What to Watch: The British are Coming, the British are Coming!

More snow days, more movie days, amiright?

This session (and the next, too many good ones) of what to watch is brought to you by Great Britain! I've become totally in love with the BBC. It's an intense love affair I attribute mostly to Netflix. I'm sharing my favorites (both BBC and not) below.


1. Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond
Do you like your martinis shaken, not stirred? I really liked this miniseries about Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond (apparently he based James on himself). It takes place during WWII and is swanky, moody, boozy, and a little heart breaking.

Superspy James Bond emerged from the mind of writer Ian Fleming, whose own playboy ways and military life in World War II set the tone for his novels.



2. The Bletchley Circle
Ya'll know I love a smart lady. Well this is a whole group of them. Basically, during WWII a group of women worked at Bletchley in England trying to decipher German codes. They're super smart, but they're in on goverment secrets so they have to pretend they were secretaries and operators rather than part of the real war effort. After the war, one of them realizes that a spate of murders is actually a serial killer, and calls the others to assist. Go ladies!

Four ordinary women with an extraordinary flair for code breaking and razor-sharp intelligence skills are the focus of this murder-mystery drama.



3. Happy Valley
The "about" copy for this show sounds... depressing and awful. But let me tell you, it's characters are addicting and the plot will keep you keeping coming back for more. It's part family drama, part murder mystery, all heart.
From the creator of "Last Tango in Halifax" comes this police drama starring Sarah Lancashire ("Coronation Street") as Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood, a strong-willed officer coping with the suicide of her daughter and struggling to raise the young son she left behind. When the man she blames for her daughter's death is paroled, Cawood embarks on a mission to bring him down, unaware that her target is plotting another heinous crime.




4. Luther
A cop who's a little bad and doesn't play by the rules (which, of course, makes him suuuuper attractive). What's not to like? Watching this badass go after criminals in a way that's not 100% legal is very entertaining. Mostly you're rooting for him, but when you're ethics kick in, he's pushing ahead, which makes the show compelling.

A dedicated urban detective tries to keep a grip on his personal life while dealing with the psychological factors underlying the crimes he solves.



5. Call the Midwife
This little series caught me by surprise. It's about women who are midwives living with Nuns in the East End of London--not a great neighborhood back in the day. It's  great story about women, friendship, history, and a neighborhood. It's really really good.

This period drama set in impoverished East London in the 1950s follows a newly qualified midwife and her colleagues at a nursing convent.


5 more British What to Watch pics to come soon!!

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