I enjoy period dramas. For example, the BBC’s adaptions of Middlemarch and Pride and Prejudice. Gorgeous gowns and sensitive to the time period in which they are set. I also greatly enjoyed Bridgerton,, it was fresh and unusual. However, since then period dramas have all followed this pattern and I’m getting thoroughly tired of it.
The tick box effect – banging soundtrack, anachronistic speech, LGBTQ+ storylines, colour blindness and thoughts and feelings that would never have been held let alone expressed.
The modern period drama has basically decided that history is just a filter slapped on a short to make it look authentic. We’ve moved so far past creative liberties and into the territory of historical cosplay with a pop soundtrack.
There’s so many examples now, my most recent watches were The Buccaneers and Dickinson. Both display the type of affectations I describe.
Heaven forbid these period dramas use music from the actual century in which they’re set. Do they think we will lose our attention. Also why is every protagonist written like they just finished a week’s seminar on social justice. It demeans these women’s real struggles and preoccupations. They are written as if they are from our period and just happen to be wearing a bustle.
The Buccaneers, an unfaithful adaption of an Edith Wharton novel, in which the social friction between brash American new money and the stiff upper lip of the British ruling elite is treated to the irreverant Bridgerton style. As expected we get Taylor Swift-esque pop anthems as the musical backdop to a drama set in the 1870s.
In the book these women were buccaneers because they were invading a closed society with their wealth. In the adaptation they’re buccaneers because they run through stately homes, scream at lords and dukes and basically treat England like a Spring Break destination.
Not to mention the fictious lesbian love story. Pre-marital sex, especially by Nan on her wedding eve to her husband to be best friend. Worst for me was the divorce storyline written for Nan’s mother. In those days divorce was scandalous, required admission of guilt and would have left the woman a social pariah. In this adaptation it’s celebrated as female empowerment.
Another feminist-coded high-octane soap opera is Dickinson, which has taken the quiet, secluded life of one of America’s great poets and turned it into a riotous blast. Once again lesbian relationship, check. Anachronistic thoughts and dialogue check. Pre-marital sex, check again.
Essentially it’s a fevered dream where 1850s Amherst, Massachusetts meets Gen Z. It’s the Buccaneers on opium. Dialogue is appalling, characters quip well it is 1850 to one another. Whilst the central character quotes profound poems one minute, the next she’s remarking “That’s literally so random”. Due to the actual historical context the show has to at least have black characters who show awareness of their social position, but then has a Japanese man as part of the ruling elite inner circle, at a time when Japan was still a closed society. The men also declaring themselves to be feminists as well. It’s enough to make your head spin.
The pace of these modern dramas has to match the soundtrack. Gone is the slow lead up, the gentle courtship, the romance. Now, without thought of pregnancy or transmitted diseases, they are tearing the corsets off by episode two. Rigid social structures have been replaced by hook ups. Why bother with all the costumes?
Not to mention the whiteness of those teeth and their amazing complexions and hair, even for the low born.
Just set these dramas in the here and now and stop pretending and using various time periods as so much wallpaper. I do know what they are trying to do, I even enjoyed a lot of it, it’s just not that original anymore. Will we ever return to the great adaptations of the likes of Middemarch and Pride and Prejudice? Or is that seen as too boring for audiences these days. What other period pieces could they ruin next?
I’m aware this opinion could be controversial and others will love these shows I’m just not sure how we ever get back from here. Luckily there are still a few period dramas on my radar without the 2020 vibes. Wolf Hall, Miss Austen, The Forsythe Saga and The Leopard to name but a few. So check these out if you are more of a purist and like your period drama with a bit more reality.
