My apartment-mate Lisa had introduced me to BBC’s Being Human, and I recently discovered that one of the stars, Aidan Turner (an Irish fellow who caught my attention…), plays Dante Gabriel Rossetti on a new BBC show called Desperate Romantics. That’s right, there is now a costume drama (or more of a dramedy) about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. My wildest dreams have come true!
It’s quite a fun show, and though it takes history a bit loosely, those boys look quite fab in their Victorian waistcoats and certainly know how to create some serious drama (like the Mean Girls kind). It’s a Victorian drama, rock-and-roll style: these blokes are like band-mates what with their womanizing, drugs (laudanum!! the coke of the 1900s!), addiction to fame, and obsession with their art. Take a peak at it on Youtube or some such site if you’re in need of some raunchy Victorian fun! (Paradox?)
A word of warning: there is quite a bit of nudity, sex, laudanum, and petulant artists. If any of these seriously offend your sensibilities, refrain from watching.
There are some wonderfully ridiculous bits of dialogue along the way. This is Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his muse/wife Lizzie Siddal the morning after he drunkenly purchased a small bird:
DGR: I bought him for you. I thought you had a fondness for bull-finch.
LS: I do. But thats a canary you dullard.
DGR: A canary?
LS: A canary.
DGR: Really. Will that at least earn me a sly fondle?
LS: Id love nothing more.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, you fox, you.
That is all. Adieu!