Edwardian Britain (1901-1914)
Films & series set in the early 20th century.
Related lists:
World War I
Victorian Britain
Belle Époque Europe
Gilded Age America
Related lists:
World War I
Victorian Britain
Belle Époque Europe
Gilded Age America
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51 titles
- DirectorSarah GavronStarsCarey MulliganAnne-Marie DuffHelena Bonham CarterIn 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote, and is willing to meet violence with violence to achieve this end.
- DirectorChris NoonanStarsRenée ZellwegerEwan McGregorEmily WatsonThe story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness, and success.
- DirectorNicholas RentonStarsElaine CassidyLaurence FoxRafe SpallIn the Edwardian era, Marian Honeychurch and her two just-of-age children Lucy and Freddy Honeychurch are a carefree, fun-loving family living on Summer Street in the country town of Surrey. Lucy is a proper young lady, but passion seethes beneath her demure demeanor. She and her chaperone, her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett, who is officious in a slyly-undermining way, travel to Florence, Italy for a week-long respite. They stay at the Pensione Bertolini, which is popular among British tourists. Among the disparate group of other British guests at the Pensione are Mr. Emerson, whom Charlotte considers vulgar because of his forwardness, and his son, bright but brooding George Emerson. As their stay progresses, George feels that Italian life is opening his eyes to what is important in life, and he feels the same is happening to Lucy. On a group outing, an incident occurs which both Charlotte and Lucy consider improper, and the two leave Italy early and head back to England. Soon after, Lucy gets engaged to the upper-crust and passionless Cecil Vyse, and Mr. Emerson moves to Summer Street, with George visiting on the weekends. As George befriends the Honeychurches, Lucy begins to tell a series of lies, mostly to herself, about what and whom she really wants in her life.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletBilly ZaneA seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
- DirectorIain SoftleyStarsHelena Bonham CarterLinus RoacheAlex JenningsAn impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsMaggie SmithHelena Bonham CarterDenholm ElliottLucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsStewart GrangerJean SimmonsBill TraversIn early-1900s England, a maid tries to blackmail her master into romancing her when she discovers that he murdered his wife.
- DirectorDavid MametStarsRebecca PidgeonJeremy NorthamNigel HawthorneFollowing the theft of a postal order, a 14-year-old cadet is expelled from Naval College. To save the honour of the boy and his family, the pre-eminent barrister of the day is engaged to take on the might of the Admiralty.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsUma ThurmanJeremy NorthamKate BeckinsaleA man marries an heiress for her money even though he is actually in love with her friend.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsEmma ThompsonVanessa RedgraveSet in the early 20th century, class distinctions and troubled relations affect the relationship between two families and the ownership of a cherished British estate known as Howards End.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsJohnny DeppKate WinsletJulie ChristieThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.
- DirectorCharles SturridgeStarsHelena Bonham CarterJudy DavisRupert GravesAfter a rich Edwardian widow impulsively marries a handsome but poor Tuscan dentist and dies in childbirth, her English in-laws try to gain custody of the baby.
- StarsThorley WaltersJudy ParfittTimothy WestThis series covers the turning points in 9 different figures during the Edwardian era of the United Kingdom - Henry Royce and Charles Rolls - of Rolls Royce fame; Horatio Bottomly founder of John Bull; E. Nesbitt author of "The Railway Children"; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of Sherlock Holmes; Baden-Powell founder of the Boy Scout movement; Marie Lloyd - her role in the 1907 Music Hall strike; Daisy - the mistress of Edward VII; and Lloyd George - a politician and a philanderer.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.
- DirectorToa FraserStarsJeremy NorthamSam NeillBryan BrownSet in Edwardian England where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Fisk Senior has little time or affection for his son, but when the pair visit an eccentric Indian, they start a strange journey that eventually allows the old man to find his heart.
- CreatorDeborah CookSuzanne van de VeldeStarsVictoria SmurfitClare WilkieTabitha WadyThree young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.
