The Website for People Who Love Britain - Anglophiles
If authors and screenwriters are right, then the 1920s was chock full of jazzy, high class sleuths. It’s not wonder that the years between the two World Wars is considered “The Golden Age of Detective Fiction.” Great writers like Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie kept readers in suspense with well-written, but formulaic, tales of … [Read more...]
Big news today for Foyle's War fans! Three New Foyle's war adventures will be coming to PBS Masterpiece Mystery this September. We finally have our Foyle's War Series 8 USA airdates! Foyle and his loyal friend Sam return in three new episodes of the highly anticipated detective series, set in post-war 1946-47. Foyle (Michael Kitchen) and Sam … [Read more...]
Released on DVD by Acorn Media in a two-disc set, The Syndicate is kind of television that earns British television its well-deserved reputation as a provider of quality, intelligent fare for discriminating viewers. This five-episode drama written by Kay Mellor and shown on BBC One in 2012, follows the fates of five supermarket employees who … [Read more...]
Based on Helen Castors’ history book She Wolves: The Woman Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, the DVD She-Wolves: Early Queens of England by Athena, recounts the struggles, triumphs, intrigue and tragedies surrounding the early Queens of England. The three-episode set, hosted and narrated by Castors, briefly tells the story of these … [Read more...]
More great police drama from Acorn Media! Trial and Retribution Set 6, a riveting series of crime stories followed from commission to conviction, was created by Lynda La Plate, who also wrote the much revered Prime Suspect series starring the awesome Helen Mirren. In this program, Victoria Smurfit gives consistently Mirren-worthy performance in … [Read more...]
ITV has released the first trailer for Foyle's War, Series 8, which begins airing on ITV in the UK on Sunday, March 24th, 2013. No word yet on when it will air on PBS in the USA - probably this fall. Check out the preview and see the new challenges facing Christopher Foyle in 3 all new feature length adventures set after World War II. … [Read more...]
I’ve never read Boris Pasternak’s classic novel Doctor Zhivago, but I grew up with the dashing image of Omar Sharif’s Doctor Zhivago in my head. The 1965 movie was one of my mother’s favorites and she loved a good romance! So when I sat down to watch the 2002 TV mini-series remake of the classic movie, I wasn’t sure what to … [Read more...]
When a former police offices is found murdered in a drug den, young DI Ann Travis (Kelly Reilly of Sherlock Holmes) teams up with DCS James Langton (Ciarán Hinds of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) to investigate the case. Emotionally involved because the victim was a friend of Langton, the detectives struggle to keep their feelings in check while … [Read more...]
Here's a nice treat for a Friday. Acorn Media has posted a 13 minute behind the scenes look at the upcoming new series of Foyle's War. For those that don't know, the new series (which will air this summer on PBS) picks up in 1946 and sees Foyle navigating the secret world of spying after World War II. This video is the first good look we've had at … [Read more...]
This fantastic 3-Disc DVD set released by Acorn Media was directed by John A. Davis and Tony Wharmby and features James Warwick and Francesca Annis as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, a madcap couple who banter and bluff their way through eleven smashing London-in-the-Twenties whodunits drawn – sometimes directly– from a book of the same name … [Read more...]
Try to imagine a time when a person could be accused of a crime with little but another person’s word, had no right to an attorney, and the sentence for nearly every crime was death. This was the state English courts of the 18th century, until one young barrister stepped up to become a leading defence counsel and usher in the modern adversarial … [Read more...]
Last week I came down with a lovely seasonal cold (which kindly coincided with my Birthday). I was confined to exile in bed and had plenty of time on my hands so I decided to watch every episode of Foyle's War from start to finish. I'd never seen the show but had always wanted to watch it. I had been provided the new complete DVD box set coming … [Read more...]
Agatha Christie, who wrote more than 70 novels in her lifetime, is one of the best-selling novelists to ever live. Many of her beloved mysteries have aired on the large and small screens, including on PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery. Now fans of Agatha Christie’s PBS television mysteries have voted for their favorites and a Greatest Hits DVD … [Read more...]
This video can only be described at Michael Kitchen playing the theme to Foyle's War on an Electric Guitar. You're welcome. Hat tip to Quietly Enigmatic (Foyle's War Forum) for the discovery. … [Read more...]
Yippee! Another season of New Tricks on DVD! This long running cop show on BBC One just released in three-disc set on Acorn DVD is just right for a long winter’s night curled up in front of the tube. Or a hot summer day in the comfort of your air conditioning, for that matter! The series follows a group of retired detectives who form … [Read more...]
