Couples Of Period Dramas Blog Theme

Hello there! I'd like to introduce a new blog theme with header and photos on my sidebar based on some of my favorite couples from period dramas! I had lots of fun creating this new header, the only hard part was choosing which couples to use! 

Couples In Header:

• Sophy Hutton & Dr. Frank Harrison from Cranford
• Livvy & Ray Singleton from The Magic Of Ordinary Days
• Henry Tilney & Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey (2007)
• Marguerite St. Just & Sir Percy Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)
• Molly Gibson & Roger Hamley from Wives & Daughters
• Danielle & Prince Henry from Ever After
• Denise Lovett & John Moray from The Paradise (TV series)
• Ella & Prince from Cinderella (2015)
• Emma Woodhouse & Mr. Knightley from Emma (2009)
• and of course Anne Eliot & Captain Wentworth from Persuasion (1995) 

What do you think of the new theme?

Period Dramas Pet Quiz

This quiz is all about those faithful critters who make the lives of our favorite period drama characters richer and more interesting. These are all multiple choice questions so hopefully they won't be too difficult. Enjoy!

To Play: Leave a comment with your answer to each question listed below. I'll respond with your score. You may only guess once on each question, but don't need to answer all the questions at once, take your time. Answers will be posted next Saturday.

Scoring: One point for each correctly answered question. A high score of 10 points can be earned.

Period Dramas Pet Quiz

1. In which period drama does a cat swallow a bowl full of buttermilk and lace? 
a. Wives & Daughters
b. Cranford
c. Lark Rise To Candleford


2. In which period drama does the heroine's aunt promise to give her a pug puppy when she gets married? 
a. Persuasion
b. Sense & Sensibility
c. Mansfield Park


3. In The Young Victoria, Queen Victoria has a spaniel named what? 
a. Darling
b. Dash
c. Duke


4. Which Jane Austen hero is said to have "...a large Newfoundland puppy and two or three terriers..." that come to meet the heroine when she first visits his home?
a. Mr. Darcy
b. Mr. Knightley
c. Mr. Tilney


5. In Oliver Twist, who has a dog named Bull's-Eye? 
a. Fagin
b. Bill Sykes
c. Mr. Bumble


6. In which period drama does the Mrs. Forrester have a cow she calls "Bessie Dearest"? 
a. Cranford
b. Wives & Daughters
c. Lark Rise To Candleford


7. Farmer Oak has a sheep dog named Old George in which period drama? 
a. Far From The Madding Crowd
b. Under The Greenwood Tree
c. Tess of the D'Urbervilles


8. In Anne of Avonlea, what is the name of Anne Shirley's cow that Matthew gave her? 
a. Daisy
b. Duchess
c. Dolly


9. Which fine lady in Cranford dresses in matching outfits with dog? 
a. Lady Ludlow
b. Mrs. Jamieson
c. Miss Galindo


10. What is the name of the Earl of Grantham's yellow Labrador retriever in Downton Abbey? 
a. Isis
b. Iris
c. Ivy



Have fun guessing!

Period Drama By Actors Game - Answers!

Here are the answers to the Period Drama By Actors Game from last week. All of you did a wonderful job! Your scores are below the answers. Thanks for playing!

Period Dramas By Actors:

#1. Brendan Coyle, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Anna Maxwell Martin
Answer: North & South

#2. Hugh Dancy, Hugh Bonneville, Jodhi May
Answer: Daniel Deronda

#3. Ruth Wilson, Andrew Buchan, Francesca Annis
Answer: Jane Eyre (2006)

#4. Juliet Aubrey, Douglas Hodge, Rufus Sewell
Answer: Middlemarch

#5. James Murray, Keeley Hawes, Ben Miles
Answer: Under The Greenwood Tree

#6. Christina Cole, David Tennant, Bill Nighy
Answer: He Knew He Was Right

#7. Olivia Hallinan, Claudie Blakley, Victoria Hamilton
Answer: Lark Rise To Candleford (TV series)

#8. Jeremy Northam, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette
Answer: Emma (1996)

#9. Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Matthew Macfadyen
Answer: Pride & Prejudice (2005)

