Gently humourous and with the richest of Irish accents, this lovely, warm-hearted turn-of-the-century comedy-drama is perfect for anyone looking for quality family viewing.
This, the second series (which once again contains six 50-minute episodes), covers a period of approximately eight or nine years and sees the return of all the familiar characters from the first series (with the exception of Mrs. Knox, Flurry's grandmother). This is, I should just mention, a series that one ought to watch from the beginning (ie. from the first boxed set) as there is a definite air of continuity to the episodes.
If you enjoyed the first series, you'll enjoy this one just as much. Though there is a little more drama in a couple of the episodes (with a couple of potentially serious incidents occurring), the comedy is still very plentiful with the humour continuing along the same vein as in the first series. Once again we see Flurry getting up to his tricks, the Major ending up in some very awkward and comical situations, and the odd comical misadventure at Shrilane. As a point of interest, attentive viewers may recognize a younger (and very attractive) Deirdre Donnelly (Siobhan the vet from Ballykissangel) in the last episode.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this boxed set to those who've enjoyed the first set, and I highly recommend this lovely, entertaining series to anyone interested in quality British comedy-drama. If you enjoy Ballykissangel, for example, I think you'll enjoy the Irish R.M.
More Fun and high jinks in turn-of-the-century Ireland.
These tapes continue the adventures and misadventures of Major Sinclair Yeates (Peter Bowles), a British resident magistrate in turn-of-the-century Ireland. The show continues with Philippa Yeates (Doran Godwin), Mrs. Cadogan (Anna Manahan), and the irrepressible Flurry Knox (Bryan Murray). Sadly, Mrs. Knox (Beryl Reid) is the one notable character not carried forward into this set.
As with the last series of tapes, this one contains 6 tapes, each one a one-hour episode. This show contains nothing objectionable, and is great for viewing by the whole family. I found these episodes somewhat darker, and less whimsical than the first tape series, but highly enjoyable nonetheless.
RETURN ofthe YEATSES and KNOXES
Flurry and Sally are back from their honeymoon, and not only Sinclair and Philippa are there to welcome them back, but so, ominously, are Lord and Lady Knox! Flurry will be seeing a lot, in fact, of his indomitable mother-in-law, who has seemed to attach herself to the newlyweds like a warden, while Sir Valentine Knox drifts away to other fields. Sally suspects her mother enjoys her new role, and there are indications that she does, indeed! And now we have poor Flurry behaving like a perfect gentleman--and, in a switch, the Major straying briefly from his usual impeccable decorum, while Philippa looks on in shocked disapproval. A new character has been introduced in the slightly sardonic Dr. Hickey; an old friend of Flurry and Sally. He adds an amused smile and an upturned eyebrow as he dispassionately surveys the antics of the Knoxes and the Yeatses; just as our old friend Slipper looks askance at his newly-fashionable boss. Changes have certainly taken place. The stalwart Mrs. Cadogan now becomes, on occasion, a trembling mass of nerves along with Julia and Bridget. Philippa now deals with motherhood. Sally is showing some of her mother's temperament. Flurry looks astonished at suddenly becoming part of the fashionable--SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE--gentry, and almost fearful of stepping too far out of line; and the Major looks as if he has finally got a leg-up on his nerve-wracking position. The continuation of top quality scripting, acting and directing is a factor that will delight the die-hard IRISH R.M. devotees, and will keep the tapes re-played in VCRs as it did with the first series. Well-Done, Mr. Bowles! Well-Done, Mr. Murray! And that goes for everyone else involved with THE IRISH R.M., volumes 1 and 2!
"Things are different in Ireland." So learns Major Sinclair Yeates, "a fine gentleman from England," who resigns from the military to take a post in rural 1897 Ireland as the Resident Magistrate. Peter Bowles, one of PBS's most valuable players (Rumpole of the Bailey, To the Manor Born) stars in the first series of The Irish R.M., six of Masterpiece Theatre's finest hours. Based on the book by Somerville and Ross, The Irish R.M. is a fish-out-of-water comedy. Think Green Acres and Northern Exposure, only, you know, much more classy. Bowles is pitch-perfect as the well-meaning, but initially confounded Yeates, who finds himself presiding over "improbable" cases. Together with his incredibly tolerant wife, Philippa (Doran Godwin), Yeates... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Chetwyn - Roy Ward Baker DVD Release Date: Released the 08 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The first two episodes of this BBC miniseries only hint at the delights to come. A lawsuit aimed at church reform in the town of Barchester forces a decent middle-aged clergyman (the august Donald Pleasence, best known in the U.S. for the Halloween movies) into a moral crisis and a conflict with his son-in-law, a pompous archdeacon (Nigel Hawthorne, The Madness of King George). The gracefully written and acted narrative shows glimpses of dry wit--but in episode 3, the arrival of a new bishop (Clive Swift, Keeping Up Appearances), his imperious wife (Geraldine McEwan, The Magdalene Sisters), and his devious chaplain (Alan Rickman, Truly Madly Deeply, the Harry Potter movies) launches The Barchester Chronicles into a satirical power... More Info about this DVD Director(s): David Giles (III) DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Originally telecast in the 1970s, Good Neighbors is the wonderful 1970s Britcom about an upper-middle-class couple who relinquish consumerism and turn their cozy suburban London home into a self-sufficient farm. Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara (Felicity Kendal) Good trade in one version of the good life for an impoverished other--an old tractor instead of a car, a goat instead of a purebred pup--to the continuing consternation of their best friends and executive-salaried neighbors, Jerry (Paul Eddington) and Margot (Penelope Keith) Ledbetter. Among the episodes contained in the first three series are "Pig's Lib," in which Margot covertly seeks help from the local residents' association to stop Tom's plans for keeping pigs; "Just My Bill," in which Tom and Barbara face the rare... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Briers DVD Release Date: Released the 14 June 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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To the Manor Born is another BBC sitcom from the genre's golden age, one that came to dominate the ratings during its initial three-season run from 1979-80. Providing Penelope Keith with her first major role after The Good Life, the show focuses on a way of life that now appears hard to comprehend, with storylines concerning hunt balls, village committees, and eccentric brigadiers only adding to the dated feel. What provided the program's key interest, however, was not the terribly quaint Little England setting but the burgeoning relationship between Keith's Audrey fforbes-Hamilton and Richard De Vere (Peter Bowles), the new owner of Audrey's old home, Grantleigh Manor. It's all very, very English (the show is set in a village called Cricket St. Thomas) and the continuing... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Penelope Keith DVD Release Date: Released the 15 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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