Hidden gem BBC period drama dubbed ‘better than Downton Abbey' returns to screens a whopping 18 years after original broadcast

An overlooked diamond from the BBC archive has received acclaim from watchers, who have compared it to the multi-award-winning Downton Abbey - a titan of British TV.
Lilies, which premiered in 2007, had an eight-episode run, and followed the story of three sisters living with their father and brother in post-WWI Liverpool.
Iris (played by Catherine Tyldesley), Mary (Leanne Rowe) and Ruby Moss (Kerrie Hayes) come of age in a family living on the breadline.
The sisters, though vastly different, go through the simultaneous experience of launching their adult lives for the first time, navigating poverty, passion and prejudice.
The show was the brainchild of Heidi Thomas (creator of Call the Midwife), who was inspired to write it from the stories that her grandmother told her of growing up in post-war Liverpool.
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The show is close to home for Thomas, with some aspects being a raw, direct televisation of her grandmother's anecdotes.
'The end result is not a series about my family,' she notes, 'but a series about the family that might have lived next door.'
'There's not one single episode that doesn't contain something handed down in anecdote.'
The series was praised for its compelling storyline and strong performance, however, it was not renewed past eight episodes, with the last episode to date airing on February 29, 2007.
Producer Chrissy Skinns, whose credentials include The Last Kingdom, A Spy Among Friends and Elizabeth is Missing, was instantly mesmerised by the script once it crossed her desk.
'The Lilies scripts were quite unlike anything I had read before,' she said.
'They were funny, surprising, and made me cry. Above all else, I knew that the Mosses were a family I instantly cared about, and wanted to spend time with.'
Fans are equally as mesmerised, with one rating it 10/10 on IMDB, penning: 'This series is brilliantly written and beautifully realized. Like Heidi Thomas' more recent effort CALL THE MIDWIFE, it seems coy, but tackles difficult topics head-on and without blinking.
'This was such a massive hit in the UK that a fervent campaign for more seasons resulted in nearly a year of developmental meetings and script experiments. In the end, it was decided not to tamper with it, it's that perfect'
Another wrote: 'I came across this at the small local library near where I live and it had such a high imdb rating that I had to check it out---and I'm glad I did.
'Connected stories of a families troubles in England, 1920. It was so well written that you find yourself rooting for the different characters, and their setbacks tug at your emotions. Looking at the film extra's section after I viewed it, I was surprised to see how they made the set because it all seemed so realistic.'
Viewers have gushed that the show even supersedes the quality of Julian Fellowes' hit ITV series Downton Abbey, which was released three years later, in 2010.

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Times

27 minutes ago

• Times

Notting Hill's selfie-takers are ignoring one thing: the movie's a turkey

What has been the biggest disappointment of my life? Along with losing my virginity and seeing U2 at Wembley, it was probably when the film Notting Hill came out in 1999. A romance that isn't romantic, a comedy with no good jokes, this intolerable follow-up to Richard Curtis's almost flawless Four Weddings and a Funeral sees Hugh Grant's cringing bookshop owner meeting Julia Roberts's odious actress, spending the night with her before deciding, bewilderingly, that they can't be together, then changing his mind after she gives him an original Chagall and jumping in a car for a faked-up 'rom-com run' to tell her that he loves her before she gets on a plane — which presumably, if she had, would only have meant he had to wait until she landed, when he could have given her a call. Spoiler alert, by the way. Now it turns out that this swizz, this stone-cold Turkey Twizzler of a movie, is still causing people pain a quarter of a century later. 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The Sun

35 minutes ago

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Daily Mail​

36 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Jeremy Clarkson's Farm star Harriet Cowan shares rare loved-up picture with her long-term partner

's Farm star Harriet Cowan has shared a rare loved-up picture with her long-term partner, James Booth to TikTok on Thursday. The 24-year-old nurse and farmhand shocked viewers of the hugely popular Prime Video show when she appeared in the trailer for series four after Jeremy's co-star Kaleb Cooper temporarily left the show. And she has been enjoying her time in the spotlight ever since, now boasting half a million followers on Instagram and 700,000 over on TikTok. While she has not been cast permanently on the farm show, she has been keeping her fans updated on her personal life as she revealed a sweet back story about her relationship. Jumping on a recent TikTok trend, she took to the social media platform to share a cosy snapshot with her partner James alongside a throwback picture from their teen days in 2018. Harriet penned: 'From party teenagers in 2018, to mid-to-late 20s in 2025 and like to be in bed before 10. I hope I get to this life with you forever.' Harriet and her beau, who is believed to be a third-generation farmer, first met at a Young Farmer's meeting. Harriet has given her followers a sneak peek into their private life together through her social media and has an entire highlight dedicated to her 'love'. In one of her recent posts, she shared a clip of James behind the wheel of a green tractor, and suggested that that he is four years her senior. In another post, she quipped: 'The 'butterfly effect' is crazy because if I didn't join Young Farmers we'd never have met.' 'YFC gave me my whole life and for that I will be forever grateful!' Harriet also urged others to consider joining community groups, promising they will 'meet the greatest people'. Her followers were happy to see the couple together and publicly sharing insights into their life. One commented: 'Wishing you both eternal happiness,' while another added: 'You two are so cute,'. One follower, who has been in a relationship for a similar duration, shared: 'Me and my partner begun our relationship in 2018 too! 7 years, 1 dog, 2 kids and two homes later, we made it.' Some fans hinted at wedding bells, too. One joked: 'Buddy needs to put a ring on your finger.' And another cheekily asked: 'When's the wedding?.' Harriet recently broke her silence on a 'fake' Clarkson's Farm scene as she spoke candidly on a new podcast. She has been helping out Jeremy with an array of tasks on the farm and impressing viewers while also challenging stereotypes around women in farming. And last week Harriet appeared on the Should I Delete That podcast with Jeremy's daughter Emily. She spoke about one scene in the trailer that she thought seemed 'fake' when she watched it back but was in fact completely true. They discussed on the podcast how busy farmers are and how Harriet also works a full time nursing job five days a week. Emily asked her: 'Do you ever sit down with your boyfriend and chill together, or eat together? It sounds impossible.' Harriet then said: 'No! In the trailer where it's like, 'Have you watched Clarkson's Farm before?' And I'm like, 'No', and when I watched it it looked so fake. But it is so real because we don't watch telly. 'Literally, if we watch something, James will sit down, his head will hit the back of the sofa and he's asleep because the second he can rest, he'll sleep, because he's so tired all the time.' On the podcast Harriet also spoke about breaking stereotypes of women working in the world of farming On the podcast Harriet also spoke about breaking stereotypes of women working in farming. She said of appearing on the show: 'I wanted to show that women can do it too, we are there but people can't see it. Women can do it. 'Most people think of just older men wearing checked shirts when it comes to farming. 'I am challenging people's views of what people think a farmer looks like. People are so shocked when they drive past and I'm in the tractor they just stare.' The recent Clarkson's Farm trailer showed Jeremy running into several obstacles on the farm, yet TikTok star Harriet made a good impression as she was quick to help. Jeremy was left in awe at her work, turning to the camera and gushing: 'She's brilliant!' She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty as she put in fences, loaded feed for the animals and even showed her welding skills on Diddly Squat Farm. Kaleb - who was on a nationwide tour - later returned to the farm and seemed to be getting along well with his replacement. It's hardly surprising that Harriet was a natural on the farm, having grown up helping her father Eddy tend to his land. She revealed on social media that her mother wanted her to become a nurse but her father wanted her to follow in his footsteps - so she opted to do both.