Beau Brummell: This Charming Man

If you've ever wondered why billions of office peons worldwide dress in the same ridiculous outfit of dirt-attracting white shirt, pointless and suffocating tie and a suit which makes them look like their dead grandfathers and requires air conditioning in half of the world, then here's your culprit: an 18. century Englishman going by the wonderfully far-out name of Beau Brummel. Mind you, his dandy style was a great improvement over the earlier fops, which comprised cake makeup, sultry f*ck-me perfume, whigs and high heels, stuff that just goes a lot better with women.

Anyway, that's who this excellent BBC docudrama is about. It's set in a strange, dystopic world of not-so-long-ago and not-so-far-away, Regency England. It's just a joy to watch, it really takes you there. It's good on details too, such as the muted candle-lightning (Jupiter floodlights being thin on the ground in this era). It's superbly acted, teaches you a lot about the mood of the time, and entertains you all the while. It changed my image of Beau Brummel from caricature to flesh and blood.