#10. Claire Foy, Andy Serkis, Russell Tovey
Answer: Little Dorrit (2008)

~*~

Player Scores:

Eleanor Rose - 10 points

Miss Eliza - 10 points

Miss Sneyd - 10 points

Birdie - 9 points

Issy - 9 points

Melody - 9 points

Ashley - 8 points

Naomi Bennet - 8 points

Olivia - 8 points

Laaleen - 7 points

Cordy - 6 points

Emily Blakeney - 6 points

Debbie Hobbs - 5 points

Lois Johnson - 5 points

Madra - 5 points

Period Drama By Actors Game

So I'm not sure I've posted a game like this before but there's a first time for everything! The premise of this game is that I give you a group of three actors from a period drama and you guess what film they are from. In each group I tried to choose fairly main actors but some that won't immediately give away the film away, but hopefully these won't be too hard. Have fun!

To Play: Leave a comment guessing which period drama each group of actors stars in. I'll respond with your score. Guess as many times as you wish. 

Scoring: One point for each correctly guessed period drama. A high score of 10 points can be earned.

Period Dramas By Actors:

#1. Brendan Coyle, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Anna Maxwell Martin

#2. Hugh Dancy, Hugh Bonneville, Jodhi May

#3. Ruth Wilson, Andrew Buchan, Francesca Annis

#4. Juliet Aubrey, Douglas Hodge, Rufus Sewell

#5. James Murray, Keeley Hawes, Ben Miles

#6. Christina Cole, David Tennant, Bill Nighy

#7. Olivia Hallinan, Claudie Blakley, Victoria Hamilton 

#8. Jeremy Northam, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette

#9. Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Matthew Macfadyen

#10. Claire Foy, Andy Serkis, Russell Tovey

Happy guessing!

Period Dramas Screencaps Game {Nov 14th} - Answers

These are the answers to the Period Dramas Screencaps Game {Nov 14th} from last week. It was fun to get back into posting games and neat to have so many of you play! You all did such a great job with your guesses too! I'm hoping to review a few of these films in the near future. :)

Period Drama Screencaps:

#1

Answer: Persuasion (1995)

#2

Answer: The Young Victoria

#3

Answer: Sense & Sensibility (2008)

#4

Answer: One Night With The King

#5

Answer: Mansfield Park (2007)

#6

Answer: Mary Poppins

#7

Answer: Downton Abbey, Season 3

#8

Answer: Little Dorrit (2009)

#9

Answer: Death Comes To Pemberley

#10

Answer: Poldark 

#11

Answer: War Horse

#12

Answer: Lark Rise To Candleford 

#13

Answer: Becoming Jane

#14

Answer: The Book Thief

#15

Answer: Pride & Prejudice (1995)

~*~

Players Scores:

Birdie - 14 points

Miss Eliza - 14 points

BatZion Francesca - 13 points

Daniela - 13 points

E. Kate - 13 points

Naomi Bennet - 13 points

Cordy - 12 points

Esther Romaine - 12 points

Heather - 11 points

Sadie - 11 points

Lois Johnson - 10 points

Kimberly Grace Bowman - 9 points

Presents of the Past - 7 points

Hamlette - 6 points

Film News: Victoria and P&P&Z

There's lots of new period dramas being filmed but these two upcoming productions caught my attention and I wondered what y'all thought of them.

Victoria (TV series, Coming 2016) 

According to The Guardian this new ITV drama is set to be an 8 part series that focuses on Queen Victoria's early life "...from her accession to the throne at 18 through to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert." Also The Mirror said that "The series will begin with a 90-minute episode followed by seven one-hour episodes."

Cast will include: Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria, Rufus Sewell as prime minister Lord Melbourne, Paul Rhys as Sir John Conroy, Peter Firth as the Duke of Cumberland, Catherine Flemming as Queen Victoria's mother the Duchess of Kent, and Eve Myles as Mrs Jenkins (the Queen’s senior dresser). No news yet on who will play Prince Albert or any other important historic characters. 

