Have I already talked about Last Tango in Halifax? (Netflix link) My mind is so scattered these days. I carry a little notepad with me in my scrubs pocket when I’m at work, because I know if a client says she wants a salad with ranch dressing with her dinner, and then before I leave the room she has me help find her glasses, that by the time I get to the kitchen I won’t remember which dressing she wanted with the salad. The pocket notebook has been so successful, I’ve been keeping an eye out for cargo pants so I can carry a notebook with me always. Or maybe I should wear only scrubs tops now. Or perhaps it’s time to consider the fanny pack.
Good thing I wrote Last Tango in the paragraph above, or I would have forgotten what I was here to tell you about. You know, that is the solid advantage of written communication: so much easier to keep track. I could, for example, just go to my archives and LOOK UP if I’ve already discussed this show. But, eh. Languid hand movement.
Anyway, I love the show. I love it so much. I don’t want to oversell it, because that is just the worst way to start watching or reading anything: assuming it’s going to be amazing. But OH I LOVE IT. I do appreciate and enjoy the storyline with the couple in their seventies, but my favorite is the storylines with WOMEN IN THEIR FORTIES. People are attracted to them! They have relationships! They fall in love! They deal with their teenage children! This is just what I was looking for.
I’ve finished the available episodes, so I’m about 5 seconds into Downton Abbey, which I’ve been meaning to watch. My appetite for BBC shows is so WHETTED by Last Tango. I’m going around thinking (not saying) words such as owt, nowt, summat, lad, arse.
Have you watched Sherlock? I think that’s the first BBC show I was majorly in love with.
I love Last Tango, for all of the reasons you give. I especially like that it’s about normal people, just going about life. Those are the BEST stories.
If you haven’t watched Call the Midwife, you would probably like that series a lot, too.
All sorts!
“Our [name].”
Other series to watch – Call the Midwife, set in London in late 50’s to Early 60’s. Lovely show but be warned can be very sad at some points.
The writer of Last Tango also wrote Happy Valley but this is much darker.
Another series that is very good is Grantchester, again set in the 50’s. If you watch Happy Valley before this it can be a shock that the guy you totally despised in that is a Hot vicar in Grantchester!
Ooh, that vicar is so HOT. I would be MUCH more religious if more pastors looked like him.
I LOVE Call the Midwife. It gives me all sorts of feels.
Yes, yes, yes! I love “Last Tango” beyond what is reasonable. I always yell (in a genteel British accent) when they make bad decisions because honestly, there’s not a single character I don’t love. I can give you a whole list of Netflix/BBC shows that have been fabulous.
I am intrigued! Also I am so excited for you to just be starting Downton Abbey. It’s like I can relive all those emotional arcs through you!
One difference between British and American English that I always find curious is that they say “in hospital” and we say “in THE hospital.” How did that distinction arise??
I absolutely love Last Tango in Halifax.
Other shows I enjoy: Doc Martin, Sherlock of course, Foyle’s War (if you like mysteries/crime), Call the Midwife, Grantchester, of course Downton, Endeavour (also mystery/crime), Inspector Lewis is a bit dark but I love it. That’s all I can think of at the moment.
Oh! Another one I loved but it’s not on Netflix at the moment: Lilies.
I LOVE all the shows you mention-have you ever seen Midsomer Murders?? Tons of seasons, and John Nettles as Detective Inspective Barnaby is just awesome.
I haven’t seen it! Another one to check out, I think.
Oh my Lord, my husband is a MIdsomer addict! It is so cozy to have a Midsomer on in the background as I read.
Swistle, thanks to you, I am watching my fifth consecutive Halifax right now. Addicted!
Oh, and I meant to say that if you enjoy the Yorkshire accent, do check out “All Creatures Great and Small,” vintage BBC from the 70’s about a veterinarian in 1930s Yorkshire.
Oh my gosh, Tango is so addictive! I must say that Gillian is my fave. Love her. Although Caroline is a close second Thanks!
Update: I have watched every Tango available on Netflix. Ahhhh! Oh, I love it, and I spent some time last night looking up Caroline’s wardrobe, which I love, because I have a body like Sarah Lancashire (thank you BBC for showing women of normal size). There are entire Tumblrs dedicated to Caroline’s clothes. Sigh. Now what do I do for TV? :)
My friend, who is a nurse, buys waiter pads (like old-school servers use to take orders) on Amazon and puts those in her scrub pockets to take notes. Apparently they are incredibly cheap and also a good conversation piece.
