Period Drama Week Tag Question- Part 2

Here is the 2nd (and last) Part of the Period Drama Week Tag. For those of you who haven't heard yet Miss Elizabeth over at her blog Elegance of Fashion has been running Period Drama Week. One way to join in the fun was to participate in this tag, you can also check out her blog for some great posts including a trivia challenge.




11. Which period drama which you haven't seen yet do you most want to watch?

There is actually quite a few but I really want to see these three: Cranford (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Jane Eyre (2006)

NOTE: I typed this up 2 days ago since then  I bought Sense and Sensibility (2008)! I hope to start watching it tonight :)

12. Which period drama has the prettiest soundtrack or background music?

I love the background music in North & South and Downton Abbey.  I also love the music in Tristan & Isolde (note: my version of the film is edited of the inappropriate scenes), I own the soundtrack and I play it constantly in my room. It has a beautiful Irish sound to it that I love. 

13. Which period drama has your favourite screenplay/script? Why? (e.g if it is similar to the original text, if there is one, or if it has been improved in some ways)

This question is a little hard because there are so many great ones. A few I love include The Young Victoria, The Abduction Club, Ever After and Bright Star. But my favourite would have to be Lost in Austen, simply because before I began watching it I was absolutely convinced I would hate it. I'm not a big fan of modern Austen adaptations or anything that strays too far from the novels but I loved it. It was funny, original and completely separate from Jane Austen's work so I felt I could love it without feeling I had somehow wronged Jane and her work. There were a few things I didn't like about it but largely I thought the script was great.

14. Do you like having multiple versions of some period dramas? Do some period dramas need a newer version?
I definitely love having multiple versions, I find I love them all for different reasons. I do think some of them need a newer (longer) version, but it doesn't entirely bother me right now I'm pretty much content. Oh come to think of it a new mini-series Persuasion would be nice though.

15. What is the longest period drama you've seen?

I am not entirely sure, just thinking off the top of my head I think it may be Middlemarch (1994) However if TV series' are included I am sure I have seen plenty that run longer than Middlemarch. Namely Robin Hood (BBC 2006) with its 39 episodes long at around 45 minutes each.

17. Do you prefer watching a regular-length movie or a more in-depth mini-series? Why?
A mini-series without a doubt. I think as an audience we are able to connect more with the story and the characters.


18. What period drama has one of your favorite actors/actresses in it?

One of my very favourite actors is Heath Ledger, he was my favourite actor (before I knew of Harry Lloyd) and when I was growing up A Knights Tale was my all time favourite movie, I thought Heath's performance in it was wonderful. It is definitely my favourite performance in a period film. Unfortunately I haven't seen the film in a long time because the day Heath passed away was my 18th birthday, I was so upset I made sort of like a vow to never watch A Knights Tale again. But recently my Mum brought me home a magazine all about A Knights Tale and I was able to look at it without crying (see its all about baby steps) so maybe soon I will try and watch the film again. Anyway not only does this film have Heath Ledger but also has some of my other favourite actors including James Purefoy, Paul Bettany and the amazing and awesomely talented Rufus Sewell.


19. Which heroine from which movie was your least favorite? Why?

Definitely Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights, she is my least favourite simply because I don't think she is a good role model or character. I don't like to sound too negative or put people into boxes but for me personally she doesn't fit my ideal of a good heroine.  

20. Which three period dramas are your least favorite?
I'm not sure whether I am supposed to list my 3 least favourite period drama films I have seen or the ones I don't want to see. So I'm just going to list the ones I have seen:

1. Jane Eyre (1983)
The one huge reason I hated this mini-series was Timothy Dalton's Rochester. Okay so I disliked Rochester in the book, but seriously that was nothing compared with the Rochester in this film. I watched the entire thing through something i would never do ever again- I would rather stick pins in my eyes!

2. Persuasion (2007)
It wasn't that this film was particularly bad, but the chemistry was off I didn't believe in the whole Anne and Wentworth relationship. I really disliked Sally Hawkins' portrayal of Anne, but I actually think she is a great actress she just didn't suit the character of Anne. And the I can't stand the end scene where Anne runs all around the world only to run all the way back again! Seriously!

3. Northanger Abbey (1986)
Thankfully I had read the novel and seen the 2007 adaptation before this one because if watching this film was my first introduction to Northanger Abbey I would never ever consider reading the novel or going anywhere near Henry Tilney (now that's a bad thought!). Needless to say I really didn't like this adaptation, it was creepy, freaky and way too Gothic. Catherine annoyed me, Henry creeped me out and I didn't like anything about it at all.