My Thoughts: Queen Victoria is my favorite British monarch so I'm very excited about them making a new series about her life. I'm a fan of Jenna Coleman's work from Doctor Who (TV series) and Death Comes To Pemberley (2013) so I'm very pleased with her being cast as the Queen (she also looks a little like the real Queen Victoria)! Really hoping of course that this series is more like my favorite Victoria & Albert (2001) or The Young Victoria (2009) and steers clear of inappropriate content. But either way I am loving the glimpses at the costumes!!!

~*~

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

Elizabeth Bennet meets guts and gore...erm, not my cup of tea really. However I did enjoy watching the first half of the first trailer that has been released. I think I'd like to see a version with all of the extra blood and gore cut out, that would be interesting. The actors seem fairly well cast for their roles so it will be interesting to see what fan videos come out of it. I haven't read the book but I did attempt reading Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters and that wasn't too bad really. 

My Thoughts On The Cast:

• Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet - Really enjoyed her as Cinderella (2015) and her career seems to have just taken off with Downton Abbey, P&P&Z and a new version of War & Peace! I actually quite like her looks as Lizzy - dark hair, fine eyes, youthful figure - and she does look 21 as Lizzy is supposed to be. 
• Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy - I've never seen him act but he doesn't seem quite handsome enough to be Mr. Darcy, and the character in this film seems far too dark and mysterious.
• Matt Smith as Mr. Collins - I think this is the most brilliant casting out of all of these actors, he has such awkward comedic timing!
• Douglas Booth as Mr. Bingley - Really enjoyed him as Pip in Great Expectations (2011) and I can sort of see him as the kind Mr. Bingley.
• Jack Huston as Mr. Wickham - You might recognize him as Doctor Charles Haden in Miss Austen Regrets. He would definitely make a charming Mr. Wickham.
• Charles Dance as Mr. Bennet - Not quite the Mr. Bennet of the book, but this version seems to be a clever warrior. 
• Bella Heathcote as Jane Bennet - She looks very sweet!
• Ellie Bamber as Lydia Bennet - A red-headed Lydia is a neat idea! And I did look it up to see if she's related to actor David Bamber (Mr. Collins in P&P 1995) but she's not. 
• Morfydd Clark as Georgina - I assume this is supposed to be Georgiana Darcy? Either way this actress is also up and coming with Arthur & George, P&P&Z and she'll star as Frederica Vernon in Love and Friendship!

~*~

So what do you think of these two period dramas that are coming out?

Period Dramas Screencaps Game {Nov 14th}

Here's a little screencap game for y'all to enjoy! These should be fairly easy but there are some screencaps here from films I'll be reviewing in the near future!

 To Play: Leave a comment guessing what period drama each screencap is from. I'll respond with your score. Answers will be posted next weekend.

 Scoring: One point for each correctly guessed period drama. Highest possible score is 15 points.

Period Drama Screencaps:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

Happy guessing!

Blog Survey

Dearest Readers,
I hope you are having a lovely Autumn! Sorry that I haven't been posting for quite awhile. I am hoping to make quite a few changes around here in the next few months. To help me with these changes I hope you will take just a few minutes to answer these survey questions. Thanks so much!


Blog Survey Questions:

1. When you think about Old-Fashioned Charm what specific period dramas come to mind?
2. What are your favorite types of posts on Old-Fashioned Charm (i.e. games, film reviews, actors, personal updates, faith based, book reviews)?
3. What type of posts are your least favorite?
4. What films, TV series or books would you like to see reviewed at Old-Fashioned Charm?
5. How long have you followed Old-Fashioned Charm?
6. What media type to you use for following Old-Fashioned Charm (i.e. Blogger, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube)?
7. How did you encounter Old-Fashioned Charm and what was your first thought on your first visit?
8. Name three of your favorite period dramas.
9. Name three period dramas that you haven't seen yet but plan on viewing.
10. What type of event would you like to see at Old-Fashioned Charm in the future: 

• Young Heroines of Period Dramas Tournament
• Jane Austen Couples Tournament
• Jane Austen Adaptations Tournament
• Period Drama Challenge 
• Classic Book Read-along 

Mr. Holmes (2015)

It's lovely to see Sherlock Holmes themed films and TV shows popping up recently! Mr. Holmes (2015) tells the story of the famous detective's last case, the case of the missing memories. I went to see this beautiful film back in September and completely enjoyed every delightful moment!

