tv shows

In the late 19th century, Tess Durbeyfield is sent off to visit a rich cousin, Alec D'Urberville, when her parents learn that they are distantly related. Tess takes a disliking to the man and his attempts at seduction are rebuffed. Returning from a village party he forces himself on the innocent girl who eventually makes her way back to her parents' home. Ashamed and pregnant she seems destined to forever being marked a certain kind of woman. After the death of her child, she makes her way to a prosperous farm where, working as a milkmaid, she meets and eventually marries the handsome Angel Clare. On learning of her past however, he abandons her and with little choice and facing a life of extreme hardship, again falls into Alec's clutches and becomes a kept woman.

Widow Dashwood and her three unmarried daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, inherit only a tiny allowance. So they move out of their grand Sussex home to a more modest cottage in Devonshire. There, the prevailing ambition is to find suitable husbands for the girls. With help from wealthy neighbor Sir John Middleton, suitors for Elinor and Marianne are soon found, but not landed. They include dashing Willoughby, future vicar Edward Ferrars and retired colonial gentleman Colonel Brandon.

The T.V. adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre is about a young woman who becomes governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester, a brooding and enigmatic man. They fall in love, but what secrets lie in his past and threaten to enter their future?

Set in the 1930s, Britain is in depression and still scarred by the effects of World War I. Young and passionate Sarah Burton (Anna Maxwell Martin) returns to her conservative home county, bursting with modern ideas. As the new headmistress in South Riding, she inspires her girls, including Lydia Holly (Charlie May-Clark), a scholarship student from the slums, to think for themselves. But not everyone sees eye-to-eye with Miss Burton. She finds a few allies, Joe Astell (Douglas Henshall) being one; but the sparks really start to fly when she crosses paths with Robert Carne (David Morrissey), a haughty landlord whom she despises.

Cornwall, early 19th century. A recently orphaned young woman by the name of Mary arrives to live with her aunt and uncle after the death of her widowed mother. It isn't long before Mary learns that her aunt's husband, Joss, leads a band of criminals who cause shipwrecks for profit. Coming closer to the truth of everything will cause Mary to fear for her life.

Executive Producer and Writer Gwyneth Hughes' adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's literary classic is set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, and follows Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) as she attempts to claw her way out of poverty and scale the heights of English Society. Her story of "villainy, crime, merriment, lovemaking, jilting, laughing, cheating, fighting, and dancing", takes her all the way to the court of King George IV, via the Battle of Waterloo, breaking hearts and losing fortunes as she goes.

The life of penniless Mary Thorne, who grows up with her Uncle, Dr Thorne, and her relationship with the family at nearby Greshamsbury Park estate.

This mini-series tells the story of Amy Dorrit, who spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father, who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her boss' son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.

The social and class divisions in early 20th century England through the intersection of three families - the wealthy Wilcoxes, the gentle and idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts.

When Parish Councilman Barry Fairbrother (Rory Kinnear) unexpectedly dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. An English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, Pagford is not what it first seems. What lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war - rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, and teachers at war with their pupils. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest battle the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

It is across the roulette table that Gwendolen Harleth first locks eyes with the enigmatic Daniel Deronda. Gwendolen is beautiful, vivacious, and a gambler, but desperate for financial security; something that possessive Henleigh Grandcourt would be able to provide for her. Daniel is the adopted son of an aristocratic, but doubtful of his own identity. He pours his energy into selflessly helping his friends, including poor Jewish singer Mirah Lapidoth. As Gwendolen's situation becomes dire, and Daniel seeks to uncover the mystery surrounding his own birth, their lives become intertwined...

Television adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel, which follows Jean Valjean as he evades capture by the unyielding Inspector Javert. Set against a backdrop of post-Napoleonic France as unrest begins to grip the city of Paris once more.

At the center of the story is Augustus Melmotte, a European-born city financier, whose origins are as mysterious as his business dealings. Trollope describes him as 'something in the city', but the "something" part is not always clear. Within weeks of arriving in London, he announces a new company and promises instant fortune to those who join him in this scheme. Melmotte is surrounded by a circle of decadent aristos, scheming widows and nouveau riche businessmen, all trying to get a piece of the financial pie. His disobedient daughter, Marie, is played by Shirley Henderson, while Cheryl Campbell, Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza bring to life the aristocratic but impoverished Carbury family.

North and South is a four part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.

Young, penniless and ostracized archaeologist, Howard Carter, whose obsession is to find the legendary tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun, in the so-called Valley of the Kings, is hired by British aristocrat, Lord Carnarvon, to do just that. However, many things stand in their way--the outbreak of WWI, Arab rebellion against the British rule, Carnarvon's thinning patience and wallet, the noisy press, the new Egyptian laws that abolished their right to a finder's fee, as well as Carnarvon's charming rebellious daughter, Evelyn, who befriends and seduces somewhat naive Howard. Eventually, Howard achieves his greatest dream, only to lose everything else.

Set in the 1930s, a black Jazz band rises in fame and popularity while becoming entangled in an intricate web of intrigue, mystery & suspense with the elite of London society.

A young woman moves to 17th century Amsterdam and hires a mysterious local miniaturist to furnish the dollhouse she received from her merchant husband as a present, but the lifelike miniatures somehow start eerily foreshadowing her fate.

Ross Poldark returns to England after fighting in the American Revolution. His family and friends thought he was dead. The woman he hoped to marry is now engaged to his cousin. His father is dead, and the property he has inherited has been allowed to deteriorate. It is the late 1700s in Cornwall, England. This is a family drama, but is also about the challenges and conflicts between the rich and the poor. It is a time when fishermen are not catching much fish, tin and copper mines are closing down because prices are too low, but the price of food and rents are high. Ross faces the challenge of making his land productive, caring for the tenants who rely on him, and trying to win back the woman he loved - or finding a reason to live without her.