And it’s time to announce the winner of our giveaway. There were 38 comments and lucky winner is comment nº 10 - MIDNIGHT COWGIRL

Congratulations! Please send us your address and tell us which DVD you would like to receive.

After two years we are starting to feel that we covered most of our favourite series and movies, however we know that there’s a lot more out there just waiting to be discovered (by us at least), so our challenge for you today is to ask for your favourite period dramas that we haven’t mentioned here yet. Those buried treasures that you save for a rainy day are the ones we want to hear about!
 
One of the features we had in our first year of existence was the monthly discussions, we really liked doing those but they only work with well known dramas because half the fun is sharing your opinions and different points of view. So, if enough people suggest the same title we can even do another monthly discussion (if you like them as much as we did of course). In fact we already thought of a first candidate for the a future discussion. The new Emma that is being shown on BBC presently seems like the perfect candidate for a lively discussion. What do you all think?
 
And we promise to write down all the titles suggested for future reference!

One of the best things of having a blog is discovering how many people out there share our interests and like to chat about the same things we do, for as long as we feel like it, without being labeled as a freak. Since we want to have even more chatting and friendly discussions we thought of preparing a poll to see which features you prefer. And the comments will be our suggestion box, what would you like to see covered at Lights, Camera…History!? Leave us a comment and we will see what we can do…

To celebrate our 2nd anniversary we decided to organize a giveaway. After some discussion, we finally agreed on a list with several DVD titles and the winner could choose one that appeals him the most.
Is there anything better than sharing our addiction? We think not, so to participate leave a comment and let us know what is the upcoming movie or series that you are eager to see. No answer, no contest.

1. Lost in Jane Austen
2. BBC Sense & Sensibility
3. Little Dorrit
4. Lark Rise to Candleford: Series 1
5. Lark Rise to Candleford: Series 2
6. Berkeley Square
7. Bleak House
8. Lilies
9. Aristocrats
10. The Devil’s Whore
11. The Tudors: Complete Series 1 And 2
12. Brideshead Revisited – Complete Series
13. Robin Hood : The Complete BBC Series 1
14. Casualty 1900s
15. Wuthering Heights 2009
16. John Adams – The Complete HBO Series

The contest ends october 17th midnight GMT and is open worldwide.

Good luck everyone!

Blog team conversation a few days ago:

A1 – Hey, our anniversary is next week.
A2 – Next week? It can’t be. The first one was just a few months ago.
A1 – Nope, it was 11 months and a few days ago…
A3 – Wow, imagine that! Two years of blogging about historical movies and series…

And yes, it’s hard to believe that two years have already gone by since we started this blog. This year besides having even more reviews published we also moved to our own domain, this allowed us to tidy up the blog a bit and give it a new layout and header. This was also the year that we started our first challenge. After seeing so many book challenges around we thought a movies/series challenge was desperately needed, we are happy to say that this seems to be a success with many participants and many interesting reviews shared here on the blog.

We want to thank everyone who’s been following us, chatting with us about historical movies and series, entering our giveaways and generally making this a great community. This would not be the same without you!

And to make it easier for everyone to follow us we are now on Facebook and on Twitter.

Come back tomorrow and the following days to see what more we have planned for you!

The winner of our Persuasion giveaway is:

Naanreads

Please contact ana.teixeira1972 at gmail dot com with your address so we can send it on. Congratulations Naanreads !

Note: After 7 days, if the winner does not contact us, we’ll chose another person.

The winner of our Vanity Fair giveaway is:

Laura

Please contact ana.sa.oliveira at gmail dot com with your address so we can send it on. Congratulations, Laura!

Note: After 7 days, if the winner does not contact us, we’ll chose another person.

We were planning to answer everyone on the threads but we have had so many visitors these past few days that that has proved to be an impossible task. We’re very happy to see so many new people enjoying our blog and we are looking forward to chatting with all of you in the future. You might want to visit our past discussions (the N&S one was very lively, for instance).
Remember that our three giveaways are still going on: 

- BBC North & South with Richard Armitage & Daniella Denby-Ashe (click here to enter).

The contest closes the 15 October at midnight Western Europe Time and the result will be announced the next day – 16 October.

- BBC Vanity Fair with Natasha Little (click here to enter):

The contest closes the 16 October at midnight Western Europe Time and the results will be announced the next day. 

- BBC Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds (click here to enter):

The contest closes the 17 October at midnight Western European Time and the winner will be announced the next day.

All these giveaways are open Worldwide.

After one year talking about period dramas, we thought it should be interesting if each of us would chose a favorite and write something about it. Here are our choices:

Jane Eyre by Ana O.

When we decided we’d be writing something about our favourite period drama, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d be writing about BBC’s latest adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Miss Brontë’s story is one of my favourite books ever, it’s got all the right ingredients, gothic ambiance, a strong willed and smart heroine, a dark and brooding yet attractive hero, mystery, violence and even death, yet in the end all is seemingly well.