16. Who are your favourite actors/actresses from period drama?
You may have noticed that I skipped this question before, I wanted to end on a more positive note so I left this one till last. I found this question so hard because I love so many of the actors/actresses that are in period dramas. Anyway it was a painful process but I narrowed it down to my favourite 5 actors/actresses from period dramas.

1. Harry Lloyd [Robin Hood (BBC), Jane Eyre (2011) and in anticipation of The Iron Lady and Great Expectations (TV Series)]
2. Justine Waddell (Wives and Daughters, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles)
3. Richard Armitage [North & South, Robin Hood (BBC)]
4. Rufus Sewell (Middlemarch, Tristan & Isolde, Amazing Grace)
5. Dame Maggie Smith (Washington Square, Becoming Jane, Downton Abbey)

and I couldn't help it, I had to give a special mention to Hugh Bonneville, Julia Ormond and Jonathan Firth.



I hope you enjoyed reading my answers,

Love Mel

Period Drama Week Tag Questions Part 1

It's Period Drama Week over at Miss Elizabeth's lovely blog Elegance of Fashion. One way in which to get involved in this special event is to participate in this tag, which is compiled of 20 questions relating to Period Drama's.
I really enjoyed answering these questions and hope that you enjoy reading them. Don't forget to stop by Elegance of Fashion to see what other exciting things as happening throughout the week.



1. How did you get into period dramas?

I remember as a child staying at my grandparents and seeing  The King and I. I became entranced by the costumes and language which seemed so foreign as child who mostly grew up on Disney films. So it started there but it really wasn’t until about 5 years ago where I became trapped in the period drama world.

2. What is it that you like about period dramas?

This is a hard question, really its everything about them, I suppose the simplest way to put it is to borrow a few words from Amanda Price from the mini-series Lost in Austen :

"I love the love story. I love Elizabeth. I love the manners and language and the courtesy."

3. Do you usually read a book and then watch the adaptation or do you watch the adaptation and then read the book?

Usually try to read the book first and in most cases I have read the book before I have even heard of the film adaptation. But I think as time goes by and as  more novels are made into films and as life gets busier I think this will change.

4. What are your top three period dramas and why?

Another hard question. I don't have a top 3, I have a top 15 or 20 I think. I am going to leave out the Austen adaptations because I have already spoken enough about them. So here are 3 films I love from my Top 15 :)

1. The Abduction Club (2002)
This one was an easy choice. I love this film, it has action, adventure, romance, a little comedy, exquisite costumes, dashing gentlemen, feisty young ladies, gorgeous scenery and a Irish-styled soundtrack- what more could you want! It is my favourite movie to sit down and watch with one of my sisters (the one closest to me in age), we both adore it and spend hours, literally, speaking about it afterwards.

2. Lorna Doone (2000)
I watched this film for the first time earlier this year, since then I have watched it so many times I don't even want to think about it. I love the time period in which this film is set and the scenery is lovely.

3.  The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
Picking the 3rd one was a little harder but when it came down to it I knew it was going to be this one. This film is gorgeous but terribly sad, I think it has some of the most amazing acting performances in a movie. Two of the lead characters are young boys who have to carry the film and they do it magnificently.

5. From those three period dramas that you picked, who are your favorite characters in each one?

Catherine Kennedy from The Abduction Club. I love Anne, Catherine's younger sister too so it was hard to choose but I love Catherine because she reminds me so much of Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility (Anne's a lot like Marianne too). Catherine is protective, sensible, beautiful and responsible. She cares so much for her family that she is willing to set aside her own feelings to try and do what is best for them.

Lorna is my favourite character from Lorna Doone.  She is strong, feisty but also beautiful, serene and kind. I loved Amelia Warner's portrayal of her, I thought it was very captivating and the emotion she put into her performance was so believable.

Shmuel from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, he is seriously the cutest little kid ever. I just wanted to take him home! I cried almost every time I saw him on the screen, he was so gorgeous. And seriously who cannot love a kid with huge eyes and a name like "Shmuel" it is such an awesome name!

