Alright, I realize that Last Tango in Halifax does not qualify as Period Drama, however this is my blog and I am really enjoying watching this on Netflix this winter. In fact this is one of the few things that can keep me on my stationary bike for a full hour!
Written by Yorkshire lass Sally Wainwright, this series is based on her mother's story of losing touch with a high school sweetheart and the romance which happens after finding him on the internet decades later. Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are both acting royalty in England and do an amazing job as the septuagenarian lovers.
Wainwright has a talent for dialog which makes the relationships alternately touching, hilarious or heartbreaking. There never seems to be a false note, no matter how unbelievable the situation.
Sarah Lancashire plays the snooty lesbian headmistress daughter of Celia (Anne Reid) and Nicola Walker plays the "modern Bathsheba" Gillian, an oversexed sheep farmer and daughter of Alan (Derek Jacobi). Obviously there are some fireworks when these two worlds collide, thanks to Alan and Celia's developing relationship.
And if you get addicted to Sally Wainwright's work like I have, you'll be happy to know that she has two other wonderful series currently on Netflix- Scott and Bailey, a detective drama series with three women in the main roles. How refreshing to see entire scenes played out in the WOMEN'S LOO!
If you like your crime drama even grittier, Happy Valley is Wainwright's ironically named latest series starring Sarah Lancashire (again!) as a gritty police Sergeant in Yorkshire. More dramatic and fewer moments of levity made this one a harder slog for me but if you want to see James Norton (the sexy vicar from Granchester) as a criminal who will make your flesh crawl, this one is for you!
And FYI, although there are only two seasons of Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix at the moment, a third season has already aired in the UK and a fourth season has been announced. Hurrah!
Cheers!