Story: An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes, deals with early dementia, as he tries to remember his final case and a woman, the memory of whom still haunts him. He also befriends a fan, the young son of his housekeeper, who wants him to work again. Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin.

Costumes: The main story is set in the 1920s (I think) but there are flashbacks to the early 1900's with some lovely costumes. I'd say the costumes were not extraordinary but they were nice and fitting for the time periods they were representing.

Any Objectionable Content? I'll be very honest with you and say that since I saw it over a month ago it is hard to recall. I remember expecting there to be a major scene or theme that would be inappropriate but overall it was quite a clean film. There are probably some uses of God's name taken in vain, but there isn't any mature content. There is a mystery to be solved and a character does die, but the body is not shown. There is also an accident involving a child that might be distressing to young children. This film is rated PG which is very clean for a film of this type.

Recognizable Actors:

• Ian McKellen as  Sherlock Holmes - I was concerned that his Sherlock Holmes might be something like Gandalf or be too much like the actor, but as I watched I found myself wishing I could have seen this elderly version of Sherlock Holmes when he was on the trail of a master criminal! Known for: Mr. Creakle in David Copperfield (1999), Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit films. Cast as Cogsworth in the live action Beauty and the Beast (2017)!
• Laura Linney as  Mrs. Munro - As Sherlock Holmes' housekeeper she is cautious and protective of her son, yet very kind. Known for: hosting Masterpiece Classic, The House of Mirth and John Adams TV series (haven't seen either so can't recommend them).
• Milo Parker as Roger Munro - Curious young son of Mr. Holmes' housekeeper, probably my favorite character in the film! This young actor hasn't been in any other period dramas so far but he will be excellent in any future roles.   
• Hattie Morahan as Ann Kelmot - The mysterious lady from Mr. Holmes' past, she is amazing as this character as in all of her roles! Known for: Elinor Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility (2008), Lark Rise To Candleford, Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye and Arthur & George (another Holmes related film!). Cast as Agathe in the live action Beauty and the Beast (2017)!
• Patrick Kennedy as Thomas Kelmot - A fairly small role but it's neat to see Richard Carstone from Bleak House (2005) popping up in other period films! Known for: Richard Carstone in Bleak House (2005), The 39 Steps (2008), War Horse and Downton Abbey (Season 4).
• Philip Davis as Inspector Gilbert - Another Bleak House actor! This role as an inspector was quite refreshing. Known for: Mr. Smallweed in Bleak House (2005), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Marple: Sleeping Murder, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sherlock (Season 1), Merlin (TV series) and Poldark (TV series).
• Frances de la Tour as Madame Schirmer - This actress is easily recognizable for me but I can never remember what period dramas she has been in. Known for: Poirot: Death On The Nile, Marple: The Moving Finger, Alice In Wonderland (2010), Hugo (2011) and Into The Woods (2014). 
• John Sessions as Mycroft Holmes - A short appearance but quite well cast. Known for: Princess Cariboo (1994), Marple: The Moving Finger, Oliver Twist (2007) and Sherlock (Season 1).

My Thoughts: I really did not expect to be quite so pleased with Mr. Holmes (2015). I thought it would be a "nice" film, but what I found was a clever story that drew me in and matched quite well with the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Star actor Ian McKellen really brought the great detective to life and helped him seem as real as readers have felt him to be for generations. He also brought tears to my eyes as he showed the struggles of growing old. The friendship between Mr. Holmes and Roger is quite fun to see develop, and it's always nice to see a film have a happy ending! I'm very much looking forward to watching this film again soon!

My Recommendation: I highly recommend this film if you are a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories or any of these actors. It is a delightful film and for some odd reason reminds me of Miss Potter (2005) in the way the story it is told. Mr. Holmes (2015) is definitely being added to my recommended period films list!


Have you seen Mr. Holmes (2015)?
What did you think of Ian McKellen's performance as Sherlock Holmes?