This is a big week for fans of soft reboots and relatively unheralded 2012 period dramas: the Bletchley Circle women – or at least half of them – are back. The series about a quartet of former second world war code-breakers resisting the starchy social strictures of 1950s Britain by teaming up to solve crimes has now crossed the Atlantic, with Rachael Stirling’s glam governess, Millie, and Julie Graham’s fastidious Scottish librarian, Jean, relocating to San Francisco in 1956. (“And I thought Edinburgh was hilly,” mutters Jean.)
Why the abrupt transatlantic move? The plot sees the pair on the trail of a nefarious GI who, having previously strangled one of their Bletchley workmates, has apparently resumed his lethal ways in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. The rather more prosaic reason is that The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco has been revived by an injection of cash from BritBox, a US streaming service specialising in repeats of old BBC and ITV shows. BritBox knows its subscribers love British accents, but is hedging its first move into original programming by guaranteeing an exciting backdrop of west-coast jazz clubs and cool, curvy cars rather than petrol rationing and the introduction of double-yellow lines. If it works, it could be the beginning of a new wave of transatlantic period drama. So what other British shows should dust off their vintage blue passports and “do a Bletchley”?
Poldark: Revolutionary Ross
Winston Graham wrote 13 Poldark novels set in Cornwall, so the latest BBC adaptation will not run out of source material any time soon. The day will come, however, when Aidan Turner hangs up his tricorn hat for good, and that might be the exact moment to pitch a Poldark prequel: something Cornish yet even more past-y. The broad outline is in the books – young Ross was arrested for brawling in 1780 and only joined the army to escape jail, ending up as a disgruntled infantryman in the American war of independence – but otherwise prequel writers could allow their imaginations to run wild. What sort of mischief did Ross get up to in 18th-century New York? What was his meet cute with loyal pal Dr Dwight? And, crucially, how did he get that scar?
Speakeasy Blinders
If Steven Knight’s world-conquering 1920s Birmingham gang saga can be adapted into a ballet it does not seem too much of a stretch to imagine a spin-off set in Chicago at the height of prohibition. Tommy Shelby currently seems to have his hands full pursuing a political career, but what if one of his henchmen lit out for the Windy City to escape prosecution at home? A hatchet-faced Brummie in a flat cap violently carving out a piece of the bootlegging action in one of the most corrupt cities in the world? Sounds like a rapid-fire hit.
All Creatures, Great Lakes and All
Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy and Peter Davison created such a beloved chemistry on screen that to attempt to remake All Creatures Great and Small seems almost disrespectful. Better, then, to divorce the series inspired by James Herriot’s autobiographical novels from its 1940s Yorkshire setting. What if, after graduating from Glasgow veterinary college, the young, eager Herriot rocked up in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1940, a city still dusting itself off from the effects of the Depression? True, pet ownership was probably not a priority for people in a city still dusting itself off from the effects of the Great Depression, but young Herriot would be required to get to grips with fearsome-looking longhorn cattle.
Inspector George Gently: Miami
A few narrative backflips may be required to coax Martin Shaw’s glumly principled 1960s copper from his Newcastle base all the way to Magic City, but watching him patiently operate against a glitzy backdrop of dapper mobsters, powerful mojitos and illicit gambling feels as if it would have some strong fish-out-of-water potential, especially if his impressively sideburned sidekick DS John Bacchus – a man always ready to indulge his vices – also made the trip.
Downton: Rhode Island Nights
Julian Fellowes, the jolly Midas of period dramas, may be attempting to assemble as many original cast members as possible for his Downton movie, but it still feels like there would be plenty mileage in a US-focused spin-off, possibly centred on Lady Cora’s yacht-obsessed brother, Harold (Paul Giamatti). Stick him in a big Gatsby-esque pile in 1920s Rhode Island, surround him with a swirl of visiting socialites and their various servants and you could re-create the spirit of old England in New England … even if might take millions to tempt Giamatti away from Billions.
The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, Wednesdays, 9pm, ITV
