It’s easy to get lost in the sea of period dramas that look like they’ve been scrubbed with a toothbrush and dipped in gold. You know the ones. Everyone has perfect teeth, the streets of London are suspiciously clean, and the biggest drama is who sat next to whom at tea. But then you have TV show The Grand. If you haven't seen it, or if you only remember it vaguely from its original run on ITV in the late nineties, you're missing out on something that feels much more "real" than the polished soaps we get today.
The show isn't just about a hotel. It’s about a family, the Bannermans, trying to stay afloat in 1920s Manchester. And let's be honest, Manchester in 1923 wasn't exactly a spa retreat.
What Really Made The Grand Different
Most people expect a "hotel show" to be like Upstairs, Downstairs or Downton Abbey. You expect a clear line between the people serving the soup and the people eating it. TV show The Grand blew that up. It was created by Russell T. Davies—yeah, the same guy who brought back Doctor Who and gave us It’s a Sin. You can see his fingerprints all over it. He doesn't do boring. He doesn't do "safe."
The show kicked off in 1997 and ran for two seasons. It focused on The Grand Hotel, a lush but struggling landmark in a city that was rapidly changing. The war was over, but the scars were everywhere. We aren't just talking about physical scars. We're talking about the mental toll on the men who came back and the women who had tasted independence while they were gone.
John Bannerman, played by the stoic Michael Kitchen, is the heart of the operation. He’s trying to keep his father’s legacy alive while dealing with a brother, Marcus (Stephen Moyer), who is basically a walking disaster zone of bad decisions and charm. The dynamic between them isn't your standard sibling rivalry. It's darker. It involves debt, betrayal, and some truly questionable moral choices that would make modern TV characters blush.
The Grime Beneath the Glitter
One thing you’ll notice if you rewatch it now is how much it focuses on the "unmentionables" of the era. While other shows were focusing on ballroom dances, TV show The Grand was diving into the world of illegal high-stakes gambling, prostitution, and the brutal reality of the class divide in an industrial city.
The hotel staff aren't just background noise. Characters like Monica Jones and the terrifyingly efficient Mrs. Harvey (played by the brilliant Susan Hampshire) have lives that are just as messy as the guests they serve. Mrs. Harvey, in particular, is a fascinating study in 1920s power dynamics. She’s a woman who has carved out a position of absolute authority in a world that wants her to be quiet. She’s not always likable. In fact, she’s often quite cold. But you respect her.
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Why the Setting of 1920s Manchester Matters
Location is everything. If this show were set in London, it would be a different beast entirely. Manchester was the "Shock City" of the industrial revolution. By the 1920s, it was a place of massive contrast. You had the immense wealth of the textile barons clashing with the desperate poverty of the docklands.
The Grand Hotel sits right in the middle of that tension.
- The Aesthetics: The show looks beautiful, but it's a fading beauty. You can almost smell the coal smoke and the expensive gin.
- The Politics: We see the rise of the unions and the changing role of women. The "Flapper" era wasn't just about short hair and jazz; it was about a generation of women refusing to go back into the kitchen.
- The Economics: Post-WWI Britain was broke. The show doesn't shy away from the fact that even a luxury hotel is usually about five minutes away from bankruptcy.
Honestly, the way they handled the character of Esme Harkness, the "high-class" prostitute who eventually marries into the Bannerman family, was years ahead of its time. They didn't treat her like a cliché or a victim. She was a businesswoman. She was smarter than most of the men in the room. Her presence in the hotel acts as a constant reminder that the "respectable" upper class and the "seedy" underbelly were constantly shaking hands under the table.
The Russell T. Davies Touch
You can tell when a script is written by someone who actually likes people, flaws and all. Davies has this knack for making you care about characters who are doing terrible things. In TV show The Grand, nobody is a saint.
Take Stephen Moyer's character, Marcus. Before he was a vampire in True Blood, he was the black sheep of the Bannerman family. He’s manipulative. He’s greedy. But there’s a vulnerability there that makes you want him to succeed, even when you know he’s going to ruin everything. That’s the "Davies Touch." It’s the ability to find the humanity in the wreckage.
The dialogue is snappy too. It doesn't sound like "period speak." It sounds like people talking. Sometimes they’re blunt. Sometimes they’re incredibly cruel. But they never sound like they’re reading from a history textbook.
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The Sudden End and the Legacy
It’s a bit of a tragedy that the show only lasted eighteen episodes. It was expensive to produce, and back in the late nineties, networks were often quick to pull the plug if things didn't hit massive numbers immediately. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving fans wondering what would happen to the hotel as the Great Depression loomed on the horizon.
But even with a short run, its influence is visible. You can see pieces of TV show The Grand in shows like Peaky Blinders or The Halcyon. It paved the way for period dramas that were willing to get their hands dirty. It proved that you could have the costumes and the sets without losing the grit.
Where to Watch It Now
If you’re looking to dive in, it’s often available on streaming services like BritBox or Amazon Prime, depending on where you live. It hasn't been remastered into 4K or anything—so expect that slightly soft, 90s television glow—but the acting holds up perfectly.
Watching it in 2026 is an interesting experience. We’ve seen so many "prestige" dramas since then, but TV show The Grand still feels fresh because it doesn't try too hard to be important. It just tries to tell a good story about people trying to survive a decade that was trying to eat them alive.
Actionable Takeaways for Period Drama Fans
If you're a fan of the genre, don't just stick to the big-budget hits. There is a whole world of "lost" dramas from the 90s and early 2000s that offer a much more nuanced view of history.
Research the Creator: If you like a show, look at who wrote it. Following a writer like Russell T. Davies through his early career reveals a lot about how modern storytelling evolved. You can see the seeds of his later masterpieces in the scripts for The Grand.
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Look Beyond the Costumes: When watching TV show The Grand, pay attention to the economic subtext. Notice how often they talk about money. Most period dramas treat money as an infinite resource for the protagonists. This show treats it as a predator.
Check Out the Cast: A lot of the actors in this show went on to do massive things. Seeing Michael Kitchen (of Foyle’s War fame) or Stephen Moyer in these early roles is a masterclass in seeing how great actors develop their screen presence.
Study the Manchester History: If the show sparks an interest, look into the history of the Midland Hotel in Manchester. While the show isn't strictly "The Midland," that real-life landmark served as a massive inspiration for the kind of grandeur and social gravity the show portrays.
Ultimately, the show is a reminder that the "good old days" were usually quite complicated, often difficult, and never as clean as the history books suggest. It’s a drama that respects its audience's intelligence. It doesn't provide easy answers, and it doesn't give everyone a happy ending just because they’re the lead character. That’s why it still matters.
Next Steps for Your Viewing:
Start with Season 1, Episode 1. Don't look up spoilers for Marcus's arc—the twists are much better when you don't see them coming. Pay close attention to the character of Sarah, the maid. Her journey is arguably the most heartbreaking and honest depiction of working-class life in the entire series. If you find yourself hooked, look for the original tie-in novels by Anthony Valentine, which expand on the backstories of the Bannerman family in ways the show didn't have time to explore.