This list is very heavy on shows from the UK, thanks to PBS and the King County Library. They almost always do a professionally satisfying production. It is in their DNA.
All Creatures Great and Small (Season One) - 2020 (3.2). An updated run at the beloved classic enjoys the same good material and Brit production values and acting. The characters have depth and the relationships are nuanced and sympathetic. The small town and rural atmosphere lend themselves handily to digesting the entire milieu.
Broadchurch (Season One) – 2013 (3.2). Another Brit crime series set in a small town, this time on the coast, begins with a shocking murder just as a male detective is transferred in and takes the promotion that had been expected by a local female officer. They have to work awkwardly together investigating the crime and checking out the local persons of interest. In the course of the season we learn that many people have secrets, some of which are definitely unsavory. The writing, cast, direction and production values are all the expected high caliber. Based on the way the first season ended, there may be changes in store for the two detectives in the second season .
Happy Valley (Season One) – 2014 (3.2). Yes there is violence, but there is also much more character depth than in American crime series. Sarah Lancashire gives award winning performances as a police sergeant in a Yorkshire overrun with drugs dealing with problems in her own family while she confronts crime on the streets. Sarge manages to get out of the station as much as possible as she investigates various incidents and deals with her own family issues, all of which tie in with a kidnapping that has not yet been reported, though the audience knows first. The second season has been ordered from the library and a third was due for production but is likely delayed by the pandemic.
Happy Valley (Season Two) – 2016 (3.2). The series maintains its style and quality level as a serial murder of prostitutes intersects with a different but just as deadly corruption. Having a six episode season revolving around one intertwined investigation is a good formula when this well executed, so when a third season does come it should be worth watching.
The Mole Agent – 2020 (2.9). From Chile, this documentary follows an eighty three year old widower who is hired by a private detective to go undercover in a nursing home to investigate and report on any theft or abuse specifically to the mother of the client of the detective. Sergio is hired as the mole and diligently works at the job for the assigned three months. In the process he introduces us to many of the residents and some of the staff and we see his inherent kind heart identify the real problem.
The Unseen Alistair Cooke – 2008 (2.9). The longtime Masterpiece Theater host was an interesting man whose story is told in this hour long documentary which uses lots of his old 8mm home movie footage. As interviews with family and colleagues show, while he was always able to fill a space, there were spaces he should have filled better on the family side.
West by Orphan Train – 2014 (2.9).This modestly made documentary evocatively tells the personal tales of a few of the East Coast orphans who were sent to the Midwest around the turn of the 20th Century. Archival footage and pictures combine with some dramatic recreations and interviews with children of the orphans and in old home footage with the orphans themselves in their final years. Some orphans had bad experiences, some good and many mixed.
Broadchurch (Season Two) – 2015 (2.8). The second season of this Brit cop show begins with a surprise, as if what could have been the hook at the end of the first season was instead postponed to the first episode of the second season. Though the two lead cops have had significant changes in their careers, they are still relentless in their pursuit of the case from season one in addition to the local detective getting sucked in to helping the other detective continue to pursue the case that caused him to be transferred. This season suffers a little because of a bit of a repetitious feel due to the fact that nobody seems capable of telling a straight story and we as viewers begin to feel we are being played a little too much. Another mistake often made by a surprisingly successful first season is to engage established actors in supporting roles in later seasons, which seems like it was done here with Charlotte Rampling as a prosecuting attorney.
Broadchurch (Season Three) – 2017 (2.8). The series wraps up with a third season, maintaining the production qualities of the previous two and tackling a rape case that sets the community on edge, while carefully presenting the case also from the point of view of the victim and the sensitivity shown by the police and victim support people. Mercifully there are no star cameos this year, though new drone cameras get an effective use. The first season grabbed viewers with a legit whodunit hold. The look and feel of the production was novel and refreshing. If the leads had been unknown, the series may have gone a few seasons more, probably exploring further possible romantic advances, and maybe that would have been an effective and popular change in course. Or it could have been a sad decline. A final legal question: during three years of police interrogations with defense counsel present, why did the lawyers never say a word?
Elizabeth – 1998 (2.8). Cate Blanchett won a Golden Globe for her performance as Elizabeth I during the first years of her long reign. The movie holds up fairly well after a couple decades, which is actually a drop in the bucket since the actual story is almost 500 years old.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke – 2020 (2.8). The premise of this Brit series set in the 19th century is that a private detective raised his daughter to be an investigator like him and she really took to it, taking over his business after he died. Her foil is a Scotland Yard detective she has known from childhood who takes a protective chauvinistic attitude toward her even while begrudgingly recognizing her obvious talents as a detective. There is an underlyng but mutually resisted spark of romantic chemistry between the two. A proposed second season was postponed due to the pandemic.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – 2019 (2.8). On the Brittany coast in the 18th century, about to be married after leaving the convent, a young woman is pushed toward marriage by her mother. A painting of her is required for submission to her intended and a previous artist has failed to deliver, so a youg woman artist has been newly hired. The tight script of this drama centers on the two women, with the young household maid playing a strong supporting role and the mother a lesser one. Good performances complement the script to deliver a movie which easily holds attention. The DVD has very good interviews with the director, lead actresses, cinematographer and the artist who did the actual paintings shown being worked on in the movie.
The Long Song – 2018 (2.7). Adapted from a novel about the final years of slavery on Jamaica, this miniseries is narrated by a former slave now in her elder years, as she writes her life story. Whether it is the script or the novel itself, the story suffers from a lack of emotional depth, failing to get into the nuances of feelings. There also does not seem to be much of anything in the way of telling about plantation slavery in general or any aspects particular to Jamaica.
Elizabeth is Missing – 2019 (2.6). A novel about an old woman with dementia trying to figure out what happened to her best friend who seems to have disappeared while at the same time flashing back decades to the unsolved disappearance of her sister was turned into this Brit TV movie apparently to give Oscar winner Glenda Jackson a shot at the role. The character is as unappealing as might be expected and the better acting task probably should be considered the role of her long suffering daughter.
Judy – 2019 (2.6). The sad tale of the life of Judy Garland is covered in this movie primarily focusing on the last stages of her career when she was pretty much washed up. Flashbacks to her young days at MGM do not even begin to engender the sympathy she deserves. Renee Zellweger captures Judy quite accurately but unfortunately in the most unappealing stage of her life.