MOST ANTICIPATED EPIC & PERIOD SET 2019 SERIES: CATHERINE THE GREAT, BEECHAM HOUSE, MEDICI, WAR OF THE WORLDS, HIS DARK MATERIALS, NAME OF THE ROSE, SPANISH PRINCESS, LES MISERABLES AND OTHERS!

    UPCOMING NEW EPIC DRAMAS

LES MISERABLES

One of the first ones to arrive is BBC One's six part adaptation of LES MISERABLES which will air in UK from December 30th and later on at PBS too. Starring Lily Collins and Dominic West it is set against a backdrop of post-Napoleonic France as unrest begins to grip the city of Paris once more. Spy more here!

THE LONG SONG

Arriving a bit sooner, also on BBC One, from December 18th is three part 19th century saga THE LONG SONG starring Jack Lowden and Hayley Atwell bringing the story of an enslaved woman (Tamara Lawrance) living in Jamaica in 1838 under British rule.Spy more here!

DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES

Already airing on BBC is another three part historical drama DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES starring Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys. It is an epic tale of love, betrayal, deception, and revenge set in the Irish countryside in 1885. Spy more here!

MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT

This one is technically a 2nd season not a new series, but the title and the cast are new: MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT has already aired in Italy but will air soon on Netflix with Daniel Sharman playing Lorenzo De Medici who is now taking over the family's business with his brother played by Bradley James. Spy more here!

GENTLEMAN JACK

BBC is also preparing 19th century series set in Shibden Hall where GENTLEMAN JACK also known as Anne Lister (Surrane Jones) returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall. But to do that she will dress and act as a man! Spy more here!

BEECHAM HOUSE

Rival ITV is taking us to 19th century India in six part saga BEECHAM HOUSE starring Tom Bateman, Kabir Bedi and Leo Suter! This lavishly exotic saga will offer us a look at the lives of residents living in a Delhi mansion during the cusp of 19th century. Spy more here!

CATHERINE THE GREAT

Sky and HBO will take us to glorious mother Russia and imperial court at Hermitage where Helen Mirren will take the role of CATHERINE THE GREAT in the story of her mature years when she already had many stunning victories and even more lovers. Spy more here!

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

BBC is also finishing the production of their three part adaptation of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS starring Rafe Spall, Greg Kinnear and Eleanor Tomlinson in a story set in London during the Edwardian era, where George and Amy's attempt to start a life together is interrupted by a Martian invasion of Earth. Spy more here!

HIS DARK MATERIALS

BBC is also coproducing another major fantasy adaptation but with HBO! Eight part saga HIS DARK MATERIALS will star James McAvoy as Lord Azriel in the story about two children who embark on a magical adventure through parallel universes. Spy more here!

THE NAME OF THE ROSE

Italian Rai and HBO are also preparing a new eight episode TV adaptation of THE NAME OF THE ROSE following John Turturro as a medieval friar who investigates a series of mysterious deaths at an abbey. The adaptation of Umberto Eco's novel also stars Rupert Everett and Alessio Boni. Spy more here!

LAMBS OF GOD

Australian Foxtel is preparing gothic tale LAMBS OF GOD in which Ann Dowd, Essie Davis and Jessica Barden are playing three nuns whose life in solitude, far away from the rest of the world in a remote and rugged island on the coast, is interrupted by the arrival of a hot as hell priest played by Sam Reid. Spy more here!

THE SPANISH PRINCESS

After White Queen and White Princess, Starz will offer us more royal drama in THE SPANISH PRINCESS which will see Charlotte Hope playing the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, as she navigates the royal lineage of England with an eye on the throne. Elliot Cowan and Olly Rix also star. Spy more here!

  RETURNING EPIC DRAMA
Beside the above mentioned new dramas, let us not forget that we can expect the new season of the ones we already love, from the third season of

Victoria returns with the third season this January!

VICTORIA at ITV starting probably in January, to the final seasons of POLDARK and DURRELLS starting probably next spring, and also the

Knightfall returns to History with the second season and new cast!

third season of Sky's 17th century saga JAMESTOWN. And while you are already enjoying the third season of medieval saga THE LAST KINGDOM

Jamestown returns with the third season this spring!

over at Netflix, you can expect more knights in the second season of KNIGHTFALL at History Channel too! Hulu's HARLOTS should also return with the third season next summer!

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON BBC'S 19TH CENTURY SET MINI SERIES DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES WITH JAMIE DORNAN, MATTHEW RHYS!

   'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'

STARTS NEXT WEEK AT BBC TWO

BBC has released some new photos from the small screen adaptation of Eugene McCabe's 19th century set novel DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES which starts airing November 28th on BBC Two starring Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys in the story of love, betrayal, deception and revenge, set in the beautiful haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885 when all of the country is an undivided province of the British Empire!

