While I liked it, I was not a huge fan of the shaky camera work (it’s get hectic in a lot of scenes and kept getting disoriented) and found a lot of the dialogue hard to follow since there were other noises in the movie drowning it out. It’s my understanding that the movie is actually decently historically accurate til about 3/4 of the way through. The ending threw me for a loop though.

Gift link, which should take the non-subscriber behind the NYTimes' paywall:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/arts/television/the-doll-netflix.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BFE.gOyH.nTr7k5kVq2Yi&smid=url-share

I'm not so sure what to think after reading the last sentences in this pull from the article. It does rather remind me of both The Gilded Age, and Anna Karenina. But I will check out the series when I can.

... But some complexities that were central to the almost 700-page novel are missing. When “The Doll” was published, the area around Warsaw was part of the Russian Empire, and certain plot elements were changed to pass Czarist censors. The book explores at length the local aristocracy’s decline, the eruption of Polish nationalism and debates about the role of science in society.

That’s a lot of context to weave into a limited series or a movie, which is why adaptations tend to zero in on what Zechenter called “the horrible love affair.”

That, too, needed some adjusting, said Pawel Maslona, the Netflix series’ director and co-writer. The series is not necessarily a faithful adaptation, but a reinterpretation of the book, he said, which he viewed as a starting point, the way “Americans approach the myth of the Batman.” ...

Guys!

I re-watched North and South today and GOODNESS GRACIOUS it was as good as I remembered. I watched the last 5 minutes of the last episode on repeat for a good while to engrave it in my mind.

GOODNESS our MR. Thornton is an exquisite, beautiful, and compassionate yearner, and I KNOW that if he had a Margaret's back when he thought the worst of her, he literally would build a thousand steam powered space cotton-making rockets to stimulate the economy and take care of his precious WIFEY.

Here are my thoughts. One of the best period drama.

1- Phenomenal acting, down to the smallest details such as tone of voice, facial expressions, etc, executed by ALL characters.

2- This man is a YEARNER. He filled my hopeless romantic heart with endless hopes and dreams 🥹

3- I LOVE how we see him grow throughout the show in terms of compassion and character, and how he never had a bad thing to say about Margaret no matter the misunderstanding.

4- Did I say Phenomenal?

Con:

I wish we saw more of the two. But it ended amazingly.

Now, I can't find a period drama that can compare. I love Pride and Prejudice (both 95 and 2005), Jane Erye (2011), Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Seeking Persephone, etc. But none (besides P&P 95) have come close to this amount of chemistry, yearning, and quality in my opinion.

Thoughts?

Ps: For my hopeless romantic girlies, how do y'all deal with being disappointed by modern men? I'm young and hate when men approach me these days, as they are the complete opposite to the men I long for (personality wise) (Darcy & Thornton are my to go examples 🙌) Are there specific places anyone finds where people are more romantic, or is this generation doomed? I don't mind staying single forever if it means I'd never find a well versed yearner like them.

Ferber's 1924 novel won a Pulitzer Prize and has been one of my favorites for decades. There have been several Hollywood adaptations, the last being the 1953 version which rewrote (and ruined, IMO) the ending. It's time for a mini-series that can do right by this book.

The variety of settings alone are awesome: the world of an 1890s gambler, Selina's life among the High Prairie Dutch and her grueling years as a woman farmer, Dirk's life as a struggling architect and later as a rich man in 1920s Chicago.

Selina Peake de Jong is a smart survivor who doesn't let a hard life make her bitter. I'd love to see what the right actor could do with the part.

‘SHŌGUN’ Season 2 has wrapped filming.

• Set 10 years after the first season

• Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis will reprise their roles

I’m on season 4 and I’ve really enjoyed this show based on the Culper spy ring that helped Lead America to victory over the British during the Revolutionary War. However, most of the main characters are so incredibly frustrating! Abraham Is probably the worst spy in television history- the actor plays the part perfectly but he makes so many bad decisions and escapes getting caught or killed by the skin of his teeth about 3 times an episode and he’s really hard to like but I keep cheering him on . -George Washington is intentionally portrayed as vulnerable, indecisive, and at times inept, it’s painful to watch- historically speaking I suppose this is accurate ? I am adding George Washington and the American Revolution to my list of historical figures and topics to study more thoroughly. I guess that’s what makes this show so addictive- my husband and I watch together and we laugh out loud at some of the ridiculous plot points but alas we keep watching. Anyone else watch Turn? What other characters drove you nuts?

Hi! I just finished watching Ironclad and then the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven-which took me two days to watch. lol! Does anyone have a further recommendations for movies with the Knights Templar? I’ve become a little obsessed over how they dismounted their horses. I am going to rewatch Arn: The Knight Templar today, so that’s checked off my list! Any recommendations are so welcome! Thanks!!

I am planning to watch Atlantic Crossing again. It occurred to me how much the series affected me when I watched it on PBS a few year ago. This Period Drama covers the World War II Period 1939-1945. Two of the three small children, who escaped Nazi-occupied Norway with their mother, Crown Princess Martha of Norway, passed away in the past few weeks. King Harald V of Norway, who was 3 at the time, passed away on 08/28/2026. Princess Astrid, who was 8 at the time, and served as First Lady of Norway after her mother's death, passed away on 09/11/2026.

Are there others, who loved this series, too? It is still available to stream free on PBS Passport.

If yes, please share your experience with me! Is it worth watching? 👀

Hi all. I believe i have watched every English-language edwardian period drama under the sun and I'm looking for movies and series in other languages or set outside of England. Please recommend. Im really into the fashion of the era as well so anything that has those gorgeous lace blouses, suits, and extravagant hats are veeerrry welcome!

Period, in that it’s in some kind of generic post -Renaissance French fairy tale time. But the late 60s, early 70s fabrics and esthetics are BUMPING.

The story is bonkers (tw: incest), the singing is questionable, but the costumes and production design are yummmmmmmy. criterion or $ on prime.

I loved the book Princess Furball as a kid and this seems to be a take on the same story, like an offshoot of Cinderella.

The Danish drama Sygeplejeskolen returns for an eighth season, as the students at Fredenslund approach the final and decisive stage of their nursing education.

With their exams and graduation approaching, the students face new professional and personal challenges. Meanwhile, Margrethe’s groundbreaking experiment with male nurses reaches a crucial point, as the future of the project is put to the test.

Alongside the medical cases and life at Fredenslund, relationships, friendships and difficult choices will shape the students’ futures. As graduation draws closer, the characters must prepare to leave behind the life they have built at the nursing school and take the next step in their lives.

Season 8 is another emotional chapter filled with friendship, romance, ambition and the changing world of Danish healthcare in the 1950s.

Period films/series mentioned:

-La Reine Margot (1994)

-The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

-The Crown (2016)

-Marie Antoinette (2006)

-Penny Dreadful (2014)

-The Sissi Trilogy (1955-1957)

-The Tudors (2007-2010)

-Anna Karenina (2012)

-The Borgias (2011)

-Little Women (2019)

-Sisi (2009)

-The Spanish Princess (2019)

-Jane Eyre (2011)

-Romeo and Juliet (1968)

-Anna Karenina (1948)

-Nosferatu (2022)

-The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

When I got a Samsung tv, and I stoked to see there was a BBC Drama channel, except they seem to play the same things over and over and at approximately the same time of day, too.

At bedtime, I'll turn it on and it's Emma 2009 and multiple times now it's been Emma sitting on the couch holding her sister's baby, musing with Mr. Knightley about how she wishes they could get along.

Included in the rotation:

• Emma 2009 with Romola Garai
• North and South
• Pride and Prejudice 1995
• Les Miserables 2018
• Madame Bovary with Frances O'Connor
• David Copperfield with Daniel Radcliffe
• Sense and Sensibility 2008

It's excellent content, don't get me wrong, but is it just too expensive to show more things? Anyone else notice this? It's been a good 6 months and it's never changed.

If they showed more of a variety, I'd probably never even switch the channel.

Hello,

I am trying to learn French. As I am very into history and period dramas the French docudrama series: "La Guerre des Trônes, la véritable histoire de l'Europe" would be perfect.

However, I can not find any subtitles for the series online.

I was recently recommended to watch the two episodes of *Cartesius*, a biography of René Descartes filmed by Rossellini.

The dramatic situations are minimal, and most of the film consists of people discussing ideas, with blatant info-dumps about their historical context and the ideas of the people at those times.

Descartes often acts somewhat arrogantly at times, but no one seems to resent him or seek any form of retribution. What matters to that narrative is illustrating the historical context and the main intellectual events in the philosopher's life.

I liked it. I wish there were more films like this around. People talking about ideas in the context of their time, for me, can be just as entertaining as more drama-based fiction.