Oona Chaplin
Hermione Norris
Suranne Jones
Kevin Doyle
Kerry Fox

Created by:
Sarah Phelps

TV Miniseries
Drama, War
2015 (U.S.)
PBS

TV-PG, TV-14

“Downtown Abbey” … Oh, no, I’m sorry. … “The Crimson Field,” yet another British period drama airing on PBS in the States, is like the restless whelp of the aforementioned “Downton Abbey.” But, whereas “Downton” uses theatricality and soap-opera techniques to great effect and depth, “The Crimson Field” doesn’t know what to do with them exactly. Well, certainly not at first.

In addition, they both feature actor Kevin Doyle (Mr. Molesley in “Downton” and Lt. Col. Roland Brett here). There are other similarities, as well: Another “Downton” actor shows up, for instance. Plus, the trio of nurses at the center of the show are reminiscent of the Crawley sisters.

At times, the first episode of this drama plays like theater, literally: The World War I setting in France seems like just that, a set. Actually, this show could be set during any time, war or not, and nothing would change much. Here, they focus on nurses, but there (i.e. during any other time or in any other place), they could focus on any other group of women in any other profession. They’d just need to reproduce the internal conflict among the women and the tense clash between a group of women and a group of men to succeed.

The one saving grace is that this miniseries features committed actors and pacing that’s energetic, for the most part. Unfortunately, the writing isn’t deft enough to back them up. The characters seem too straightforward from the beginning. (Of course, they won’t end that way.) That’s a problem that “Downton,” which will end after its next season, never had.

If you can ignore the seeming lack of depth on display in “The Crimson Field,” then you might get something out of this. It’s certainly not boring, at least. I just hope that they settle down and get to business in subsequent episodes. They better hurry, because there are no more seasons to come: Is that a sign? Look, urgency is great and all, but there needs to be something that warrants it. And no, the war, in and of itself, isn’t enough.

(At least they didn’t choose World War II. Since almost every war story seems to be focused on that particular war, choosing World War I must’ve taken some doing. But then again, “Downton” chose I over II before this ever aired. … The real reason that World War I was chosen is that this show was a part of the BBC’s World War I Centenary season.)

Verdict: OK to Somewhat Good

About: (Source: crimsonfield)

In a tented field hospital on the coast of France, a team of doctors, nurses and women volunteers work together to heal the bodies and souls of men wounded in the trenches. The hospital is a frontier: between the battlefield and homefront, but also between the old rules, hierarchies, class distinctions and a new way of thinking.

Kitty (Oona Chaplin), Rosalie (Marianne Oldham) and Flora (Alice St Clair) arrive as the hospital’s first volunteer nurses and struggle to be accepted by the established medical team. The girls are flung head first into a world for which nothing and nobody could have prepared them, but it is also an opportunity to break free of the constraints and limitations of their lives back home.

Sarah Phelps, one of British television’s most exciting and original writers, tells this story of World War One’s front line medics — their hopes, fears, triumphs and tragedies.