Watch The Crimson Field

The Crimson Field is a British drama mini-series. The show follows three nurses that volunteer at one of the busy war hospitals in Northern France, during World War One. A period piece, The Crimson Field is a well-written drama about a WWI field hospital. The show does not focus on the actual war or fighting, but rather on the nurses, doctors, patients, and volunteers. The characters of the show struggle with the realities of the consequences of war, as well as with relationships in the midst of war. The doctors and volunteer nurses of the field hospital deal with social class issues as well as war medicine.

The Crimson Field features volunteer nurse Kitty. She is running from her past and trying to hide a secret. Another featured character is Captain Thomas Gillan. Gillan is a progressive doctor from a lower social class than many of his fellow military doctors. The Crimson Field brilliantly displays the dramatic and at times difficult decisions that the doctors and volunteer nurses had to make for their military patients.

Though the show only lasted one season, the mini-series is beautifully written and acted by some of British acting's best. Oona Chaplin portrays Kitty. Best known as the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and for her role as the wife of Robb Stark on Game of Thrones, Chaplin spectacularly portrays Kitty's simmering emotions beneath a tightly controlled surface. Chaplin and British newcomer Richard Rankin, who portrays Captain Thomas Gillan, deftly act the romantic tension between their two characters.