It’s not an easy book and probably not everyone ends up enjoying it as much as I did, but I’m certain that BBC’s adaptation gathers a lot more fans, in my opinion it’s a lighter version of the story meant to please everyone, even the ones that found the book a little too dark. Toby Stephens’ portrait of Edward Rochester sweeps us off our feet the moment he appears, there’s no way each and every one of us ladies wouldn’t give her heart to such a man, brooding yet witty, sometimes violent and yet capable of much tenderness and love. Ruth Wilson’s Jane Eyre isn’t as plain as we’d probably expected but she’s so sweet and innocent that we rapidly forget about the character in the book, her eyes express what’s in her heart. Throughout four whole episodes we follow their story and growing love, and if you’re anything like me you’ll probably watch them all in just one sitting, as you’re unable to budge from your seat.

I’d recommend this series to all romantics and fans of a truly beautiful and timeless love story, even if you didn’t like the book I’m certain you’ll enjoy this. Plus you’ve got a hero that’s good enough to rival with Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy and Richard Armitage’s Mr. Thornton, now has that got your attention? ;-)

Persuasion by Ana T.

With so many series and movies I’ve been watching lately it’s been really hard to choose a favourite. If I look at recent viewings Lark Rise to Candleford is my most recent favourite but thinking way back, in the long run, my favourite is the Ciaran Hinds, Amanda Root version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

Where to start… Persuasion is a brilliant adaptation of Austen’s story. The confusion and mix of feelings experienced by Anne Elliott when she first sees Captain Wentworth after 8 years is clearly reflected in Amanda Root’s face and manner. Ciaran Hinds keeps us in suspense for a while on whether his Captain Wentworth has forgotten Anne or not. Every look and gesture has a meaning with these two; they speak as much with their eyes, if not more, as with their mouths. We follow Anne as she realizes she loves Wentworth still and we suffer with her when she believes her cause lost. When a ray of hope shines we can’t help waiting eagerly for that moment when she will finally be able to say yes.

Then it is a very interesting movie, there’s a lot of attention to detail and I notice that every time I watch it I find some little thing I had missed earlier. As first viewing left me mesmerized with Anne and Frederick, later viewings allowed me to enjoy the secondary characters more. It might not be the kind of movie that we immediately love on first viewing – because it’s a demanding movie, slow, intense and emotional – but it is certainly one I’ve enjoyed more each time I watched it!

One final word for the new Persuasion of 2007. I liked that new adaptation very much too especially because of Sally Hawkins performance. I loved her portrayal of Anne!!

Elizabeth by Alex

I first saw the movie in the cinema in 98 and back then I only knew Blanchett from Oscar & Lucinda (another movie with a Fiennes brother). For me, the casting of Elizabeth had to be perfect I didn’t want to see any fashionable young actress doing a fluffy Bess and ruining the movie.  The first images are very powerful and drag you immediately into the story. I think I will never be able to forget that scene with the hair just before the execution by burning.

Even if well educated possessing an outstanding culture and knowledge for a woman (or man) of that time, Elizabeth led a rather sheltered life with her ladies and the visits of her love interest, Lord Robert Dudley. As a Queen, everything changes… These are the first years of her reign when everything was still uncertain and it was unthinkable to have a woman alone in the throne without a consort. Leaving behind her young girl insecurities, Elizabeth grows stronger and more confident, becoming one of the most admired monarchs in History.

Cate Blanchett is simply bewitching as Elizabeth. Physically she is stunning and from the first minutes I knew she was the perfect choice for this role. She is the main reason why this movie works so well. When Elizabeth is on the screen, you only have eyes for her. I let myself be seduced from the first moments when I saw her dancing and I completely surrender when I witness her wit and intelligence while convincing her Bishops to pass the Act of Uniformity. Cate Blanchett has been since this movie one of my favorite actresses, she can play who she wants to perfection.

After Elizabeth, the Machiavellian Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) is the one who sparkles my interest – the mysterious man in black who was always lurking in the shadows protecting his Queen by all means.
A small note, for those who like the new James Bond, Daniel Craig (like me!), you can see him here as the scaring priest.;-)

While not a flawless movie (some liberties were taken and historical scenes rewritten at convenience), I always enjoy every minute of it. The colors and wardrobe are rich and luxurious, the settings beautiful and the music magnificent. Highly recommended to all those who have some fascination for Elizabeth I and Cate Blanchett.

To end these four days of celebration, we are doing another giveaway. This time it will be BBC Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds:

To participate the only thing you have to do is to tell us which is your favorite period drama and why. The winner will be picked by Raffle King.

The contest closes the 17 October at midnight Western European Time and the winner will be announced the next day.

This giveaway is open worldwide.

Today we are giving away the exciting BBC series Vanity Fair:

To win you only have to guess the names of the following movies/series. The person who guesses more will be the winner. If there are several people with the same number of correct answers we’ll enter their names in the Raffle King who will select a final winner.

The contest closes the 16 October at midnight Western Europe Time and the results will be announced the next day. 

This giveaway is open Worldwide.

Good luck!:)

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