Since I’m the senior director of programming at a television station, it won’t exactly come as a surprise to learn that I love watching TV (drama in particular). But I’ve also been a lifelong avid reader (fiction, in particular), so when a television adaptation of a good book comes along, I get all tingly. Fortunately, stellar dramas based on great fiction are a specialty of public television, and we have a terrific library for you.
Below you will find some excellent titles to view, such as E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End, starring an incandescent Hayley Atwell; Les Miserables, which wrestles Victor Hugo’s mammoth novel into a more manageable six episodes with a terrific cast including Dominic West, David Oyelowo and Lily Collins (and while the latter may be the daughter of Phil Collins, you won’t hear the people sing in this version); and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, also starring a second-generation talent—Maya Hawke, daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.
But that’s just the first chapter.
If, like me, you’ve spent the last eight years eagerly awaiting The Mirror and the Light, the just-published final volume in Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, you can refresh your memory of the story so far with Wolf Hall, which adapts the previous two novels.
So settle into your couch and curl up with a good... TV show.