6. Which author do you like the adaptations of their works best?

Jane Austen, I suppose because she is my favourite author, its just so hard not to like the good adaptations of her work. But I still think that adaptations of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels are the most well adapted films from novels- Wives and Daughters and North & South were so beautifully filmed and scripted and stayed so faithful to the novels. And although I haven't yet seen Cranford  (but I just bought the novel so once I have read it I plan to see it) but I have heard it too is very good. 

7. Which period drama characters are the funniest to you (Keep it under three)?

Squire Hamley
I cannot help but laugh at almost laugh at almost everything he says in Wives and Daughters.

John Thorpe
I know that he could easily fall into the 'most annoying' category but I just find him hilarious. He has no idea that no one cares at all about what he is saying or that his gig has this or that. I loved William Beck's portrayal of him in the 2007 adaptation, I must admit that although he was super creepy I found that it only made it all the more funny for me.

Mrs. Hyacinth Gibson
I don't think I ever laughed so much in a period drama movie than in one particular scene in Wives and Daughters where Hyacinth Gibson (played by Francesca Annis) at almost the very end of the film does some quite hilarious waving actions through the window (I don't want to give away too much for those of you who may not have seen this film). Anyway it had both my Mum and I in tears.

8. Which period drama characters are the most annoying (Keep it under three)?

Mary Musgrove
She is the reason that I don't often watch the 2007 adaptation of Persuasion- well along with the marathon scene at the end. Mary really annoys me, I will leave it at that because I already wrote about it here during Jane Austen Week.

9. Which period drama characters are in your top three?

1. Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey (2007)
The heroine of my favourite novel, just as I said during Jane Austen Week "I adore Catherine, she is the un-heroic heroine of literature. She possesses little of the "traits" that a heroine is expected to. She is not wealthy, or exceptionally beautiful or altogether intelligent. And I feel she is just so easy to identify with because she comes across at the beginning of the novel as an ordinary young girl who in general is nothing special. But as the novel progresses we see such a transformation of her character where Catherine becomes a heroine in her own special way."

2. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind (1939)
Okay, this one seems a little strange but she has always been high on my favourite characters list. I love her despite and because of her many obvious flaws, to me she is so human and so easy to identify with in many ways. I admire her determination and sympathise with how dearly she holds onto the old life/world as everything changes around her. And Vivien Leigh was simply beautiful in the role, she really is Scarlett.

3. Will Scarlett from Robin Hood (TV series)

Harry Lloyd's Will Scarlett is my favourite male character in any Period Drama (followed closely by Richard Armitage's Mr. Thornton). He is one of those characters who rarely does anything for himself, its all about the people he can help and what he can do to ease their pain and suffering.

10. When you watch period dramas, what is it that you pay the closest attention to (ie. costuming, scenery, etc.)?

I suppose it is faithfulness and chemistry. Firstly if it is based on a novel I tend to get extremely frustrated if they deviate significantly from the original storyline. I also pay close attention to the chemistry between characters. For me costumes, hairstyles, make up, scenery and music all play a huge part in a film but if one is lacking I don't ever feel the movie is bad- it can usually be compensated for however if their is no chemistry between the two lead characters, there is nothing in my opinion that can fix the film, from there it just...flops.

Love Mel xx

A quick update and it's spring!

Goodness me I have been so slack on the posts lately, so I am going to give you all a quick update on what has been going on:

Firstly its Spring here in Australia! and although today isn't all that glorious the past 3 or 4 days have been beautiful- Even the flowers have begun to bloom. Also, I have just hit mid-semester so things at Uni are crazy to say the least but...something I neglected to tell you was that I was able to pick up a poetry subject this semester! For those of you who know I am studying science at university you will understand my joy and surprise at being allowed to do this subject. Last week I finished my first assignment for the class, which was to read a poem (from a given list) out to the class and discuss it. I am terrified of class presentations so I was extremely stressed, but my recitation of John Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" went without a hiccup- so to speak :)

Anyway that's enough about my life, I don't want to bore you to tears...

So in other news Miss Elizabeth over at Elegance of Fashion is hosting "Period Drama Week". This kicks off very shortly which is very exciting. I will be trying my hardest to post up my answers to the tag questions during this special week.

Also this week I hope to post some more about some upcoming films, some news about Harry Lloyd and also about The Liebster Award which I was awarded by several lovely people during the past week. 

And just I to leave you with something that makes me smile, I recently learnt the art of - How to make a GIF image, so here is my first attempt. (Elizabeth this one's for you!)

Much Love,

Mel