Richard's ward, after working as a nurse and seeing the horrors of the first world war, is determined to never become attached to anything and has taken to going to parties. James Bellamy is trying to adjust to his life as a widower after the death of his wife Hazel at the end of the war. Downstairs, Daisy and Edward Barnes return after leaving 165 Eaton Place to find better work (but cannot find any).