Costume Dramas

The troublesome fortnight between the end of "Winter Costume Drama Season" and the start of "Spring Costume Drama Season" has passed and once again, we're up to our knees in headstrong young women, smugglers and windswept moors - just the way The Optimist likes it. Excuse me a moment while I blow our national trumpet, and admit that we British are the masters of costume drama - we've been stackin' em up and knockin' em down for years and I have compiled a list of my all time favourites, along with where to find them, so that you too, reader, can bask in their glorious glory whenever you so choose. Doesn't that make you incandescent with happiness?

Central Perk

We're just a month away from the tenth anniversary of the final episode of Friends. It was broadcast on Thursday May 6th 2004 - can you believe it's been that long? Ten years since Rachel got off the plane, ten years since Chandler and Monica had their babies and ten years since the gang last met up for coffee. If you too are a fan of caffeine-laden beverages and you're still struggling to cope with your Friends withdrawals, The Optimist knows a place you might just want to visit.