Television series

Les Misérables

Name: Les Misérables
Genre: Drama, Romance, History
Released: 2018
Cast: Dominic West, David Oyelowo, Adeel Akhtar, David Bradley, Olivia Colman

Other titles called Les Misérables: the 1935 film, the 1952 film, the 1998 film, the 2012 film, the 2019 film.

Period drama

The BBC's six-part adaptation strips Hugo's epic down to its moral and emotional core: a fugitive and his pursuer locked in a decades-long duel of conscience. Dominic West and David Oyelowo command every frame with crackling intensity. It's gorgeously shot, emotionally brutal, and moves with genuine pace—Hugo's baggy novel finally streamlined into something that grips.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a faithful, unhurried reading of a sprawling novel, and you enjoy watching a long moral pursuit between two stubborn men against a backdrop of social upheaval.

Skip it if you are hoping for the stage musical or a quick, tidy costume drama; at roughly an hour an episode across six parts, its length and deliberate pace will test patience.

What it asks of you: Six hours of dense, unhurried storytelling, with long stretches of political background and moral argument rather than quick action, rewarding steady attention over speed.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Sherlock2010

A cat-and-mouse dynamic between two brilliant antagonists who cannot help but need each other. Like Les Mis, it's built on a twisted intimacy masquerading as enmity, and the same electric tension in their scenes together.

But The later seasons lose focus and lean harder into gimmicks. The show's intelligence becomes more self-congratulatory and less earned.

The Terror2018

A period drama where historical setting isn't decoration but character. Oppressive, beautifully photographed, and focused on how survival breaks people morally. Same emotional weight as Les Mis.

But Bleak and slow. The first season is tremendous; the second season pivots to the supernatural and loses what made it work.

Wolf Hall2015

Another BBC historical miniseries that trusts the audience to sit with complexity and moral ambiguity. Stunning cinematography and the same sense that history is about intimate human reckoning, not just events.

But Deliberately paced and dialogue-heavy. If you need constant plot momentum, the political intrigue will feel like it's happening at a remove.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Les Misérables

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Prophet2009

Both are French stories about how survival in a broken system hollows out the soul. Valjean steals bread; Malik steals life. Hugo's spiritual arc finds A Prophet's naturalistic cruelty.

A French prison drama where a powerless man is forced to become monstrous simply to survive. It's Hugo's thesis—that systems don't reform people, they corrupt them—rendered as a tense, brutal thriller with devastating clarity.

But Violent, morally sickening in places, and offers no comfort. It's a film about how desperation teaches cruelty, and it doesn't soften that message.

Taboo2017

Tom Hardy as a man returning from the dead to navigate a corrupt, brutal world. Dark, visceral, and obsessed with the damage survival inflicts. The same unflinching look at desperation and moral compromise.

But Genuinely unpleasant in places and deliberately obscure in its storytelling. Some viewers find it needlessly murky rather than atmospheric.

The Night Manager2016

A limited series where a hunted man and his hunter develop an almost romantic obsession with each other's destruction. Beautifully made, smartly paced, and electric whenever they're in the same room.

But Spy thriller plotting that occasionally strains credibility. The geopolitical intrigue matters less than the character dynamic, which can feel frustrating.

Great Expectations2011

The BBC miniseries version captures Dickens' obsession with how class traps people and defines their moral choices. Beautifully acted and surprisingly moving about the question of whether anyone can truly escape their station.

But Longer than the story sometimes justifies. The pacing occasionally stalls in the middle section while it develops secondary characters.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell2015

A period drama where the real conflict is philosophical rather than plot-driven. Gorgeous, literary, and interested in how principle and ambition corrupt the well-intentioned. Similar emotional sophistication.

But Deeply English in a way that can feel impenetrable. The magic system takes a while to matter and some find the early episodes slow.

The Essex Serpent2022

A Victorian miniseries about a widow and a vicar whose obsession with each other frames a story about belief, loss, and whether redemption is possible. Intimate and beautifully shot.

But Quieter than you might expect for its premise. The supernatural element is almost incidental to the character study, which won't satisfy everyone.

Ikiru1952

Both are about whether a person can be redeemed by their actions, and both suggest that redemption is less about being saved and more about finally understanding your own life.

Kurosawa's masterpiece about a dying bureaucrat seeking meaning before death. It asks what redemption actually means and whether a single act of kindness can justify a wasted life. Profoundly moving and humanist without being sentimental.

But Slow-paced and meditative. The entire second half is a funeral and a conversation about a dead man. It requires patience and emotional openness.