If you’re in the UK and have a TV license you can watch all of these incredible book adaptations on BBC iPlayer.
Normal People
Normal People was a mega popular book-to-tv adaptation by the BBC.
The book and show follow Connell and Marianne who attend school together but pretend not to know each other. He’s the popular star of football team, while she’s lonely, proud and very private. When Connell comes to pick up his mum from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, they develop a connection that they’re determined to keep a secret at school.
A year later, they’re both studying at the same college where their roles are reversed – she’s popular and he’s shy and uncertain. But throughout their college years they find themselves constantly being drawn back together.
Gossip Girl
This iconic TV series was adapted by the The CW and lasted 6 seasons.
Set at Constance Billard Scool for Girls, an elite private school in New York City’s Upper East Side, an anonymous gossip blogger is revealing all of the secrets of the students. It-girl Serena van der Woodsen has just returned from boarding school and her friend Blair isn’t very happy – she’s always felt like she was in Serena’s shadow.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is the second adaptation of this iconic children’s fantasy trilogy.
Lyra Belacqua lives half-wilde and carefree among the scholars of Jordan college with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle draws her into a new world full of gobblers, stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears.
Interview with the Vampire
This is a TV adaptation of the iconic Anne Rice book series made by AMC.
In a darkened room the boy sits, waiting for the story to begin. His companion is a young man, cloaked in shadow, his voice low and soft. Only the pure white of his collar is visible in the gloom.
The story of this man’s life is about to be told. A story of a vampire facing the dark stretch of eternity, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood.
Call the Midwife
A fantastic BBc adaptation based on the true stories of a midwife in the 1950s.
Newly qualified, Jenny Lee, begins working as a midwife alongside the nuns of Nonnatus house, a nursing convent, as they deal with medical problems in the deprived Poplar district of London’s poor East End in the 1950s.
Everything I Know About Love
Everything I Know About Love is an adaptation of the popular memoir.
Dolly Alderton recounts her life as a young woman and recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, friendships and making mistakes.
Conversations with Friends
The second adaptation of a Sally Rooney is Conversations with Friends, also adapted by the BBC.
Frances is a 21-year-old student and aspriing writer who devotes herself to the life of the mind and to her best friend, Bobbi. They were lovers at school but now they’re friends who perform spoken-work poetry together in Dublin where they catch the notice of a journalist called Melissa. They’re quickly drawn into Melissa’s world where Frances finds herself becoming closer to Melissa’s husband, Nick.
Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars was adapted by ABC Family and ran for 7 seasons.
Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer were best friends, until Alison disappeared. Three years later, the remaining girls are now juniors and living separate lives. After living in Iceland, Aria and her family have just returned home to Rosewood. Emily is a champion swimmer, Hanna is now the most popular girl at school, and Spencer is an over-achieving straight-A student.
But in Rosewoof, appearances are deceiving and soon after Aria returns home, the girls start receiving anonymous messages signed by someone named A threatening to reveal all of their secrets.
Pride and Prejudice
The iconic 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
With the arrival of eligible young men in the neighbourhood, the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their 5 daughters are about to be turned upside down. Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent, witty and well-spkoen but apparently that’s not enough for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth overhears him insulting her.
But unbenknownst to to her, he’s quickly falling for her but she is not so easily swayed.
This Is Going to Hurt
This is Going to Hurt was adapted by the BBC.
In a fictional adaptation of the book, we follow Doctor Adam Kay who is a doctor in London. It focuses on a group of junior doctors working on a busy obstetrics and gnaecology ward located in an NHS hospital.
Love, Victor
This isn’t a direct adaptation book it’s a spin-off of Love, Simon (published as Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda).
Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School who is struggling with his identity and sexual orientation. He faces challenges at school and at home and reaches out to Simon (from the original movie/book!) to get advice when things start to get a little bit too difficult.
