Costume dramas are the ultimate comfort viewing in uncertain times, and Julian Fellowes, king of English period drama, has two new series this month. Belgravia, which began on ITV in the Downton Abbey Sunday night slot, starts on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo and follows a forbidden love affair in London's new wealthy district. Meanwhile, The English Game on Netflix marks Fellowes's first streaming series, tracing the inception of professional football in the Victorian era.
Belgravia features classic tropes: a cross-class romance between a merchant's daughter and an aristocrat, disapproving in-laws, and a secret love child. The English Game, set in 1879, pits Old Etonian football heroes against working-class upstarts from Darwen, Lancashire, who hire two Scottish players for pay, challenging the amateur gentleman rules.
Belgravia boasts a starrier cast including Tamsin Greig, Philip Glenister, Alice Eve, Dame Harriet Walter, and Ella Purnell. The English Game's cast is less recognisable, with Edward Holcroft as Arthur Kinnaird and Craig Parkinson as the Darwen manager. The fashion in Belgravia dazzles with mid-Victorian gowns, while The English Game offers comic knickerbockers but superior facial hair, with extravagant moustaches and sideburns.
Dame Harriet Walter's Lady Brockenhurst in Belgravia provides the requisite frosty snark, reminiscent of the Dowager Countess, but The English Game lacks a similar character, with only minor snark from Old Etonian wives. Both series offer glossy production values, but Belgravia may edge ahead for those seeking a direct Downton substitute.
