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5 Episodes 2008 - 2008
Episode 1
44 mins
An overview of the genre, from its beginnings with swashbuckling series The Adventures of Robin Hood to classic period dramas such as The Forsyte Saga, Upstairs Downstairs and Brideshead Revisited. This episode traces the changes the genre has undergone in its 50 year history and speaks to stars of the shows featured including Susan Hampshire, Timothy West, Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Anthony Andrews, Alex Kingston and Art Malik. We also speak to those involved behind the cameras including directors, screenwriters and commissioners - as well as TV critics and journalists.
Episode 2
45 mins
The power of the genre to create new stars - or to spur existing stars on to create some of their most powerful performances. From Mansfield Park's Billie Piper to Helen Mirren in Elizabeth and My Boy Jack's Daniel Radcliffe to Keira Knightley's TV debut in Doctor Zhivago we speak to the stars themselves as well as their fellow actors about what it takes to create these iconic characters on screen - and the rigours of working on such demanding shows.
Episode 3
45 mins
The "bodice rippers" of the 1990s helped costume dramas shed their staid reputation as quickly as characters doffed their period garb. Colin Firth's wet-shirt scene in Pride and Prejudice and the romps of Moll Flanders lead the saucy literary adaptations.
Episode 4
45 mins
The pursuit of high production values drove costume dramas into real castles and countryside. Castle Howard appeared in Brideshead Revisited, Cornwall lent local color to Poldark, and a Lithuanian river became the Thames for Helen Mirren's Elizabeth I.
Episode 5
45 mins
Costume dramas spawned an army of dashing heroes in uniform, but not all fought with the aplomb of Sharpe or Horatio Hornblower. The Monocled Mutineer opened a controversial chapter of WWI and A Piece of Cake's flying stunts rewrote the Battle of Britain.