Watching the first season of The Tudors this morning I remembered a film I caught on the telly the other night, Stage Beauty. The film basically picks up the plot where Shakespeare in Love left the audience, and tells the story of an actor who was trained to play women on stage, and suddenly finds his life without meaning when women are given permission to perform in theatre. The film is a bit cheesy in parts, but it is very entertaining with a wonderful cast and great performances thereof--particularly Billy Cudrup, who literally moved me to tears. It's a shame this film didn't get the attention Shakespeare in Love received. If you like period drama and the theatre, this film is definitely recommended.

Speaking of recs--I'm really, really in the mood for some good English period drama right now. I love movies like Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, or shows like The Tudors, and discovering Stage Beauty I just realised that there are probably many jewels of period drama I just haven't seen or heard of yet--or have seen but forgotten about. So, if you got any recs for period dramas PLEASE TELL ME :D (I've seen my share of Jane Austen adaptions, I'm more in the mood for period drama set before 1800 but if you got recs for good films/shows set past 1800 I wouldn't say no to those either :D )

I don't mind if the film/show takes liberties with the course of historical events, though the history buff in me rejoices about stuff that is "historically correct" (or as correct as history writing can get). In short - GOT RECS? :D

On a related note, I'd also be interested in recs for good books about the history of Britain. Nonfiction, please. Any pointers? :-)

Thank you in advance, guys :-)