To Play the King

The Barchester Chronicles, a BBC miniseries, is adapted from two mid-19th century novels by Anthony Trollope. When a crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires, scandal taints the cozy community of Barchester when their local church becomes the object of a scathing report about the use of church funds. Consequently, an honorable middle-aged clergyman (Donald Pleasence) is forced into moral crisis and a conflict with his son-in-law, a pompous archdeacon (Nigel Hawthorne) and his youngest daughter's beloved (David Gwillim). The arrival of a new bishop (Clive Swift), his domineering wife (Geraldine McEwan), and a devious chaplain (Alan Rickman) - who may be hiding secrets - add to the dramatic scheming and complex power struggles among a colorful cast of characters.

Peter Clifford, a young Catholic priest from Manchester, is transferred to the village of Ballykissangel, Ireland, and is taken by the dry-humored publican Assumpta Fitzgerald who has almost the exact opposite of his good nature and dislikes the organized church. He has to deal with occasional battles against his hateful superior, Father MacAnally, and the day-to-day problems of the people: Brian Quigley, whose constant search for money often leads him to immorality, his daughter Niamh and her lover straight-arrow garda Ambrose Egan, uptight and inquisitive shopkeeper Kathleen Hendley, gruff vet Siobhan Mehigan, cheery mechanic Padraig O'Kelly, comical schoolteacher Brendan Kearney, and elderly farmer Eamon Byrne. Later arrivals to the town include former monk Father Aidan O'Connell, pariah Sean Dillon and his daughter Emma, Eamon's nephew Danny, female Garda Frankie Sullivan, Australian Father Vincent Sheahan, and horse-trainer Avril Burke.

An adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19th-century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.

Two childhood sweethearts reconnect after 50 years apart and plan to marry, only to discover that a misplaced letter from their youth had kept them from finding happiness together decades earlier.

Returning from five years of fighting in the crusades, Robin of Locksley and his manservant Much discover their beloved home under the rule of the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham. To fight the tyranny, Robin becomes the leader of a band of outlaws with Will Scarlett, Allan A Dale, Royston White, Little John, and Djaq. Meanwhile, feisty Lady Marian inspires the love of both her childhood sweetheart Robin and the Sheriff's second-in-command Sir Guy of Gisborne. Later episodes find the addition of friends and foes such as Prince John, warrior monk Tuck, village girl Kate, Guy's sister Isabella, and mysterious Archer.

An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s.