Best British TV Shows

I fell in love with Miss Marple many years ago and she never even knew! Can I convince you that Falling in Love with the Miss Marple Episodesis worth it?

Miss Marple is of course one of Agatha Christie's most beloved character creations. One Christmas we watched a few of the episodes as they were being shown on Television. Ever since the only actress who has been truly convincing in the role is Joan Hickson.

A short while ago we bought the UK edition of Marple: The Classic Mysteries Collection on DVD and we have been enjoying dipping into them from time to time to enjoy yet another of the Miss Marple Episodes.

Anyone, who like me, has fallen in love with Miss Marple, the elderly spinster amateur detective is sure to consider Marple: The Classic Mysteries Collection an amazing gift. In fact, even those who have never read a single Christie work or watched any of the Miss Marple episodes are likely to develop a soft spot for the literary world’s most gentle crime solver, making the collection a perfect gift for just about anyone who appreciates mysteries.

Joan Hickson as Miss Marple

I remember reading many years ago that Hickson was said to be author Agatha Christie’s choice to play her Miss Marple after Hickson appeared in a 1940 stage play of Christie’s Appointment With Death. Apparently Christie wrote Hickson a note expressing her hope that Hickson would one day play the role of Miss Marple. That hope came true more than 30 years later, and that seems to have forever changed Hickson’s life as she has also narrated several audio books with Miss Marple as their star.

One real bonus that the US Edition of the Miss Marple Episodes contains that we didn't get here in the UK is that the collection includes a feature on the life of author Agatha Christie, a biography and filmography of actress Joan Hickson, a biography of Miss Marple, a complete listing of every Miss Marple story ever written, interactive menu displays and a scene selection feature.

Will You Fall In Love With Miss Marple?

Miss Marple played by Joan Hickson will always have a special place in my heart because she is so perfectly English, so very clever and so very watchable! Have you fallen in love with Miss Marple yet?

The boxed set includes all except three Miss Marple episodes where Joan Hickson showcases her charming portrayal of the crime-busting senior in stories faithfully adapted from the original best-selling works by one of the most famous and popular mystery authors in history.

Sherlock Holmes is a story that almost everyone knows, and with so many different adaptations it's likely you've watched at least one of them. Sherlock Season one from the BBC is different to all the other adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous story.

It's set in modern day London complete with mobile phones and laptop computers. This review will show you everything that you need to know about BBC's adaptation so you can decide whether or not you want to buy the DVD's.

The BBC has done Sherlock Justice with this adaptation. It's enough like the original to keep fans of Sherlock interested, but different enough to be entertaining to watch. It's not the same as many other Sherlock Holmes adaptations as this one is set in the modern day and has lots of twists which make it much more appealing to watch.

Each episode of the series is around 2 hours in length. This is a long time compared to many other criminal dramas, but this is good in the case of Sherlock. The 2 hour per episode run time allows plenty of time for the characters to be developed and portrayed correctly. This builds a very clear story which draws you in and keeps you wanting more.

The Casting in Sherlock Holmes season one is brilliant. Benedict Cumberbatch plays a cold and collected Sherlock Holmes. While his sidekick - Watson is played by Martin Freeman who you might know from the other UK hit, the Office. The casting really makes watching this even more enjoyable.

Many people were very skeptical when the BBC announced plans for a modern day Sherlock. While a lot has changed since the Sherlock Holmes stories were written, the writers of this drama have cleverly kept much of the atmosphere and feel of the original books in the TV series.

While there have been massive advancements in forensic science, the way this is worked into the storyline makes watching Sherlock very enjoyable. It can seem strange to watch a modern day Sherlock on your TV, but after a while it just seems normal. You will get drawn into the drama of the show and completely forget that Sherlock is normally set in the past.

Sherlock Holmes might have modern day technology and crime solving techniques at his disposal, but this does not change anything about him really. He is still calm, calculating and he still deduces things in the way you would expect.

Although the classic British TV Show Doctor Who has been popular round the world, when Matt Smith became the 11th incarnation the viewing figures and demands for the show increased. The fact that every so often the main character changes person is one of the main reasons why people continue to watch it. It means that without changing anything especially about the show, the writers and producers are still able to inject new life into it to stop it becoming stale or boring.

There is also the fact that even though regeneration does not stop the Doctor being the Doctor, with every new incarnation there's a new temperament and personality; which is always fascinating to watch. Fans are always speculating about whether a new Doctor will be funny, tough, silly or just crazy.

The Doctor, although human looking, is very alien and has very alien principles and normally those kinds of traits stop people from connecting with characters; people still connect to the Doctor thanks to his companions. Since the very first series, the Doctor has never traveled in the TARDIS alone and while there have been alien companions occasionally, they have predominately been earthlings. People really enjoy the relationships that develop between the Doctor and whatever companion is accompanying him.

For instance, when David Tennant was the Doctor and Rose Tyler was his companion, they fell in love. Whereas, Amy Pond (Played by Karen Gillan) had more of a brother and sister relationship with Matt Smith’s Doctor. A new Doctor and new companion means that the dynamics change, without changing the show entirely.

It goes without saying that one of the other main reasons why people love Doctor Who so much is the fact that it is all about time travel. We all would love to be able to travel to our favorite times in history or to travel into the future so that we could peak at what’s in store for humans and the universe.

Obviously when the Doctor goes traveling into the future or the past, trouble is always around the corner. It’s interesting the way that the show switches and blends different genres depending on the storyline of an episode. Some are more action-orientated featuring the Doctor trying to reason with a bloodthirsty alien villain, without having to fight back; whereas other episodes are a lot more minimalist and often very cerebral.

Most people are familiar with Doctor Who, even if they don’t like it, and even though there are core components to the show’s formula that stay the same; the fact that many other parts are so flexible give it a lasting quality.

Any fan of sci-fi who hasn’t watched Doctor Who, should check it out – particularly if you love an incredible old man who doesn’t look like he ages, travelling around the universe, space and time with various companions fighting aliens and generally saving the day!

Downton Abbey is one of the most popular TV shows currently on British TV. With British TV shows becoming more and more popular there are plenty of places you can buy the DVDs from. This review will help you to decide whether it's worthwhile for you to buy Downton Abbey Season 1 - 4 on DVD or Blu Ray.

The DVD set contains multiple discs which have episodes from four seasons of the hit British TV show. This means that you get 7 episodes from the first season, and 8 episodes from the second, third and fourth seasons. There are also some Christmas specials included on the DVDs.

If you don't know anything about Downton Abbey, then the show is a Period drama aired on ITV in the UK. The show is also aired on PBS in the US. As many people enjoy watching Downton Abbey over and over again, a season 1-4 DVD set is fantastic value for money. This British TV show is available in region one DVDs which can be watched on an unmodified US DVD player.

Season One of Downton Abbey contains 7 episodes. The drama is set in 1912, just after the Titanic was sunk until the outbreak of the first world war. The episodes focus quite a lot on finding a husband for the daughters of the owner of the estate. There is also quite a lot of focus on the relationships between the upstairs and downstairs of the house.

Season two is slightly different as it looks at the period of time between the Battle of the Somme to the flu pandemic in 1918. This allowed the writers to use various interesting story lines. The other seasons have also built on the relationships in the previous seasons and created some very interesting story lines.

ITV has also announced plans for season 5 which is due for release in 2015. This means that once you get hooked watching the first four seasons you will still have plenty more to watch.