costume dramas

Review: 24 Hours in the Past

Posted on 21 May, 2015 by Helen Barrell

Rather like I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here crossed with Tony Robinsons’ The Worst Jobs in History, this four-episode living history series took ...

Elsewhere (not Essex or Suffolk)

Review: The Game

Posted on 17 May, 2015 by Helen Barrell

I’ve lived in Birmingham for several years, long enough to get confused sometimes when my brain forgets what the new Bull Ring shopping centre looks like ...

History

Interview with Janice Preston, historical romance author

Posted on 9 November, 2014 by Helen Barrell

The first book by Janice Preston, historical romance novelist, was published this summer. Mary and the Marquis tells the tale of a widow, who finds an injured m...

Elsewhere (not Essex or Suffolk)

Things you’ll see in “Ripper Street” series 3. Honest.

Posted on 11 September, 2014 by Helen Barrell

Filming has finished on the third series of late-Victorian, plaid-encrusted crime-drama Ripper Street. Huzzah! Herewith, illustrated in 19th century engravings,...

Elsewhere (not Essex or Suffolk)

An airy thought….

Posted on 5 September, 2014 by Helen Barrell

There I was, opening another marriage register, ready to transcribe, when I spotted something, which took my mind far from the nuptials of the people of Essex, ...