Based on the semi-autobiographical 1857 novel by British author Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days fits its title precisely. This five-part BBC miniseries, originally broadcast in 1971, follows the adventures of young Tom Brown in a Victorian boarding school for "young gentlemen" like himself. The idealistic and assertive Tom finds that the school contains both enemies, in the form of vicious bullies, and friends, in the form of school friends and the kind, progressive headmaster.

The original novel Tom Brown's School Days was primarily a children's book, recounting the adventures of Tom as a younger child at home as well as in the titular "school days" when he is sent off to the Rugby School (viewers may be interested to know that the game of rugby takes its name from the Rugby School, where it was invented, rather than the other way around). Especially at first, it's not at all clear whether the television version is intended for adults or for children, but eventually I think it becomes evident that this is aimed mainly at the younger set. There's not much of a story, with the series instead concentrating on Tom's experiences at school, showing how he faces up to difficulties and bullying and eventually comes out on top in the end. It's easy to see how children could relate to these situations, with the Victorian setting adding a touch of added interest, and with Tom serving as a "jolly good" role model.

Unfortunately, this 1971 production does have a rather dated feel to it at this point; when coupled with rather artificial acting, the result is that Tom Brown's School Days will probably not catch young viewers' attention as it may have done thirty years earlier in its original broadcast. I'd say that the main audience for this program, at this point, is likely to be those viewers who enjoyed the series when it was first shown, and will enjoy seeing it again from a nostalgic point of view.

What about adult viewers who've never seen the miniseries? It's not bad, but I didn't find it particularly engaging, either. I think the program suffers from a rather arbitrary starting point; the first episode does a very awkward job of introducing Tom and the other characters, and it's not at all clear where the series as a whole is headed. There's a certain charm in seeing the historical setting, but on the other hand there's also the issue of a rather heavy-handed ending, designed to hammer home all the points about a boy's proper behavior that viewers were presumably expected to have picked up over the course of the series.

The DVD

Tom Brown's School Days is a two-DVD set, packaged in a glossy paperboard slipcase. The first two 44-minute episodes appear on the first disc, and the remaining three are on the second disc.

Video

The image quality for Tom Brown's School Days is extremely uneven, as is fairly common for British television productions of the time. The outdoor scenes (of which there are unfortunately rather a lot) look absolutely terrible: they're extremely soft and grainy, with even some print flaws and the occasional jittering of the picture, and colors look gray and washed-out. On the other hand, indoor scenes look considerably better, with decent clarity, relatively little noise, and almost no print flaws. Colors are still a bit off, this time tinted toward the brown rather than gray. Overall, the image quality is enough to put off viewers who aren't already fond of the program, but for those who are determined to add it to their collection, it is at least watchable. The program appears in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack offers a reasonable if not outstanding audio experience. The overall sound is a bit flat, but there's no distortion or background noise. The dialogue is clean and clear-sounding, and even when voices are raised (for instance, with excited boys shouting) there's no distortion in the track.

Extras

The first DVD has a few modest special features. A text biography of author Thomas Hughes and information on the famous Rugby School where the story takes place offer some interesting facts for the viewer. A photo gallery and cast filmographies are also included.

Final thoughts

I'd say that the appeal of Tom Brown's School Days is probably largely nostalgic; the 1971 miniseries about the adventures of a Victorian boy at boarding school has a certain modest charm, but not enough to surpass its rather dated feel unless you're already fond of it. It may be worth a purchase for viewers who have been waiting for the series to come out on DVD, but in general I'd suggest it as a rental first. Rent it.