OCTOBER WATCHING, READING, TEACHING, LIVING

1. WATCHING - Don't you love Sunday nights?

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark

Most people hate Sunday nights since the weekend is over and the idea of starting a new working week is not easy to tackle. But I'm lucky enough to have found not one but two perfect antidotes in the recent weeks and I don't mind sharing them with you. This is how I face the ugly truth: Monday you do not scare me!  I prepare all my lesson plans and do my paperwork in advance, which I usually do at night, so that I can sit as comfortably as I can, turn the TV on and 1) enjoy Poldark's 18th century Cornish adventures on BBC 1 then 2) swoon on Victoria and Albert's 19th century royal romance on ITV +1. The result is I head to bed something like this  ...

... mesmerized! And who cares it'll be Monday in few hours!

Why are these series such safe havens? Too long to explain, but I'm sure you can understand. I am so grateful to UK TV for giving us such great period drama series.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD: POLDARK IS BACK - ARE YOU IN FOR SOME MORE CORNISH DELIGHTS AND BITTERSWEET DRAMA?

Autumn usually brings new series and new shows on TV.  Summer is going to end soon, this means we must get ready to some excitement. Are you waiting for anything in particular? Excited for any of the coming-soon shows? 

I'm writing about mine, ok? What about sharing yours in the comments section? Too many question marks here! To the point! 

What about Poldark series two? Isn't that something worth some enthusiasm? After the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of series one, I can't wait? Have you read the books meanwhile? Or re-watched the episodes of the first season? 

Too many question marks again! Time for real news, now. Here is some info from the BBC Press Media Center website. Beware of some spoilers!

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as his wife Demelza are back on BBC One this September 4 at 9pm . The debut series peaked with 9.4 million viewers across TV and iPlayer, generating phenomenal media interest and devotion from viewers which culminated in it winning the Radio Times Audience Award at this year’s Baftas.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - MY BEST FAVOURITE COSTUME DRAMA SERIES OF 2015

2015 has been a blessed year for period drama lovers, hasn't it? What costume series have you watched and loved? Here are mine.

...

Outlander 

The second part of season one was gripping, tough, dark, a rollercoaster of emotions. Never suffered as much as while watching ep.15/16 for any TV series! Unforgettable performances by Mr Heughan and Mr Menzies. Looking forward to Jamie & Claire's  French adventures!

Poldark

The original TV series was pivotal in my life, it started my love for everything British. The new version was mesmerizing, so romantic and beautiful! Aidan Turner? Well, yes, I happened to notice his charming looks from time to time.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - A VERY PERIOD CHRISTMAS TIME

I'm so happy this holiday season will be pretty special.  It'll be a very period Christmas time, you know? Period as in period drama, great costume series, unforgettable emotions. Here's my holiday period calendar, which I'm glad to share with all of you. Are you ready? Bookmark this post or take notes, if you are a period drama freak like me! (for more info about the shows, click on the links below the pictures)

25th December 2015 - Call the Midwife Christmas Special 7.30 p.m. on BBC1

25th December  2015 - Downton Abbey Christmas Special and final episode ... for good! Tissues ready. ITV 1 9 p.m.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - WHO'S THE ROMANTIC HERO OF YOUR HEART? JAMIE FRASER OR ROSS POLDARK?

Sighs and swooning out there? Yes, I know. I've seen polls spring up all over the Net and wasn't surprised at all.  Ross or Jamie? Aidan or Sam? Poldark or Outlander? Cornwall or Scotland?
Starz Outlander and BBC One Poldark are the two hit period drama series of the moment. Blending adventure and romance, historical fiction and stunning locations, talent and beauty they have got legions of passionate fans all over the world. These fans are quite vocal and convey their enthusiasm in their tweets, facebook pages and their blogs, they read or re-read the books on which the series are based, they discuss them in groups, they create fan-fiction and gadgets, they make friends and have fun gathering together. They love the stories and all the characters in them, they are fond of the locations and costumes, they are intrigued by the twists and turns, watch and re-watch their favourite scenes, learn by heart their favourite lines but ... let's be honest ... the main reason of their passionate interest is their fondness for the two gorgeous, fascinating, dashing heroes: James Alexander Malcom MacKenzie Fraser and Captain Ross Poldark.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - POLDARK, THE MUSKETEERS 2, BANISHED AND ... OUTLANDER!

Being the period drama freak I am, I have been watching quite a few costume drama series recently. Not as many and as I would wish, but enough, I’d rather say,  for a very busy bee like me.

Outlander (Starz)

Now, first things first! Looking around my stuff, you may have noticed I’m slightly hooked by “Outlander”. Aye,  I can’t deny the fact I am verra favourably inclined toward the spicy intriguing  historical romance written by Diana Gabaldon and adapted for Starz by Ron D. Moore. I had bravely resisted Jamie Fraser’s charms as long as he remained a book hero,  while now, and  I must blame Scot-to-the-bone Mr Heughan for my sudden astonishing change, the situation has changed and I'm prone to an Outlander frenzy. Indeed. 

I'm watching the series on Fox Life HD on Monday night. The first two episodes have been broadcast so far. I can watch it in the original language and enjoy Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan , Tobias Menzies and the rest of the talented cast perform in their real voices. 

I can’t wait for April 4th ,  when episode 9 will be on Starz with all its burden of marital issues for the newly married  Claire and Jamie and, especially,  with the announced hot scenes of make-up sex.

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES - SHADOWHUNTERS, KILLING DEMONS AND PREJUDICES

“The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.” (Cassandra Clare) 

Book synopsis  - Sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is an ordinary teenager, who likes hanging out in Brooklyn with her friends. But everything changes the night she witnesses a murder, committed by a group of teens armed with medieval weaponry. The murderous group are Shadowhunters, secret warriors dedicated to driving demons out of this dimension and back into their own. Drawn inexorably into a terrifying world, Clary slowly begins to learn the truth about her family - and the battle for the fate of the world.

You know,  each time I write about books or movies at FLY HIGH, it is never on a professional level .  I  try to be as honest as I can with you,  but don't ask me to be  objective. I've been and will be,  on the contrary,  totally and personally involved in each of my reviews.

So,   this time too,  I'll  tell you something really personal.

AIDAN TURNER AND ROBERT SHEEHAN, YOUNG TALENTS FROM THE EMERALD ISLE

Will they become as popular and universally acknowledged as Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell,   Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Ciaran Hinds and  Jonathan Rhys Meyers? All these fascinating men share their talent at acting and their being Irish. All of them made it in the movie industry,  getting to a huge popularity. Will Aidan Turner and Robert Sheehan, young, Irish and talented, make it too? I'd say, they've got great chances and , in fact, they are already on their way to stardom. I bet you'll soon hear of them if you haven't yet.