Television series

The Way We Live Now

Name: The Way We Live Now
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 2001
Cast: David Suchet, Matthew Macfadyen, Cillian Murphy, Paloma Baeza, Cheryl Campbell

Period drama

Trollope's novel of 1870s London finance, rendered as tight BBC drama. Old money meets railway speculation, honour collides with ambition, and everyone wants something they shouldn't have. Richly plotted, beautifully acted, mordantly funny about greed—a period piece that feels urgent about how the world actually works.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you relish a big, crowded Victorian canvas where ambition and financial trickery tangle with stalled romance, and you enjoy a sharp social satire played out with a straight face.

Skip it if you need a tight, brisk drama, since this is leisurely and talky, with many storylines that take their time to gather pace across four long episodes.

What it asks of you: Four episodes of roughly seventy-five minutes each, so settle in for a slow build of letters, deals and drawing-room manoeuvring rather than quick hits.

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

If you liked this

North & South2004

Another BBC Trollope adaptation with Matthew Macfadyen, exploring industrial change and class collision through romance and principle. Sweeping, intelligent, achingly romantic.

But It's a period drama that requires patience with longing looks and slow-burn emotion. If you want plot speed over character depth, this will feel glacial.

The Barchester Chronicles1982

Earlier Trollope adaptation capturing the same wit and social observation, set in the Church rather than finance. Exceptional ensemble cast, utterly absorbing about power and propriety.

But Made in 1982, it has that particular BBC aesthetic—muted colours, deliberate pacing. The ecclesiastical world won't grip you if you're impatient with Anglican politics.

Parade's End2012

Ford Madox Ford's masterpiece about the end of an era, with similar themes of old values crumbling. Visually sumptuous, emotionally devastating, Benedict Cumberbatch at his most restrained and powerful.

But Set during WWI rather than the Victorian boom. Slower still than The Way We Live Now, and sadder—this is about genuine loss, not just social scrambling.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Way We Live Now

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Anna Karenina1997

Both are about the collision between what you want and what society permits, told through multiple viewpoints across a whole social ecosystem—but rendered at completely different speeds and temperatures.

Tolstoy's epic of love, betrayal, and social fracture across Russian society. The same scope of interconnected lives, the same theme of personal desire versus social order, but in a single film.

But It's Russian literature and genuinely tragic. The Way We Live Now has gaiety and scandal; this is about the soul-crushing weight of circumstance.

The Remains of the Day1993

Stevens at a country house, reckoning with duty and self-deception as the world changes around him. Same exploration of what honour means when the world is rewriting itself. Hopkins gives a masterclass.

But It's introspective and elegiac rather than dramatic. If you want scandal and spectacle, this is too quiet.

Bleak House2005

Another BBC Victorian novel adaptation with ensemble intrigue, corruption, and moral clarity. Dickens rather than Trollope, but the same appetite for social observation and interconnected plots.

But Even more characters and subplots than The Way We Live Now. The legal world is deliberately opaque, which is the point but also exhausting.

Middlemarch1994

George Eliot's novel of provincial life, ambition, and the gap between what people want and what they get. Perfectly cast, funny about human frailty, deeply compassionate.

But Smaller in scope than The Way We Live Now—it's about a market town, not London finance. Some find it baggy and slow.

The Forsyte Saga2002

Galsworthy's family saga across generations, tracking property, love, and the slow shift in values. Epic in scale, intimate in character, similarly obsessed with how people behave when money is at stake.

But It's long and multi-generational. You have to commit to families and their dramas across decades.

Wives and Daughters1999

Elizabeth Gaskell adaptation with charm, romance, and a sharp eye for social climbing and small-town hypocrisy. Lighter than The Way We Live Now but equally smart about human nature.

But Gentler in tone and more romantic. If you're hungry for the corruption and greed of The Way We Live Now, this might feel too cosy.

South Riding2011

Winifred Holtby's novel of Yorkshire in the 1930s, balancing romance with social responsibility and local politics. Well-cast, intelligent, with genuine emotional stakes.

But Less propulsive plotting than The Way We Live Now. More about character and moral choice than scandal and intrigue.