Love is in the air in Georgia as we look forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day across the state and within our expansive library of Passport and PBS App content. If you’re looking to fall in love with a romantic tale, we have the shows for you. Enjoy a peaceful Valentine’s Day this year with our top 10 love stories to add to your Passport queue, paired best with a delicious recipe and good company. We recommend trying out some of PBS Food’s best chocolate recipes  or for a full MASTERPIECE theme, Mrs. Hall’s shortbread cookies from All Creatures Great and Small.

Poldark

A sweeping historical drama taking place in late 18th Century Cornwall, Poldark follows Ross Poldark, a former soldier who fought in the American Revolution and has returned to his homeland following Britain’s loss. Once home, he finds that his father is dead, his lands are ruined and his old love, Elizabeth, is engaged to another. Still, he perseveres to change his destiny, rebuilding his lost fortune and, eventually, finding love with scullery maid Demelza. Based on Winston Graham’s series of novels, Poldark is filled with twists and turns, passion and emotion, and whether you’re rooting for Ross and Demelza, Dwight and Caroline or Drake and Morwenna to find their happy endings, the series is full of romantic entanglements and relationship evolution through both successes and hardships.

And if you’re already familiar with Poldark from the 1970s series, Robin Ellis, the original Ross Poldark, both guest stars in this adaptation of the series and is one of the hosts for the MASTERPIECE podcast, Mining Poldark, your behind-the-scenes pass to everything Poldark as he and co-host Barrett Brountas break down the show episode-by-episode in rich detail.

Victoria

A royal romance for the ages, Victoria tells the story of the young then-Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent who, at 18 years old, becomes Queen Victoria and must face both immense responsibility and emotional turmoil, from family disputes to an immense infatuation with her dashing mentor, Lord Melbourne, before embarking on a passionate romance with Germany’s Prince Albert, who would become both her Prince Consort and the love of her life. The series does end on a cliffhanger, but the sumptuous sets, costumes and intrigue are worth the watch, especially the dance scene between Victoria and Albert during Episode 4 of Season 1. Frankly, I can’t think of a better reason to cut open a shirt in order to impress Britain’s Queen (unless it’s to save her dog, of course). 

Sanditon

Based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sanditon takes viewers to the English seaside where the young Charlotte Heywood falls in love with both a charming resort town and equally charming men. As the spirited and impulsive Charlotte tries to reinvent herself in Regency England alongside her sister, Alison, and her closest friend, heiress Georgiana Lambe, she learns about life, love and where her heart truly lies. The Regency romance runs for three seasons, so there’s plenty of passion, intrigue and drama for our heroine and her friends to encounter. Sanditon also features a large, well-rounded cast that has appeared in plenty of other MASTERPIECE and public media productions, including Victoria, Death in Paradise, Little Women and The Gold, to name a few. 

Additionally, starting Feb. 14, all three seasons of Sanditon will be available to watch free on demand (FVOD) on the PBS App, a delightful taste of everything GPB Passport has to offer.

The cast of the 2002 Forsyte Saga

The Forsyte Saga

Before the reimagined version of The Forsytes debuts next month, curl up with MASTERPIECE’s first production of John Galsworthy’s novels from the early 2000s. The Forsyte Saga is a compelling drama of love, ambition, obsession, desire and duty, spanning over three generations at the turn of the 20th Century. While on the surface, The Forsytes are a pillar of Victorian high society, beneath the facade lingers unhappy relationships as Soames, his cousin Jolyon and the object of his affections, Irene, all seek love and happiness while fulfilling their duties and obligations to the illustrious family.

This series is difficult to watch at times, with brutality and betrayal portrayed alongside love and desire, but it’s an enthralling watch. And with only two seasons, it’s a great chance to see an adaptation of Galsworthy’s novels that follow the original books pretty closely and compare them to the new version inspired by the original texts. For fans of Damian Lewis in Wolf Hall, his role as Soames confirmed that, at least for me, he was the perfect Henry VIII: determined to control everyone, especially the women, around him, to his detriment.

Tom Jones

This four-part series based on Henry Fielding’s classic novel celebrates youth and romance alongside comedic situations and bitter betrayals. The titular Tom Jones is penniless, unsure of who his father is and charmingly naive to the greater world outside of his home, one that belongs to Squire Allworthy after Tom was abandoned there by his mother when he was a baby. But when his neighbor, the wealthy, beautiful and kind Sophia Western returns to her grandfather’s estate, he can’t help but fall in love with her. 

Featuring a random meet-cute, misunderstandings and a matchmaking curveball, all set in beautiful locations alongside elaborate costumes, this tale of two soulmates finding each other as they stumble along the way is a must-watch. In particular, Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) is an acting highlight as Lady Bellaston, who delightfully distracts the two unlikely lovers from their happy ending.

Sisi: Austrian Empress season 2 cast photo

Sisi: Austrian Empress

Not every romance on GPB Passport takes place in Great Britain. With our ever-growing catalogue of European dramas from Walter Presents, you can find love stories across the continent. One of the most bingeworthy romances is Sisi: Austrian Empress, a German language drama with English subtitles that chronicles the rise of Empress Elisabeth of Austria — Sisi — from the perspective of her closest confidants. The love story between Sisi and her husband, Franz Joseph I, is full of instant attraction and passion, while the two must face political unrest, war, raising a family and scandalous affairs. For fans of Victoria, this one should be added to your playlist, and with four seasons in total, you’ll have plenty of Passport marathons ahead of you.

Alice & Jack

As one of MASTERPIECE’s contemporary offerings, there’s no voluminous ballgowns or royal scandals in Alice & Jack, but that doesn’t make it any less captivating. It’s a story of love between two different people over the course of 15 years, exploring the question of whether the bonds between us are stronger than the forces that would tear us apart. Alice is a single woman invested in her career while living with a childhood trauma. But when she meets scientist Jack at  a bar, the two cannot help but be drawn together, drifting in and out of each other’s lives for the next decade and a half. Alice & Jack depicts some of the warmest joys and bitter pains of romance, and their deep, sometimes destructive connection is undeniable. Keep the tissues on hand for this one: It’s not a happily ever after, but it’s an honest depiction of human behavior between two imperfect people and their volatile relationship. 

Northanger Abbey

Sanditon isn’t the only Jane Austen adaptation on this list. With gothic romance trending in both literary fiction and cinema (more on the latter in a moment), Jane Austen’s parody of the genre, popular in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, should not be ignored. Catherine Morland is modest and naive, obsessed with gothic novels and is entertained by both her books and an active imagination. So when she leaves her home behind for the social season in Bath, she can’t resist an invitation to visit the mysterious Northanger Abbey, the family home of Henry Tilney, whom she falls in love with. Obsessed with gothic horrors she presumes to live in the house, Catherine must navigate her own misguided suspicions, manipulative friends and following her heart as she learns to distinguish fiction from reality.

Wuthering Heights

As mentioned before, gothic romance, and Wuthering Heights in particular, is trending right now due to the new film adaptation by director Emerald Fennell. But there have been several adaptations of Emily Bronte’s ultimate tale of yearning and destruction already made, including the 2009 TV serial starring Tom Hardy as Heathcliff and Charlotte Riley as Catherine Earnshaw. Presented in two parts, Wuthering Heights shares the origin of Heathcliff and Catherine’s mutual obsession with one another and how their infatuation changes over conflicts with members of the Earnshaw family and their relationship with their neighbors, the Lintons. In contrast to the new film, this adaptation of Wuthering Heights follows the book pretty closely, making it a solid option if you want to indulge in the darker side of romance, all set in England’s sprawling Yorkshire moors.

Georgia’s Most Romantic Places

Fall in love with the Peach State this year with Georgia’s Most Romantic Places. In our locally-produced special, Michael Buckham-White narrates visits to Sapelo Island, Barnsley Resort, Twelve Oaks in Covington, The Gastonian in Savannah and more, not only celebrating the most romantic areas of the state but can give you ideas for your next Georgia getaway with your loved ones.

All programs are available for streaming now with GPB Passport. Sign up for Passport on our website, and if you have trouble accessing your Passport subscription on your streaming device, please visit our setup guide.