Mini-Series Marathons!

I've always been a sucker for a good mini-series. What's that you say? This movie is 6 hours long? COUNT ME IN!!!

Lately, I have been really into BBC and with the benefit of Masterpiece Theatre I have been able to see quite a few of them, but none of them have struck a cord like Downton Abbey! (The second season started last Sunday with the first two episodes and the next two are on tonight!) Perhaps some of you have heard of this wonderful series, as it has become so popular that even magazines like Entertainment Weekly have given it a spot more than once, plus a 4-page spread complete with pictures! I don't want to say much to give it away, but it was based on the popular mini-series Upstairs, Downstairs, one of the first to not only feature the aristocratic lords and ladies of the upperhouse, but the maids and butlers of the lowerhouse as well.

Next, there's Pillars of the Earth, based on the book by Ken Follett. My parents both read the book so I was thrilled that they were willing to watch the 8 hour mini-series with me! We just completed it this week! It was fabulous, with a great cast like Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice, The Three Musketeers, Any Human Heart), Donald Sutherland (Pride and Prejudice), Eddie Redmayne (Tess of the D'Ubervilles), Rufus Sewell (A Knight's Tale, The Tourist), Hayley Atwell (Any Human Heart), Ian McShane (Pirates of the Caribbean, Death Race), and so many more!

Not only that, but I found out that one of the books I just purchased, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, was also turned into a BBC miniseries, starring Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans) and Eddie Redmayne (Pillars of the Earth). This one was really hard to find. It wasn't in any of the stores I looked at, no talks of it showing on BBC America or PBS as a masterpiece theater. Netflix didn't even have a DVD copy of it let alone on instant play. Nevertheless, after digging on the Internet, I did find the first two episodes and am now searching for the other two through some streaming HD sites! YEAH! The first two episodes were very good. I just hope it ends happily. If anyone has seen it or read the book (like I should have done first!) Just tell me if it is happy. Nothing else, just happy, not, or bittersweet! Those are your only options!

So that's the latest and greatest mini-series I have dived into in the last few weeks. What about you guys? And it doesn't have to be the last few weeks. It could be EVER! I just didn't do ever because there would be too many. Although, I will mention Wives and Daughters (based off of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel), North and South, Love and War, and Heaven and Hell (all starring the wonderful Patrick Swayze and some soap opera people), and then there is a different North and South (starring the dark Richard Armitage from the BBC Robin Hood). Now, I better stop before I get into all the great Jane Austen mini-series!

So, again, I ask, what mini-series do you love!?!?