Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish - reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!
Last week, Tina and I, along with many others, had Manchester on our minds: my post and Tina's post. Jean reviewed the novel Mrs. Miniver. Becky reviewed the most recent season of Call the Midwife.
In the last few weeks, I went back and caught up on some of my favorite British series.
Call the Midwife. Speaking of Call the Midwife, I just finished watching the rest of the episodes on Netflix. That gets me through Season 5. Season 6, as presented on PBS, is on my Tivo and I may get to that soon. But, I don't usually binge-watch from that device so I may wait until these episodes show up on Netflix. This show made an appearance on a top ten list of British TV shows that I made in the summer of 2014.
Gerard Gilbert of The Telegraph called the show "the most subversive drama on TV." I agree, but I also find it wonderfully calming to watch. All those strong women handle crisis after crisis displaying confidence (whether or not they actually feel it) and compassion.
According to that Telegraph article we have at least three more series about nuns and nurses in the early 1960s to look forward to.
Death in Paradise. I wrote about Death in Paradise after watching the first three seasons. Seasons 4 and 5 are available on Netflix now. This continues to be more fun than your average British detective show, more of a parody than serious investigation. It's been going on long enough now that we get some backstory and deeper plot lines for some of the regular characters.
A sixth series has already run on BBC One and a seventh series is scheduled for next year. I'm looking forward to more fun in the sun.
Scott & Bailey. This show had three seasons up on Hulu Plus when I wrote a review in the summer of 2015. The fourth and fifth seasons are available now. Unlike Whitechapel with its untimely cancellation that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Scott & Bailey ended its final season in a satisfying fashion.
If you haven't seen Scott & Bailey, this would be a good time to check it out. The Manchester setting makes it relevant to current events.
Have you seen any of these? What else should I watch?
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
