The Hour

Have any of you watched or heard about the BBC miniseries The Hour? If you're at all a fan of Mad Men, or British dramas, or better yet, both, I'd highly recommend adding it to your Netflix queue right now.

Set in a BBC newsroom in the 1950's, the series stars Romola Garai as an up-and-coming news producer, Ben Wishaw as a fearless journalist, and Dominic West as an on-air news anchor. The plot charts the relationships between the characters as they deal with the current events of the time and are drawn into a Cold War era spy mystery.

There's so much to love about this show. It has a very stylized, almost noir-ish, look that's tempered nicely by a witty and sharp script. The historical backdrop--the Suez crisis of 1956, something I knew nothing about-- is fascinating and the costumes are, I think, even more enviable than those on Mad Men. Garai's character is really interesting, as well. Although she's clearly a woman in a man's world, her career struggles don't define her character as much as they do for, say, Peggy on Mad Men. The show, and subsequently the viewer, just accepts that she's achieved her level of success, which is quite refreshing to see.

Best of all, it's coming back for a second season sometime this year.