Last Tango in Halifax is British? Well dang it, I had assumed it was Canadian and set in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was quite tickled it was receiving all those rave reviews.
I LOVE Last Tango. It is totally one of those shows that doesn’t sound like that much when you describe it but is so rich and well acted. I have Strong Opinions about many of the characters.
Can I recommend Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries on Netflix? So, so good. 1920’s Melbourne Australia so you have the cool accents, the clothes are divine, and Miss Fisher is fabulous and doesn’t take any crap from anyone, including idiot men who think they are smarter than her (no one is smarter than her). And now, I am off to add Last Tango to my list of shows to check out!
And Derek Jacobi plays Alan; love that actor (he was Cadfael in the Brother Cadfael series). Now I have to add this series to my must watch list!
Last Tango in Halifax is a huge favorite of mine! Home Fires is a show I also enjoyed, they just aired it on PBS-about the Women’s Institute during World War II in the UK.
I am a huge fan of British TV, I love mysteries and the ones produced over there are so good. Oh, another great show is Miss Fisher’s Mysteries-which isn’t English, but I think Australian? The clothes alone make it worth watching.
Yes, I LOVE Miss Fisher! She’s so awesome, and Dot is so sweet. I totally agree about the clothes–I’d watch this show even if it sucked, just for the costumes.
Last Tango is on my list, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Another really great British Mystery/Crime Show is Broadchurch. It’s dark dark daaaarrrkkk, but so good–and bonus points for having David Tennant in the lead role.
I watched Downtown up until the fourth season–I got a couple episodes into the fourth season and it just started feeling too soapy. I love Call the Midwife…Chummy is my favorite character ever!
Ooh! And if you like weird british humour at all, try The Vicar of Dibley. FUN!
I would prefer to use email almost exclusively at work because then there is a written record of everything! It is so frustrating to talk to someone about something they need from you and then to be accosted with friendly conversation or a request for directions and to have completely forgotten the original task!! Frustrating and makes me feel like I am headed down the path to forgetting my daughter’s name or how to make tacos.
This doesn’t sound like it would be in the same league because a) reality show and b) baking, but it is British and SO charming: The Great British Baking Show. For some reason there’s only one season on Netflix and it’s the 5th season of the show, but I never watch reality shows and I was riveted. Everyone is so NICE. And the same things with phrases people say. One lady kept saying “I don’t know if I’m Arthur or Martha today” and I keep thinking it now.
I second this! My husband and I love this show and often go around the house saying things to one another like, “It could have used a better rise!” and “You are the star baker!”
Did you see there is going to be a holiday version on, I think, ABC with Mary Barry and Paul?!
I love this show too-for the exact reason Jenny said-everyone is so nice-they always seem very supportive of each other.
I think the holiday baking show just has Mary, in the previews I didn’t see Paul at all.
I need Paul in it so we can watch him ferociously cut into bad bread bakes!
That must be Nancy!!! Love me some Mary Berry too!
::furiously taking notes from this excellent comment section::
I keep wondering if I should watch it, and this kind of recommendation is usually just the prod I need. I also loved Call the Midwife. Haven’t watched Downton Abbey yet, which is too bad, because we needed to know the butler’s name for World Trivia Night last year.
Ooh ooh I have one! The Bletchley Circle is another really good British show on Netflix. It’s a group of smart women solving mysteries post-WWII. They are up against disbelieving men and general sexism, and they prevail anyway! It’s one of those that doesn’t have very many episodes, though, and that is the only negative thing I can say about it.
oh but SO TERRIFYING. My roommate and I watched it and we loved it, but we had to watch the entire first season in one sitting or we’d have never slept.
I love the miniseries North and South. A young Richard Armitage, a nuanced story, the most romantic final scene ever…
Cranford! Homefires! Downton! I love them all.
And one of the Cranford’s has the advantage of having Tom Hiddleston being generally adorable with super curly hair.
Last night I watched “Notting Hill” and just could not place where I’d seen the actor who played the clueless stockbroker friend. He was the one who asked Julia Roberts’ character how much money she made in her last film. Then it hit me, it was the actor who plays Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey! In other words, Notting Hill is a very old movie. They were all such babies then!
Thank you thank you thank you thank you for telling me about Last Tango in Halifax. I’m only 3 episodes in but I love it so much, and I don’t know that I ever would have heard about it if you hadn’t blogged about it.