This week, I’m sharing a group of TV series that run the gamut from the life of a successful Italian businesswoman, to puzzling and murders to solve, to a devastating portrayal of providing hospital care under the Nazis.
DELIGHTFUL CONFECTION
Luisa Spagnoli Queen of Chocolate (PBS Masterpiece)
Have you ever enjoyed one of the chocolate kisses called Baci Perugina? If so, then you’ve experienced one of the confectionary wonders created by Luis Spagnoli. Luisa Spagnoli grew up in Perugia. An ambitious woman for her time (late 19th century), she bought a confectionary shop that made and sold sugared almonds. From that beginning, with her husband Annibale and then their business partner Giovanni Buitoni, Luisa was the driving force behind the development of an innovative international candy business. Later, she ventured into the world of fashion.
This is a feel-good story about hard work, determination, marriage, romance, and more. During WWI, Luisa hired women to work in the factory and provided day care for their children. She pushed back against traditional boundaries, lived outside the lines, and was an inspiration to many.
There are four episodes each about an hour long. Highly recommended as enjoyable change of pace viewing—perfect for summer!
GRIM WARTIME MEDICINE
Charite’ Season 2 (PBS Masterpiece)
Charite’ is a large research hospital in Berlin that still exists. It was central to medicine in the late 19th century and was bombed by the Allies in the Second World War. Season 2 covers the period from 1943 to 1945 and is even more devastating than the first season.
The hospital is operating under the Nazi regime. Some staff are dedicated supporters of Hitler while others cooperate, when necessary, but privately try to work around it, and a few are secretly assisting the Allies. Noted surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch is one such complex individual whose role as a hospital leader sometimes requires compliance not defiance. Psychiatry chair Dr. Max de Crinis was key in the development of Hitler’s euthanasia program. Young physicians Anni and Artur Waldhausen face a moral quandary when their infant daughter appears to have a serious condition.
Before the bombing, the operating rooms seem primitive, and the surgeries raw and graphic; later hospital conditions rival the battlefield. It’s an intense series, not for the fainthearted, but provides a different perspective on aspects of the war. I personally found it riveting viewing.
DETECTIVES AT WORK
Karen Pirie (Prime Video)
Scottish detective, Karen Pirie, is promoted and assigned to re-open and investigate a cold murder case from 25 years ago. Initially pleased, she later suspects she was chosen because she is less experienced and female. A young woman’s body was found slashed and dead on the local cathedral grounds. Three young men who knew her well and hung out with her at a local bar were primary suspects, but no one was ever charged in her death. Karen and her assistant look at old leads, talk to the original detective who handled the case, and run into roadblocks, but persevere. There are 3 episodes all built around solving this one case based on novels by Valerie McDermid.
My initial response was that I didn’t care much for Karen as a character and wondered if the series would jell. I stuck with that first episode and got hooked. Taken together the episodes are an in depth look at motives, relationships, and corruption. A second season has been commissioned.
Ridley (PBS Masterpiece)
Alex Ridley is a retired British detective who gets called back to assist his former colleague Carol in solving a case. He is still grieving the death of his wife and daughter by arson in a fire intended for him. A parttime singer, Ridley also co-owns a local pub. Music is a feature of this series, both in his performing with the bar combo and the jazz tunes that form a backdrop to the action.
And it’s fun to see starchy Miss Higgins (Georgie Glen) of Call the Midwife as the precise but somewhat less stiff pathologist Dr. Wendy Newstone. There are four cases in this first season, and they are each presented in 2 parts. The pace is more leisurely than some crime series, but I’m enjoying getting to know Ridley and his compatriots. A second season is planned.
Note: Header photo of Luisa and Annibale Spagnoli is courtesy of Amazon.
