The King’s Speech One of the most sensitive and intimate portrayals of any member of the British royal family on screen would have to be in The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper. It starred Colin Firth, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of George VI. A man who was never meant to be king, George VI had to step into the role when his elder brother, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry the American divorcée, Wallis Simpson. George VI had a speech impediment, and the movie follows his struggles to overcome it with the help of an unconventional speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush—all of this accomplished with the shadow of World War II looming overhead.   The Crown An epic, multi-layered series that explores the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from the time leading up to her ascension to the throne to present day. Claire Foy was magnificent as the young Queen Elizabeth, and the series offers insight into the human side of the royal family and the inner workings of Buckingham Palace—albeit one that is heavily fictionalized.   W.E. W.E. looks at the British Royal Family through the eyes of Wallis Simpson, the American…

Do you love spy stories as much as I do? I used to visit my cousins’ lake house every summer and the only books in the house were spy novels—Neville Shute, Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, John le Carré. When I’d finished devouring my own books, I would start on these. In recent years, I’ve also found some terrific spy thriller series on television. Here are just some of the fantastic shows I’ve enjoyed. Let me know if you have any to add to the list!   The Americans   This edge-of-the-seat Cold War spy thriller series is about two agents who were infiltrated into America to live like a normal suburban married couple while undertaking dangerous undercover missions for the Soviets. They live this way for decades, even have children together, before things start to unravel when an FBI agent moves in across the road. Brilliant performances by Keri Russell (of Felicity and Austenland fame) and Matthew Rhys.   Homeland   Carrie Mathieson is a bipolar CIA agent engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with a returned American prisoner of war she believes was turned by Al-Qaeda. Carrie’s manic episodes, which allow her to think laterally and come up with…