Some that I’m enjoying now or that I watched recently
- The Adventures of Merlin (3 seasons X 13 episodes, so you can get quite immersed) – Arthurian tales with enough grounding in the archetypal stories that they have my respect, simple enough in story construction that they’ll be appreciated by all ages. I enjoy the acting, costumes, swordplay, etc. I think it’s quite good at dealing with questions of identity, which the original archetypal stories did masterfully.
- Masterpiece Contemporary: The Last Enemy (5 episodes)
- The Story of India (6 hours) – The history of mankind in general and of India specifically, told by a guy whose interesting and engaging as a person and who clearly understands and respects the many philosophies that have moved through India.
- Empires: The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance (4 episodes X 1 hour) – looks interesting. I haven’t watched it yet.
- The Tudors – I’ll bet you’ve seen it.
- The Forsyte Saga (10 episodes)
- Limitless – a movie you’ve probably seen
All-time Favorites
- Dangerous Beauty (my favorite movie)
- The Red Violin – You MUST have seen this one already.
- Gloomy Sunday (CD only) – Just watch it!
- Masterpiece Theater! Foyle’s War – Made me think of my Edinburgh days as a boy.
- Prime Suspect (7 seasons) – Helen Mirren is awesome!
- The State Within (7 hours)
- A Good Woman
- Chocolat
- Don Juan DeMarco (CD only)
- De-Lovely
- Malena
- Cinema Paradiso
- ALL Jane Austin movies
- Paris, Je T’aime
- Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures – 2 full-length films – I wish there were 20.
- Smilla’s Sense of Snow
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Tea with Mussolini
Off-the-Wall or Somewhat Riskier to Modern Tastes
- Deep Water
- Big Love (CD only — 5 seasons X 3 or 4 discs per season, typically 2 episodes per disc as I recall) – Fun view into relationships and cults
- Island at War (6 episodes)
- The Grand (10 eposides)
- To Serve Them All My Days (13 episodes)
- Woman on Top
- Basic Instinct 2