A HAUNTING TALE OF LOVE  
 and deception, it is a place where neighbours observe each other and inform; a world of spies, confessions and double dealing; where a pervading sense of beauty is shot through with menace and impending doom. Set over a

The series will air in three episodes starting next week

desperately tense 24-hour period, it’s Beth Winters’ (Ann Skelly) 23rd birthday - the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Jamie Dornan) and escape from her limited life and difficult and complex

Ann Skelly and Jamie Dornan play the couple in love

relationship with her Protestant landowner stepfather Billy (Matthew Rhys). As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, Death

Matthew Rhys plays Beth Winters' stepfather in the series

and Nightingales is a powerful and gripping drama that follows a woman struggling to control her own destiny and will illuminate tensions that tear both families and nations apart.

1ST BEECHAM HOUSE INDIA SET EPIC TV SERIES PHOTOS WITH TOM BATEMAN, LEO SUTER! DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES BBC EPIC SERIES TRAILER WITH JAMIE DORNAN, MATTHEW RHYS

  1ST 'BEECHAM HOUSE'

PHOTOS FROM INDIA SET SAGA

The first photos are in from ITV's upcoming new historical saga BEECHAM HOUSE which will air sometime next year starring Tom Bateman as a handsome and soulful former soldier, John Beecham, who has acquired the

Tom Bateman leads the cast in the India set TV series

Delhi house to start a new life for his family and a business as a trader. Wealthy and distinguished, John has witnessed profiteering and exploitation

Beecham House will air sometime next year in six episodes

during his time with the controlling East India Company and appears haunted by his past. Determined to escape that life, he sets his sights on becoming an

Bateman starred in ITV's Vanity Fair and Jekyll and Hyde series

honourable member of the region’s trading community. But in the glorious setting of BEECHAM HOUSE, John’s life remains shrouded in mystery. His arrival provokes gossip amongst the servants and despite filling his residence

Viceroy's House Gurinder Chadha is directing the saga

with relatives and friends, Beecham’s house still has dark corners that crackle with conspiracy and sinister intent. The story also unfolds at a time when the

Hope we can expect tons of exotic sets and costumes!

1,000 year old Mughal rule is over and the British vie with the Maharajas to claim India as their own. The cast also includes Marc Warren, Gregory Fitoussi, Leo Suter and others.

   'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'

BBC TV SAGA TRAILER WITH JAMIE DORNAN AND MATTHEW RHYS

Rival BBC has, meanwhile, released the first trailer for their three part mini series DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES which will air later this month on BBC Two!  Set in 1885 it takes place over a desperately tense 24-hour period.

The series is set within just 24 hours!

It’s Beth Winters’ (Ann Skelly) 23rd birthday and also the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Jamie Dornan) to escape from her limited life and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner

The series will air very soon on BBC Two, possibly end of the month

stepfather Billy (Matthew Rhys). As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES sees a woman struggling to control her own destiny and will ultimately illuminate tensions that tear both families and nations apart. The trailer does not look too promising! The series starts airing on BBC Two November 28th!

PERIOD SET TUESDAY: MARK HAMILL, TOM FORBES, GENEVIEVE GAUNT JOIN 'KNIGHTFALL' EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 2! 1ST 'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES' BBC PERIOD SET SAGA PHOTOS WITH JAMIE DORNAN, MATTHEW RHYS

   'KNIGHTFALL' SEASON 2

GETS A NEW PRINCE AND A PRINCESS  PLUS A JEDI!

I must admit I wasn't at all excited when, earlier this year, History announced their mediaeval series KNIGHTFALL will be getting a second

Tom Forbes is the new naughty Prince of France

season, as the first one was mediocre at best, poorly written, mostly implausible with not a single likeable character (all of them were slimy, treacherous and immoral) but with the new cast additions being announced yesterday, I might change my mind and give it a go again.

KNIGHTFALL  which starred Tom Cullen as a knight Templar who is trying to solve a mystery of the Christ's chalice while also bedding French king's wife although he is supposed to be his best friend and mentor (it did see the said adulteress queen rightfully killed in the end) will now also have Mark Hamill, Tom Forbes and Genevieve Gaunt in the cast! Hamill will  be Talus, a battle hardened Knight Templar

Lovely Genevieve Gaunt is new Princess Isabella

veteran of the Crusades, who survived captivity for ten years in the Holy Land and is tasked with training the new initiates to the Order. Tom Forbes, whom we watched in Wolf Hall and The Bastard Executioner, will play Prince Louis, the violent and unpredictable son of King Philip (Ed Stoppard) and heir to the throne! Meanwhile, Genevieve Gaunt (who has just been crowned as queen Willow in The Royals) will play an older princess Isabella, the daughter of King Philip and well on her way to becoming the woman who history would call the she-wolf of France. Aaron Helbing (Spartacus: War of the Damned), is the new showrunner, taking over from Dominic Minghella.

   'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'

1ST BBC SERIES PHOTOS WITH JAMIE DORNAN,MATTHEW RHYS

BBC has, meanwhile, released first photos from their new three part period set mini series DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES with Jamie Dornan, Matthew Rhys and Ann Skelly! A story of love, betrayal, deception and

The series is based on Eugene McCabe modern Irish Classic

revenge, it is set in the haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885. It’s a world of spies, confessions and double dealings where neighbours observe each other and inform. The tale takes place over a desperately tense 24-hour

Matthew Rhys plays the father in the new BBC 2 series

period. It’s Beth Winters’ (Ann Skelly) 23rd birthday and also the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Jamie Dornan) to escape from her limited life and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner

Ann Skelly and Jamie Dornan lead the cast

stepfather Billy (Matthew Rhys). As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, the series sees a woman struggling to control her own destiny and will ultimately illuminate tensions that tear both families and nations apart.

JAMIE DORNAN, MATTHEW RHYS, ANN SKELLY TO LEAD BBC 19TH CENTURY SAGA 'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'! 'ASPERN PAPERS' PERIOD SET MOVIE TRAILER WITH JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, JOELY RICHARDSON, VANESSA REDGRAVE

   'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'

JAMIE DORNAN & MATTHEW RHYS TO LEAD BBC EPIC SAGA

With the sad news today that Andrew Lincoln is leaving Walking Dead somewhere in the middle of the next season and that Roseanne has been

Irish hunk Jamie Dornan will take the male lead

cancelled at ABC, here's something to cheer us up! I've recently told you that BBC 2 is planning to turn Eugene McCabe's novel DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES into a period set mini series, and now we have the cast! Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys will lead the three part saga together with young Ann Skelly!

DEATH AND NIGHTIN GALES
 is a riveting story of love, betrayal, deception and revenge, set in the beautiful haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885. A place where neighbours observe each other and inform, a world of spies, confessions and double dealing; where a pervading sense of beauty is shot through with menace and impending doom. Set over a desperately tense 24- hour period, it’s Beth Winters’ (Ann Skelly) 25th birthday - the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Jamie Dornan) and escape from her limited life and difficult and complex relationship with her

Ann Skelly and Matthew Rhys will star in the new series!

Protestant landowner stepfather Billy (Matthew Rhys). As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, Death And Nightingales is a powerful and gripping drama that follows a woman struggling to control her own destiny and will illuminate tensions that tear both families and nations apart.

  'THE ASPERN PAPERS'

WITH JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS AND  JOELY RICHARDSON

There is also the first trailer from a movie I've been announcing for years now: THE ASPERN PAPERS in which  Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays an

Call Me By My Name's James Ivory is producing

ambitious editor  who tries to obtain romance letters a romantic poet sent to his mistress. Jon Kortajarena joins Joely Richardson and her mother Vanessa Redgrave in the big screen adaptation of Henry James novel!

The 19th century movie follows Morton Vint (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a young writer and publisher fascinated by iconic romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern,  who strives to get his hands on the letters Aspern wrote to his beautiful mistress Juliana Bordereau. Now, decades later, Juliana (Vanessa Redgrave) lives in a Venetian palazzo with her niece (Joely Richardson), whom she dominates and whom Morton tries to seduce.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING JOINS LAMBERT WILSON, VIRGINIE EFIRA IN VERHOEVEN'S 17TH CENTURY EROTIC THRILLER 'BLESSED VIRGIN'! BBC TO TURN 'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES' NOVEL INTO 19TH CENTURY MINI SERIES

'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES'

 NEW BBC PERIOD SET SERIES

In the news from the epic front today, BBC Two is going to adapting Eugene McCabe’s Irish novel DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES into a

The series will have three hourlong episodes

three part historical mini series! It is a story of love, betrayal, deception and revenge, set in the beautiful, haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885. It is set in a world of spies, confessions and double dealing; where a pervading sense of beauty is shot through with menace and impending doom, centred around the 25th birthday of Beth Winters - the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward and escape from her limited life and difficult and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner stepfather Billy. As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, this powerful and gripping drama illuminates tensions that tear both families and nations apart.

 'BLESSED VIRGIN' 17TH CENTURY

DRAMA CASTS LAMBERT WILSON AND CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

Lambert Wilson will lead the male part of the cast

We've had quite a few lesbiefriendly projects announced this week, and here's another one and it is period set too! 'Deadline' reports that Charlotte Rampling and Lambert Wilson have joined young actresses Virginie Efira and Daphne Patakia in 17th century erotic thriller BLESSED VIRGIN

To be directed by famous Paul Verhoeven, it will see gorgeous Virginie Efira playing Benedetta Carlini, a novice nun capable of performing miracles, who joins an Italian convent in the late 17th century, as plague is ravaging the land.

Virginie Efira and Charlotte Rampling will star in Blessed Virgin

While at the convent she begins a love affair with another woman. Steamy and scandalous and delightfully sinful :) The story is, apparently, based on historical facts about the abbess Carlini.