Dowton Abbey look out, it's Paradise

[stuart.uk]

There is another new period drama from the UK about to hit British screens. It's about life in a London department store called Paradise in the mid 19th Century, back in the days when the staff lived on the premises where they worked. One of the stars is a personal favorite Sarah Lancashire, as the head of the ladieswear department, who is also in charge of the girls after work as they live in the store.

[charliechaplinfan]

Have they transferred it to London, the original novel takes place in Paris, I love the book that the programme will be based on, I hope it takes place in Paris but I can't see Sarah Lancashire as one of the characters from the original book, it will be interesting. Let's hope they've learned lessons from Upstairs Downstairs.

[stuart.uk]

Alison

I just checked, yes it's set in the U.K instead of Paradise. I hope Sarah Lancashire surprises you. I think she's a very versatile actress, after all she played the Wendy Hiller role in Sons And Lovers, as well as she more glamorous roles like Raquel in Coronation Street

[mrsl]

.
I happened to get lucky a few weeks ago when I was channel surfing and landed on PBS Channel 11 here in the Chicago area. On that night I saw something called Wallender, a detective who apparently traveled all over Europe to assist in difficult cases, although he was based in Sweden. I guess his wife had died recently and he was in an estranged situation with his grown daughter, and although he wanted to retire to his farm, people kept calling him to help with various cases. I was intrigued so I hit the 'series' button to record each week even though I don't watch it. But it is there when I'm ready, which I was over this past weekend. The writing is awesome. It gives barely any clues so you're in on the determination along with Carl Wallender. It's broadcast on Sunday night and worth checking out.

Following Wallender is (Yippee), Upstairs/Downstairs, second season), a series I have wanted to see for years. It, too is set to record series on a weekly basis, and appears in my recorded list every Monday. I'm now in the part just before WWI starts. This is my favorite kind of storyline - an ensemble cast creating several different and diverse stories in one program. I won't review until I've seen a couple more episodes, but I do recommend it.