What I Watched: Period Drama Boyfriends

If you watch as many period dramas as I do, it’s inevitable that you will start to have favourites. Favourite actors, that is. Or as I like to call them: period drama boyfriends. Period dramas are the reason I am utterly susceptible to men with English (and Scottish and Irish) accents, and over the years, I have racked up quite a few beaux. The thing you need to know about me is that I will trawl through a favourite actor’s filmography entry on Wikipedia and watch absolutely every minute of screentime that I can track down – good, bad, or indifferent. I have watched plenty of the latter two, let me tell you. As such, I consider myself well-qualified to provide a comprehensive guide to the best (and worst) performances of my fave period drama boyfriends, which I now offer to you in the spirit of sisterhood. Period drama lovers, unite! So, if you’re looking for some pleasant diversion, with a side of eye candy, this blog series is for you.

(Why yes, of course it will be series; the title should have given that away ;))

I’m going to kick things off with my number one Period Drama Boyfriend^TM: Richard Armitage. Who earned that title, forevermore, on the strength of one, single performance … oh, but what a performance it is. Let’s break it all down!

We’ll begin with a bit of personal trivia, because why not.

Birthday: August 22 (a cusp baby, but we are claiming him as a fellow Leo)

Middle name: Crispin

Posh?: Despite the middle name, no. Armitage often talks about coming from a working class family, originally from Leicester. Fun fact: at 18, he joined the circus in Budapest in order to get his Equity card (necessary to work as an actor back in Britain). Further fun fact: in addition to acting and voiceover/audiobook narration (which I cannot recommend enough, he is fantastic), Armitage also writes fiction; his first book was published last year.

Height: 6’2 or 6’3, the internet cannot seem to agree. Regardless, a tall drink of water, if you know what I mean.

Now, let’s get down to (period drama) business!

Favourite period drama: North & South, which also happens to be one of my favourite period dramas, period. His John Thornton is one of my favourite romantic heroes, which is saying a lot because I was an Austen girlie for most of my adult life. I first watched N&S in 2020, and it changed my life. OK, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. By rights, it’s not a story I should enjoy that much; most of it takes place in a (fictional) industrial town that looks depressingly drab, where mostly depressing things happen. I prefer my period dramas light and fluffy and nicely costumed. But all of those considerations are more than balanced out by the presence of John Thornton, who is a wonderful, complex hero. Thorton, a self-made mill owner, is flawed but, at heart, decent and steadfast; his slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with Margaret, the female protagonist, provides some moments of exquisite angst and one of the most swooningly romantic kisses captured on film, imo. I re-watch the train scene at the end of North & South at least 2 or 3 times a year, and it never fails to give me butterflies.

Sexiest period drama role: North & South is very PG13, but if you want to see Armitage in head-to-toe “medieval” black leather and some sexy guyliner, try to dig up whatever bits of Robin Hood (the 2006 BBC series) you can find and enjoy the visual feast that is Guy of Gisborne, a bad boy who eventually gets something of a redemption arc though, sadly, never the girl.

Austen adaptations: none (sadly). If I had to fan-cast him for an Austen hero (and the year was 2010), I would probably go with Captain Wentworth. I think Armitage could have delivered an interesting version of stoic, repressed devotion.

Favourite contemporary role: The Vicar of Dibley’s last Christmas Special is one of my fave comfort watches; I throw it on any time I need cheering up. Armitage plays Harry Kennedy, the (not so boring) accountant from London who moves into the village and sweeps the Vicar (Dawn French) off her feet. Harry is such a delightful blend of dorky and charming – and, of course, looks like Richard Armitage, which doesn’t hurt – and his banter with the Vicar is wonderful. One of the things I love most about this 2-part special is that it features a plus-size woman as an object of desire for a conventionally attractive man, presenting it as a fact that requires no special commentary. Imagine this scenario in a North American sitcom, and think of how many lines of self-deprecating dialogue the heroine would be required to deliver. [In case you think this sort of attitude is a thing of the past, consider the media commentary around the most recent season of Bridgerton, calling it a “mixed weight” romance because the lead actress was, heaven forfend, not a size 4. And I’m not letting the show itself off the hook, considering how much focus was placed on Penelope’s “glow up” as a precursor to her HEA.] Anyway, back to the Vicar of Dibley: another great thing about it is that it’s a comedy – and an extremely funny one, at that – so Armitage gets to show off his comedic chops; they’re not half bad, which makes it all the more disappointing that he never had more of a run with rom-coms.

Honourable mention to MI5 as another contemporary performance worth watching – especially season 7 (Armitage’s first). The series as a whole is quite good (though it gets progressively less so over time, the writing being primarily to blame for that) and features an excellent cast overall. In the US, the show was called Spooks for reasons that escape me. As the name suggests, it’s a thriller about British spies running around and trying to foil various nefarious plots. Armitage plays Lucas North, one of the said spies, who harbours some dark secrets of his own. I will confess that I didn’t love the direction that his character started to take after a couple of seasons, and gave up watching, but that’s not a comment on his performance. Armitage can do broody, sexy, and conflicted in his sleep.

Least romantic role: Francis Dolarhyde (aka Red Dragon) in Hannibal. One of the best shows ever, but not for the faint of heart. Armitage delivers a very good (and extremely creepy) performance, but his character is second banana – basically a MacGuffin that serves to bring Hannibal and Will Graham back together for one (last? more?) glorious set piece. I will say this: Armitage definitely worked out a LOT for this role and … well, let’s just say, the show doesn’t hide it.

Murder mystery cameos: For someone who has been acting since the early 2000s, Armitage has a surprisingly small number of cameos in murder mystery shows – a staple of many a British actor’s filmography. He did appear in an episode of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, playing a broody, sexy suspect, as well as the episode “Ordeal by Innocence” in Agatha Christie’s Marple (the 2007 version, not to be confused with the recent BritBox adaptation) in which he plays a rather sh*tty husband who may or may not also be a murderer.

Watch at your own risk: Armitage has made some questionable choices over the years – what actor hasn’t – and I’ve watched a few of them because I’m a glutton for punishment sucker for a tall, dark, blue-eyed hottie with a baritone voice that makes my toes tingle. Ahem. I might put the Harlan Coben adaptations from Netflix on this list but, while they’re pretty trashy, they’re generally entertaining in a lowest-common-denominator kind of way. There are a few other options, but I’m going to single out Brain on Fire which was essentially a made-for-TV movie that, inexplicably, managed to attract some actually decent actors who, despite their best efforts, were not able to transcend the soap opera-ness of the plot (something to do with a young, pretty, blonde girl who becomes afflicted with a mysterious illness). Armitage plays the protagonist’s concerned father, which marked something of a watershed moment for me personally. When your Period Drama Boyfriend starts playing dad roles, you know you’re getting old. Sigh.

Here’s a photo to make you me feel better:

Join the Armitage fan club in the comments, and stay tuned for the next installment of my Favourite Period Drama Boyfriends.