Favorite Television Productions Set in the 1850s

Below is a list of my favorite television productions set in the 1850s:



FAVORITE TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS SET IN THE 1850s



1. "North & South" (2004) - Daniela Danby-Ashe and Richard Armitage starred in the 2004 BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel about a dissenting Church of England minister's daughter and a cotton textile owner. Brian Percival directed.





2. "Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad" (1994) - Janet Bailey and Courtney B. Vance starred in this Canadian television movie about a group of North Carolina slaves who risk the journey to freedom after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Don McBrearty directed.





3. "Far From the Madding Crowd" (1998) - Paloma Baeza and Nathaniel Parker starred in this television adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel about a young farm owner torn between three men. Directed by Nicholas Renton, Jonathan Firth and Nigel Terry co-starred.





4. "Bleak House" (2005) - Andrew Davies adapted the 2005 television version of Charles Dickens' 1852-1853 novel about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system. Directed by Justin Chadwick and Susanna White, the miniseries starred Anna Maxwell-Martin, Denis Lawson and Gillian Anderson.





5. "Underground" (2016-2017) - Jurnee Smollett and Aldis Hodge starred in this WGN television series that followed a group of slaves on their bid for freedom from a Georgia plantation to the Northern states in the late 1850s. The series was created by Misha Green and Joe Pokaski.





6. "Doctor Thorne" (2016) - Tom Hollander starred in this television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's third novel of his Chronicles of Barsetshire series. The series was adapted by Julian Fellowes and directed by Niall MacCormick.





7. "Bleak House" (1985) - Arthur Hopcraft adapted the 1985 television version of Charles Dickens' 1852-1853 novel about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system. Directed by Ross Devenish and Susanna White, the miniseries starred Suzanne Burden, Denholm Elliott and Diana Rigg.





8. "Captive Heart: The James Mink Story" (1996) - Lou Gossett Jr. and Kate Nelligan starred in this television movie about a black Canadian businessman and his Irish-born wife who discover that their daughter had been sold into slavery by the latter's new husband. Bruce Pittman directed.





9. "The Barchester Chronicles" (1982) - Donald Pleasence starred in this television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's first two novels in his Chronicles of Barsetshire literary series. David Giles directed.





10. "Pudd'nhead Wilson" (1984) - Ken Howard starred in this television movie adaptation of Mark Twain's 1894 novel two Missouri boys - a light-skinned slave and the son of a slave owner - switched at birth. Directed by Alan Bridges, the movie co-starred Lise Hilboldt and Steven Weber.