I think I’m living my life in English TV shows and books
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Anonymous
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Do you have access to hoopla though a library? They have a lot of the acorn content for free. https://www.hoopladigital.com/publisher/3364206373[/quote Thank you for the Hwy plus exhaustion! So much great British content! |
Anonymous
| Good grief. I meant thank you for the hoopla suggestion. |
Anonymous
 glad it helped!
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Anonymous
| Grantchester is good for eye candy + crime solving. |
Anonymous
| What shows are you all watching? I need new shows! |
Anonymous
The Outlaws is a fun comedy. Happy Valley Broadchurch Ghosts - make sure not US version The Great Killing Eve Vera |
Anonymous
New Tricks The Accident One about three or four sisters, Irish, I think? Husband of one dies, dark comedy. Recent show Prey Line of Duty |
Anonymous
Silk Apple Tree Yard The Split |
Anonymous
| The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would likely be your cup of tea. |
Anonymous
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I feel better. I am older (61) and not a lawyer, but the only books I now enjoy reading are Victorian novels of the Trollope, Eliot and Brontë sisters sort. I am irritated that there is not more Jane Austen to re-read. I have ventured out here and there to more modern British authors: Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, Margaret Drabble and her sister A.S. Byatt but am running out of books that depict the quotidian details and domestic banter I crave. I am not sure why I need to read about the merits of certain frocks and bonnets, but I do. It is odd to stare blankly when someone asks if I’ve read the latest “it” novel, but other than Elena Ferrante I don’t like any of them. I am now turning to streaming. I just watched Thackeray’s Vanity Fair mini-series (with Martin Clunes/Doc Martin) and am now enjoying Gentleman Jack. I loved Downton Abbey, the Crown, all the Austen iterations and will try Father Brown. I have never been to England and have no real desire to visit as I know it would be like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. |
Anonymous
| About 8-10 years ago, pre-children, I had an ongoing fantasy that my husband and I moved in next door to Lionel and Jean in As Time Goes By. I’d get Jean’s advice about furniture, we’d get together for G&Ts, we’d hang out at the pub across the road. We’d wonder privately why they were such good friends with Allistair. Whenever I was stuck in traffic or having trouble sleeping, I’d entertain myself with these thoughts. So comforting. I guess this is my way of saying—I see you, OP. You are not alone! |
Anonymous
| I am with you OP (early 50s scientist). I am so excited to try suggestions from this thread. |
Anonymous
You mean...not like you expected/fantasized it to be? (It's been ages since I saw that movie, so....) My DH is English and (until the pandemic) we went over there every year, plus I lived there for a year at one point. A PP earlier in the thread said something along the same lines as you did, about loving the shows and novels etc. but not wanting to visit in real life. May I suggest those of you who feel this way rethink things? If you plan enough, you can have a fantastic experience that will give you plenty of the old vibes you crave. Focus on getting out of London and basing yourself somewhere you can visit National Trust properties, villages, coastal towns, etc. I know the South and Southwest best (Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire) but Yorkshire can do the same for you and so can places in Scotland and Wales. It's a matter of having the money, frankly, to stay in a good small hotel, B&B or best of all, a historic property--quite a few National Trust, Landmark Trust and English Heritage-run properties have accommodations you might not even realize are there! We have stayed maybe 15 times at a modern flat located inside a 12-century castle ruin with 16th-century additions in my in-laws' town. You do best if you have a rental car and someone willing to drive, though; that's how to see the relatively unchanged villages and stop at little tea rooms and pubs on a whim. I know, I'm fortunate that DH was raised driving in the UK but we also do take buses between villages and of course trains. Not to mention that visiting authors' houses (Jane Austen's country home is open and there is also an excellent Austen museum in the city of Bath) and filming sites for series you loved can be great. I know, it's expensive but I just wanted to note that for those who are balking at ever traveling to the UK out of any concern it isn't like what you see and read--of course it's modern, but you can see many, many fantastically kept historic and literary sites, and wander all day long around villages that still have a bakery, a butcher, a sweet shop, a small local department store like we used to have here, etc. |
Anonymous
DP. Have heard fantastic things about the UK original version of "Ghosts" but can't spring for yet another streaming service to see it, and have zero other reasons to get HBO Max or whatever it is now. Anyone know if it's available anywhere other than on Max or with a VPN and BBC iPlayer? (Ugh, I hate that BBC iPlayer is required for many shows and you can't get it outside the UK except with a VPN....) |
Anonymous
Thank you so very much for your kind and thoughtful response. I recently read a blip about council estates being planned on the moors that inspired Wuthering heights and the ensuing outrage- and you’re right, there are historic and literary sites to visit. Might be a future trip with a girlfriend. Off to Google who has monetized tours of this type. |