Category Archives: Yorkshire Accents

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Based on true facts, Basically Sad, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, British Drama, British History, British Police, British Politics, Detective, Drama, Ethical struggles, Everybody lies, Family Secrets, Father-son relations, Fight Scenes, Government cover-up, Historical Fiction, Manslaughter, Marital Infidelity, Miners, Miners versus Scabs, Murder, Occasionaly violent, Panic Attacks, Personal Betrayal, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Redemption, Revenge, Sister-sister relations, Small British village, Suicide, Suspense, Undercover police spy, Undercover police work, Violent, Wonderful acting, Yorkshire Accents

Sherwood (2022)

From IMDB:

Two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history.

From Amazon Prime Brit Box you can stream the 6 episodes of this north England series. Each episode is just under an hour.

In 1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher crushed a coal miner’s strike, thereby earning her title of “Iron Lady.”  Hard feelings between the striking miner’s and those who continued to work, so-called “scabs”,  have persisted from then on.  Sherwood is a small town historically associated with Robin Hood.  Of all the town’s inhabitants only one family is a “scab” family.  Striker versus scab is the paramount theme of this series which continually bounces back and forth between 1984 and the present.

Past tragedies involved the  young policemen and miners who now are middle age going on retirement.  One challenge in watching this series is to match the young characters with their present-day versions.

There are three vital subplots:

  • Someone is murdering people with a crossbow. We soon learn who and the police hunt is intense.
  • Andy Fisher inadvertently kills his daughter-in-law and the hunt is on.
  • In 1984 there was an undercover police spy, dubbed the “spy cop”, who incorporated his-or-herself into the community.  Again there is this third hunt to find the “spy cop.”

If you watch much British drama you will recognize many familiar faces. As usual in British drama the acting is superb.  With such an engaging and suspenseful plot you cannot go wrong.

DO NOT MISS!

1987, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Art appreciation, Art History, Art Treasures, Basically Sad, British, British Drama, Church of England, Classic, Drama, Ethical struggles, Homophobia, Hopeless Love, Love Story, Old-Fashioned, PTSD, Quiet, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sexual Tension, Slow, Small British village, Small gem of a film, Stuttering, Things Left Unsaid, Vintage Film, Wonderful acting, WWI Veteran, Yorkshire Accents, Yorkshire setting

A Month In The Country (1987)

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From Amazon Prime:

Five centuries ago, a mural was created in a country church in the north of England, and then hidden under layers of white paint. Looking at it again will be a distraction, the Reverend Mr. Keach tells World War I veteran Tom Birken, who will spend a month in the country restoring the mural.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this beautiful but sad classic British film which lasts 1 hour 36 minutes.

Direct quote from Wikipedia:

A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O’Connor. The film is an adaptation of the 1980 novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide. The screenplay was by Simon Gray.

Set in rural Yorkshire during the summer of 1920, the film follows a destitute World War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war.

The film was shot during the summer of 1986 and featured an original score by Howard Blake. The film has been neglected since its 1987 cinema release and it was only in 2004 that an original 35 mm film print was discovered, due to the intervention of a fan.

34 years ago Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh were a mere 27 years old while Natasha Richardson was even younger at 24 years of age.  (Sad note: Richardson died in 2009 from a head injury while skiing.) Has Jim Carter, the head butler in Downton Abbey, always looked the same age his entire life?

For some reason the above quoted summaries fail to mention that the character James Moon (Kenneth Branagh) was also suffering PTSD from World War I.

BEAUTIFUL BUT SAD! (Gooseflesh anyone?)

2015, Acorn TV, Binge worthy, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Boating, British Mystery Series, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Gangs, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Undercover police work, Weapons Dealer, Yorkshire Accents

Black Work (2015)

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From Acorn TV:

This powerful crime thriller written by Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies) dives into the murky depths of undercover police work and tells the story of a woman willing to risk everything to protect her family. Sheridan Smith (Jonathan Creek, Accused) delivers a powerhouse performance as Jo Gillespie, a police constable who embarks on a dangerous investigation of her husband’s death.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 3 episodes of this series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Because this engrossing procedural, which takes place in Leeds, involves so many facets, for a while I could not imagine the story ending in a mere 3 episodes. Have no fear, the conclusion is quite satisfying.

You can hear various accents include the Scottish accent of Douglas Henshall and the Yorkshire accent of others, especially the character Zoe Nash.

Familiar faces abound:

  •     Matthew McNulty, who plays Jack, was Steve Campbell in the wonderful Deadwater Fell,  which is also found on Acorn TV.
  •    Geraldine James, who plays CC Carolyn Jarecki,  was 65 years old in the filming. Her resumé is enormous.
  •   Douglas Henshall, who plays DCS Hepburn,  was DI Jimmy Pere in Shetland.  He appears in many familiar series.
  •   Was there ever a more familiar veteran than Phil Davis ( who plays Tom Piper) ? He has played in everything (slight exaggeration but just take a glance at his IMDB entry).

For most of the 3 episodes I spent much time trying to figure out who is corrupt. There are a lot of name to remember, but names are used a lot. And some of those names are bad guys, so stay alert.

So well done that I feel obliged to say DO NOT MISS!

2013, Amazon Prime, Comedy, Complicated, Divorce, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-daughter relations, Feel Good Not For Children, Lesbian Theme, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Netflix Streaming, Optimistic, Quiet, Senior citizens, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Small British village, Yorkshire Accents

Last Tango in Halifax (2013)

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From Netflix:

Two widowed childhood sweethearts fall for each other all over again when they are reunited over the Internet after nearly 60 years.

Several sources (Netflix, Amazon) let you stream seasons one and two of this off-beat British TV series set in Yorkshire. We inadvertently started with season two and after getting acquainted with the many characters it really did not matter that we skipped season one.

Expect to find a celebration of multi-family dysfunctionality. Because the circumstances and relationships are so abnormal, you have to call this series a comedy. Of course, it you are willing to take any of it seriously, then you could say there are also sad or serious parts.

Just to give you a sample of the nuttiness:

  • Celia (Anne Reid) and Alan (the wonderful Derek Jacobi) marry in their seventies.
  • Celia’s daughter Caroline (Sarah Lancashire, who was wonderful in “Happy Valley”) is divorcing the loser John and taking up with Kate (Nina Sosanya who was Lucy Freeman in “W1A”).
  • Alan’s daughter Kate (Nicola Walker who was Ruth Evershed in “MI-5” or the remarkable Helen Bartlett in “Scott & Bailey”) is an impetuous unpredictable sheep farmer who has a complicated relation with Robbie (Dean Andrews who as Pete Lewis in “Being Eileen”) which is not at all helped by the fact that she slept with loser John.

Derek Jacobi’s Yorkshire speech pattern is wonderful to hear.

Because of its unrelenting sexual references, this series is probably not for children. But it does offer a pleasant and funny alternative to serial killers and rape victims.