- DirectorBryn HigginsStarsTim BakerPaul BrightwellNigel CookeInnovative hospital drama that plunges the viewer into the Receiving Room (today's A&E) of the London hospital deep in the teeming East End. The drama is shot with the pace and action of its modern-day counterpart and namesake, "Casualty", but every case and character is true. Focusing on cases, characters, and events taken from the actual hospital records, nurses' Ward Diaries, and intimate memoirs, "Casualty 1906" is an unbroken experience of life with pioneering doctors and nurses among the desperately poor 100 years ago.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsDick Van DykeSally Ann HowesLionel JeffriesA down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsGillian AndersonDan AykroydEleanor BronA woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
- DirectorCatherine MorsheadStarsJack BlumenauClare ThomasJemima RooperDramatization of E. Nesbit's classic novel about three children whose lives change dramatically after they move to a Yorkshire cottage near a railway line.
- DirectorJames HawesStarsJessie WallaceRichard ArmitageShaun ParkesIn the first decade of the twentieth century Miss Marie Lloyd is the biggest female entertainer in England, adored by her public, in a biography commented on in song by 'the Showman'. Marie's first marriage is to fellow music hall entertainer Alec Hurley but it ends in divorce. She then marries Percy Courtenay, an adoring fan, but he is side-lined as Marie's popularity grows and this marriage also ends in disaster. Whilst Marie is a huge hit with the public because of her down-to-earth attitude, some fellow performers, such as Nelly Powers, find her act vulgar and a Mrs. Chant takes Marie to a tribunal, claiming that her songs are obscene. Marie simply points out that any vulgarity is in the minds of the listener and is acquitted. However, she is considered too rude for the Royal Command Performance, in which Alec appears, and finances a very successful 'Command' performance of her own. Ever unlucky in love, however, her last relationship is with a much younger jockey, who abuses her and spends her money. Not in the best of health and drinking heavily, Marie collapses on stage, ironically whilst singing, 'One of the Ruins that Cromwell Knock'd About a Bit' and later dies at the comparatively young age of fifty-two.
- StarsJenny SeagroveBarry BostwickDeborah KerrEmma Harte, a bright and ambitious servant girl, overcomes her impoverished beginnings in her quest to become a retailing magnate and one of the world's richest women.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsMatthew GoodePatrick MalahideHayley AtwellA poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in England prior to World War II.
- DirectorJames HawesStarsHelena Bonham CarterMatthew MacfadyenDenis LawsonEdwardian child Enid Blyton begins to tell stories to her brothers as an escape from their parents' rows before the father deserts the family. While training as a teacher after the Great War she sends her stories to publishers; one of them, Hugh Pollock, takes her on and also marries her. They have two daughters, but Enid is a terrible mother, letting a nanny raise them while she, ironically, is bestowing treats on anonymous children who worship her for her stories. She is completely self-absorbed,driving Hugh to drink and then to another woman. Enid uses the children as emotional blackmail to get a divorce on her terms before marrying Kenneth Waters, a weak man similar to her father. After World War Two she is as popular as ever, despite accusations of using a syndicate to pen her books, and she carries on, adored by children who do not know her true nature, for another 20 years before her death in 1968.
- StarsKenneth BranaghEve BestMark TandyThe true story of Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition to the South Pole, and his epic struggle to lead his twenty-eight man crew to safety after his ship was crushed in the pack ice.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsImogen StubbsJames WilbySusannah YorkFrank Ashton and his best friend are hiking across Dartmoor when he twists his ankle. Frank goes for help at a nearby farmhouse where he stays for a few days and falls in love with Megan.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsDiana WynyardClive BrookUna O'ConnorA portrayal of the triumphs and tragedies of two English families, the upper-crust Marryots and the working-class Bridgeses, from 1899 to 1933.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyRex HarrisonGeorge SandersIn 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsGemma JonesVictoria PlucknettJohn WelshLouisa Trotter works her way up from being a skivvy to being the queen of cooks, cook to the King, and owner of the Bentinck Hotel. Her life and happenings among the guests and staff of the hotel make up the 31 episodes.
- StarsFrancesca AnnisCatherine FellerPeggy Ann WoodSeen on Masterpiece Theatre, starring Francesca Annis in an award-winning performance, Lillie vividly captures the complex woman who became one of the most notorious and respected figures of the Victorian era.
- DirectorRichard Curson SmithStarsLydia WilsonMaggie FoxSarah RidgewayAfter losing her employment, Emily accepts a proposal that will give her a secure future. But she soon finds trapped in her new family's deception.
