If you are like just about everyone I know, you are currently mourning the loss of a very beloved TV series, Downton Abbey. If you are such a person, here are six shows that have the potential to fill any void Downton Abbey has left in your TV viewing schedule.
A Place Call Home
This melodrama has been called the “Australian Downton Abbey” on several review pages. Set in the 1950’s, this drama tells the story of Sarah Adams, who returns to Australia after being away for 20 years. She quickly meets the wealthy Bligh Family and secrets and romance ensues. The story-line deals with love, loss, and social change found in the 1950’s.
Call the Midwife
Changes are, if you are a Downton fan, you have already heard of this show, but if you haven’t, look no further than this much-loved historical drama. The series is adapted from the memoirs of real midwife, Jennifer Worth, who practiced midwifery in England during the 1950’s. Call the Midwife is funny, touching, and offers a colorful perspective on pregnancy and family life.
Mercy Street
This show has just started airing on PBS and is intended to be their next big thing. Also based off of true events, Mercy Street shows the medical practices and lives of those who work in a makeshift hospital during the Civil War. What makes this hospital extraordinary is that it treats the wounded from both sides of the fighting. The acting, costumes, and set of this drama are superb. That being said, only tune into Mercy Street if you are OK with seeing realistic accounts of Civil War era medical practices, which tend to be bloody.
Bletchley Circle
Bletchley Park was the real life location of Britain’s most brilliant minds who functioned as code breakers, during WWII. This operation was so secret that those who worked at Bletchley Park could never discuss it. Not even to those closest to them. Not even after the war.
Bletchley Circle takes this idea and imagines what would happen to those codebreakers, particularly the women, after the war. Bletchley Circle begins in 1952 when one former code breaker accidentally discovers the presence of serial killer in England due to her ability to decode patterns in the murders that no one else can. She reunites with several of her former code-breakers to investigate and hunt down this killer.
Poldark
This BBC series based on the novels by Winston Graham. It tells the account of Ross Poldark who returns to his home of Cornwall, England after fighting three years in the American Revolutionary War. He returns to find that his father has died, his inheritance is in shambles, and his sweetheart is engaged to his cousin. Devoted to his father’s land and the people who have served it, Poldark avoids the easy way out of financial ruin. He instead remains in Cornwall in hopes of rebuilding his father’s business and estate. He did not expect to also find love.
The Paradise
Set in the late 1800’s this TV series is set in a department store and follows the life of a young woman, named Denise. The Paradise tells Denise’s story as she becomes enchanted by the way of the modern world and the shop owner, Morary.
Are you looking for some Downton Abbey read-a-likes as well? Look no further than ECRL’s Downton Abbey Read-A-Like list on Pinterest!
Kirsten Vaughan, Hinckley Branch Librarian
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