TV, FILM & RADIO

The shock of the new

The Gilded Age / Sky Atlantic, Tuesday 25 January

The late 19th century was a time of huge changes in the US, especially in the north and west of the country. In the wake of the Civil War, the rapidly industrialising economy in these areas boomed. As a new kind of society came into focus, wages for workers rose far higher than in Europe, but this was also a time of growing inequalities, of industrial unrest, and when vast fortunes were won and lost.

In short, it’s the kind of era that has long drawn the attention of Downton Abbeycreator Julian Fellowes, who is both writer and creator of , a big-budget nine-part drama co-produced by HBO and set in New York City during the 1880s.