If you’re suffering withdrawal from awaiting the next season of “Downton Abbey” or “Sherlock,” there’s one show that can satisfy your craving for clever storytelling, style, and strong performances — all without the obligation to commit to a lengthy series. “Parade’s End,” a BBC/HBO miniseries starring Benedict Cumberbatch (of “Sherlock” fame,) Rebecca Hall, and Adelaide Clemens is a five-episode-long story of the last years of Edwardian-era England, just on the brink of the Great War.
Christopher Tietjens (pronounced TEE-zhens, played by Cumberbatch) is a stoutly honorable man. He comes from an aristocratic family and maintains his strict values. Even when his wife openly cheats on him and leaves him, he takes her back and covers up for her misdeeds; not because he loves her, but because he stands for monogamy and will protect his family’s honor. He’s extremely intelligent– even makes corrections in his copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica– and is the only one who predicts a war to start within Europe.
Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) is an incredibly beautiful, incredibly cruel woman. She uses her beauty and cunning to string men along and have multiple affairs without tainting her immaculate reputation, all just to make Tietjens uncomfortable. Because she’s so beautiful, she holds a kind of power over everyone and fools them into thinking she’s the perfect socialite wife — and all the while she breaks men’s hearts and gets pregnant twice with children that may not even be Tietjen’s.
Valentine (Adelaide Clemens) is a young, sweet, innocent suffragette that has multiple chance encounters with Tietjens. The first time he meets her, he saves her from being arrested at a golf club, and is deeply intrigued by her. She’s very opinionated and hates to be treated like a child, but she’s still very innocent to the intertwined scandals going on all around her.
“Parade’s End” originality lies in the roles that are reversed from the usual cliches. Unlike stories like “Anna Karenina” or “Scarlet Letter,” where men’s infidelity is expected and accepted while women are lauded as wantons, Tietjens — the only faithful character — is accused of taking Valentine as a mistress and gossip arises that they had a child out of wedlock, which threatens his reputation and his family’s honor. Sylvia, meanwhile, is constantly seen as the one who could do no wrong.
This is the show you want to watch if you’re between seasons on your favorite period-piece shows. It has the story-telling of shows like “Mad Men,” the style of shows like “Downton Abbey,” and the subtlety in performances of shows like “Sherlock.” With just five hour-long episodes, it’s not a deep investment in time or commitment. I’d recommend watching at least one episode.