- StarsJack DavenportDavid HoweyJanet DaleSet in 1913 Northumbria, England, the story is about Robert Bradley, a strong-willed young worker at a Jarrow shipyard, who arrives home one day to find that his father has died. That leads to a total new set of circumstances in his life.
- DirectorDouglas MackinnonStarsBilly ConnollySarah LancashireDouglas HenshallA painter in London paints in a style no longer popular. His assistant suggests artistic photography. It blooms. So much more when he photographs settings from classical nude paintings, naively oblivious to the real reason to success.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsMarilyn MonroeLaurence OlivierRichard WattisAn American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign country attempts to seduce her.
- DirectorJed MercurioStarsHolliday GraingerRichard MaddenJames NortonIn 1913 Connie Reid marries wealthy Nottingham colliery owner Sir Clifford Chatterley but he returns from the Great War disabled and in a wheelchair. Connie is loyal but begins to feel alienated as he engages a nurse, Mrs Bolton, and excludes her from pit business. Despite his desire for an heir his impotency results in a lack of sexual activity and Connie is drawn to handsome Oliver Mellors, the plain-spoken former miner her husband has engaged as his game-keeper and who represents the passion she craves. They embark upon a physical affair in Oliver's cottage but are discovered and betrayed by Mrs Bolton. Connie, now carrying Oliver's child, must choose between a pampered but joyless existence with her husband or an uncertain future with the man she has come to love.
- DirectorPete TravisStarsJim BroadbentJack HollingtonSamuel JoslinAn elderly man pieces together his childhood memories after finding his diary from 1900, which he wrote when he was 13 years old.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsRomola GaraiSam NeillLucy RussellThe rise and fall of a young eccentric British writer, in the early 20th century.
- DirectorAisling WalshStarsSophie RundleLucy ChappellMiranda RichardsonA mysterious inspector investigates the wealthy Birling family and their dinner guest following the suicide of a young woman.
- CreatorAndrew DaviesKate BrookeStarsRon CookJeremy PivenTom Goodman-HillCenters on the real-life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's department store.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsKen BlackburnMark BonnarStuart BowmanThe daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.
- StarsElizabeth McGovernLorelei KingCharles JenningsThese are the true stories of American heiresses who travelled to England to marry titled English men in the late 1800s.
- DirectorTony MaylamStarsMichael YorkJenny AgutterSimon MacCorkindaleIn 1901, two British yachtsmen visiting Germany's Frisian Islands accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.
- DirectorLionel JeffriesStarsDinah SheridanBernard CribbinsWilliam MervynAfter the enforced absence of their father, three children move with their mother to Yorkshire, where during their adventures they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsMichael PalinMaggie SmithTrevor HowardIn the early 20th Century, devout Reverend Charles Fortesque returns to England from his missionary work in Africa and, despite plans to marry his childhood sweetheart, receives a most unusual assignment: minister to the local prostitutes.
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsDaniel RadcliffeJanet McTeerCiarán HindsA young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.
- DirectorChristopher HodsonStarsAnthony ValentineMichael BarringtonMargot ListerMost people know A.J. Raffles only as a gentleman of leisure and a top-rated cricketer, but he is also "the amateur Cracksman", an expert jewel thief. Alternately aided and hindered by his old friend, Bunny Manders, Raffles cuts a dashing swathe across Edwardian England, helping himself to the baubles of the very rich, sometimes playing amateur sleuth or crimefighter, and generally enjoying himself.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsAnjelica HustonDonal McCannHelena CarrollGabriel Conroy and wife Gretta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.
- DirectorDavid WheatleyStarsOwen TealeSean BeanAnny TobinIn northern England around 1900, the worker John O'Brien lives near poverty in a small house in the worker's district. He falls in love with Mary, the teacher of his highly intelligent younger sister Kathy and daughter of a rich family. Their love is doomed by the social difference, but the vigorous Mary refuses to allow outer circumstances destroying their love.
- StarsMatthew MacfadyenHayley AtwellPhilippa CoulthardThe social and class divisions in early 20th century England through the intersection of three families - the wealthy Wilcoxes, the gentle and idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts.