 J. B. Priestley 's 1965 novel Lost Empires also evokes the world of Edwardian music hall just before the start of World War I ; the title is a reference to the Empire theatres ( as well as foreshadowing the decline of the British Empire itself ) . It was recently adapted as a television miniseries , shown in both the UK and in the U.S. as a PBS presentation . Priestley 's 1929 novel The Good Companions , set in the same period , follows the lives of the members of a " concert party " or touring Pierrot troupe . 