Brenda Blethyn has wowed us on the big screen with Secrets and Lies and Saving Grace (among others,) and in the crime drama series Vera, she shines. As Vera Stanhope, CDI of the fictional Northumbria and City Police, Blethyn gives us a complex character that is at once crusty and vulnerable. She lives alone in a seaside cottage she inherited … [Read more...]
Judi Dench has had a long and lustrous career and there's now a great DVD box set that puts together some of her classic performances in one place. The Judi Dench Collection includes The Cherry Orchard (1962), Talking to a Stranger (1966),Keep an Eye on Amélie (1973), The Cherry Orchard (1981), Going Gently (1981), Ghosts(1987), Make … [Read more...]
Fans of Upstairs, Downstairs might be surprised to learn about a related television series, Thomas & Sarah. When production of Upstairs, Downstairs ended in 1975, fans still wanted more. Thomas & Sarah was television’s response, picking up with two characters who departed from Upstairs, Downstairs during season two. Thomas & Sarah … [Read more...]
I’ll state up front that I am not a big fan of the “crime drama” kinds of shows, so when I opened up my latest Anglotopia package, I was a little dismayed to see Kidnap and Ransom staring back up at me. I perked up a bit to see that one of the guest stars was John Hannah, whom I adore from his other films, and so I gamely put in the DVD and … [Read more...]
A police show filled with sarcastic humor, Vexed is a unique television show that doesn’t fit into one television genre at all. Crimes are being investigated, however it is the humorous personalities and private dramas of the investigators that take center stage in this BBC comedy/drama. Season One of Vexed stars DI Kate Bishop (Lucy Punch of … [Read more...]
Three new 120 minute episodes of Foyle's War will air in the summer of 2013 on Masterpiece Mystery! As World War II raged on, Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle fought his own war keeping Britain safe from domestic crime in Hastings, England. Assisted by Detective Sergeant Paul Milner and Samantha 'Sam' Stewart, Foyle's War aired … [Read more...]
My husband is pretty much in charge of the clicker in our house. He rules the TV like a lazy monarch from his comfy reclining position on our well-worn couch, while from my overstuffed chair across the room, I watch whatever he chooses. Fortunately for me, my husband has fantastic taste in TV. Plus, he keeps up with trends in entertainment that … [Read more...]
I was asked to watch and review Garrow’s Law, Series 3. Here goes. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I could have started with the first of the series – there are a lot of subplots going on that I confess lost me. As with all of the BBCdramas, this is beautifully filmed and the costumes are wonderful. Parts of this were a little like … [Read more...]
I was given the first two DVDs in the Young James Herriott series – LOVED THEM. I was a big fan of the All Creatures Great and Small and these were almost as enjoyable as was that series. This series shows James in the veterinary college in Glasgow. He has a rocky start but soldiers on and succeeds – in true Herriott fashion. I will warn … [Read more...]
William Travers is an honest London lawyer who always believes 100% in his client’s innocence. When Travers learns that he successfully defended a man who was actually guilty of a horrible crime, Travers suffers a mental breakdown and leaves London to settle in quiet Suffolk. After an old college pal is accused of murdering his beautiful … [Read more...]
I should hang my head with shame, here I am, a self-described Anglophile, obsessed with all things British—and I’ve never seen Poirot. Not once, not even half an episode….mostly because I operated under the impression that it was “old” and “outdated”. So, when I opened my latest package to discover Agatha Christie’s Poirot … [Read more...]
Single-Handed 2 is the second installment of an Irish television drama I’d not heard of prior to viewing this 2-disc set released by Acorn Media. A gritty crime drama that plays out against a backdrop of stunning beauty in a remote place in the west of Ireland, it reminded me of nothing so much as the FX series Justified... You know the show … [Read more...]
I'm fascinated by the 20th century so I'm an easy mark for any documentary series about it. James May's 20th Century is the latest DVD release from Acorn Media / Athena that offers up an assessment of the 20th century as only James May could do. Most of us know James May from his role on Top Gear - one of the most popular shows in the world. But … [Read more...]
What influences man to create art? Why did some cultures create images of their Gods as half man, half animal while others sought to represent their God in an abstract way? What part does art play in answering the "big questions" in life? In This is Civilization, art critic Matthew Collins attempts to answer these questions as he guides the viewer … [Read more...]
As America prepared to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, John Jakes became a phenomenal best-selling author with his 8-volume series of historical novels that chronicled the early history of the United States. Beginning in 1974 with the publication of The Bastards and concluding in 1979 with The Americans, Jakes brought history to life … [Read more...]
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas in 2007 in a closet in Chicago. Anglotopia is for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia is now our full time jobs and we spend our time working on the site and planning our yearly trips to Britain. Join us as we explore Britain and everything it has to offer!
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