Let’s face it, with the prospect of returning to work the next day, Sunday nights are never a high point of anyone’s week but, as the evenings draw in, they offer the perfect excuse to switch on the fire, cosy up on the sofa and turn on the telly. With Victoria currently keeping us enthralled and new series of Sherlock, Poldark and The Night Manager all confirmed, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else on a Sunday night. Still not convinced? Here are a few of the actors and actresses who, over the years, have made the end of the weekend that bit less painful.
James Norton
Sundays have lost their association with going to church but that doesn't mean we can't find solace in a handsome TV priest. James Norton won plenty of admirers when he donned a dog collar as full-time vicar, part-time detective Sidney Chambers in Grantchester. And, whether by design or not, James has gone on to become a bit of a Sunday night stalwart, having also appeared in War & Peace and Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Photo: ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Aidan Turner
Apparently we like a dose of mild titillation on our Sunday night schedule. When Poldark took off his shirt and picked up a scythe, Twitter had a mini meltdown, comparing it to Colin Firth's famous diving scene in Pride & Prejudice. But Aidan Turner's Poldark is more than just a great bod – he's moody, moral while also being very, very flawed, making for plenty of stomach-churning moments and exciting plot twists.
Photo: Mammoth Screen/BBC Pictures
Michelle Dockery
It's not all about the men, of course. Michelle Dockery burst onto our screens as the stuck-up-but-deep-down-actually-rather-nice Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey. Yes, she was a bit of an ice queen, who loved nothing better than sparring with her sisters and teasing potential suitors, but when she had the misfortune to find her lover Kemal Pamuk dead in her bed, we couldn’t help but feel just a little bit sorry for her.
Photo: ITV
Benedict Cumberbatch
Sherlock Holmes has been done to death over the years, so it takes a special kind of actor to make us revisit this detective yet again – especially as said detective is also a socially awkward drug addict. When Benedict Cumberbatch took on the role in 2010, he exceeded our expectations. His Sherlock had a wit as quick as his mind and would, just occasionally, give us glimpses into the real man beneath that deerstalker. Plus, he very rarely gets the violin out.
Photo: BBC Pictures
Gary Carr
Even the most devoted Downton Abbey fan had to admit that, by season four, the show was in desperate need of an actor who could come in and shake the dust off all those heirlooms. And they got it spot-on when they chose Gary Carr. As American jazz player Jack Ross he stole the heart of Lady Rose, fought off the Dowager Countess's disapproving looks and brought some much-needed swing to the stuffy stately home.
Photo: ITV
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Long before she became a bona fide Hollywood megastar, Oscar winner and Mrs Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones was charming us on this side of the pond in The Darling Buds of May. The epitome of an English Rose (despite being Welsh), Catherine's character Mariette was so lovely and free-spirited, she managed to seduce the tax collector who came to audit her father, persuading him to give up the city to come and live with her on a farm. Far-fetched it may have been but it offered the perfect Sunday-night escapism.
Photo: ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Tom Hughes
Yes, he has a questionable moustache and a penchant for wearing uniform but Tom Hughes' Prince Albert wooed us along with Queen Victoria in this ITV Sunday night hit. Prince Albert isn't the sexiest royal in British history so Tom doesn't have a whole lot to work with but the way he gazes lovingly at Victoria (played by his real-life girlfriend Jenna Coleman) has us swooning every time.
Photo: ITV
Clémence Poésy
A very graphic oral sex scene isn't your average Sunday night TV viewing but Clémence Poésy ensured everything was chic and classy when she took on the role of Isabelle Azaire opposite Eddie Redmayne in the TV adaptation of Birdsong. Their love story, or "sex story" as Clémence accurately puts it, certainly offered welcome respite from the death and destruction of the Somme, which also featured heavily in the mini-series.
Photo: Working Title/BBC Pictures
David Harewood
Some people's heads were turned by Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager but we always preferred David Harewood as the slick, no-nonsense US agent Joel Steadman. The underlying chemistry between him and Olivia Colman, and the way Joel single-mindedly goes after his target, were great side-plots to the main drama. Let's hope David will be making another appearance, now those second series rumours have been confirmed.
Photo: The Ink Factory/AMC/BBC Pictures
Colin Firth
When Pride & Prejudice hit our screens way back in 1995, the number of people tuning in would have made Saturday night primetime weep, and Colin Firth's turn as the often-temperamental Mr Darcy had a lot to do with that. As well as launching the actor’s Oscar-winning career, the drama’s famous scene, where he emerges dripping wet from a lake, featured in the Bridget Jones novels and has been named "one of the most unforgettable moments on TV".
Photo: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock
Robert Carlyle
Before he played a drug addict in Trainspotting and one-time stripper in The Full Monty, Robert Carlyle was known for his more wholesome role as Hamish Macbeth, a PC in a small Scottish village, who maintains the peace with his own particular brand of policing. The blustery Scottish countryside, Hamish's terrier Wee Jock, not to mention Carlyle's portrayal of the cheeky Hamish made this a popular and relaxing end to many people's weekends.
Photo: BBC Pictures
Keeley Hawes
Keeley Hawes' Lady Agnes Holland in Upstairs Downstairs is the perfect antidote to the traditional demure, corseted wife you often see on Sunday night TV. Despite her initial insecurities and mishaps, as the series progresses, Agnes juggles running a household, starting a family and negotiating a tricky mother-in-law, while also furthering Britain's diplomatic relations, via a few artfully coordinated soirees.
Photo: BBC Pictures
Max Irons
Max Irons comes from acting royalty but it wasn't until he starred as a British royal himself – Edward IV in The White Queen – that we realised, as well as being the son of Jeremy, he is also a very talented actor in his own right. Despite playing a king who was essentially a bit of a womaniser and a warmonger, Max had us hooked on the series from episode one and became a Sunday night favourite for eight all-too-short weeks.
Photo: BBC PicturesLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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