In 1969 National Educational Television (NET, the forerunner to today's PBS) first aired, in America, The Forsyte Saga, a epic 22 hour costume drama produced by the BBC.  The program received rave reviews and garnered excellent ratings.  Due to the success of The Forsyte Saga, PBS started, two years later, a new show that imported the best of the BBC's dramas.  Christened Masterpiece Theatre (employing the British spelling) this show would go on to become the longest running evening drama in US history.  The first series to be shown on this new experiment in television was a twelve part adaptation of Winston Churchill's biography of his ancestors, The First Churchills.  Acorn has now released this excellent series on DVD so fans of Masterpiece Theater can see how it all began.

The series starts in the late 1670's during the reign of Charles II.  John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough is an up and coming soldier.   Unfortunately, though he is of noble blood, he doesn't have any money, his father's fortune having been sacked during the civil war.  John notices, and soon falls in love with the young, intelligent, and beautiful Sarah Jennings, a maid in waiting to the King's niece Anne.  Sarah doesn't have a fortune either, and though John's father wants him to marry a rich niece, he follows his heart and weds the poor Sarah.  The two would be life long soul mates, and this series tells their story.

Taking place over a span of decades, this program shows John, with Sarah's able help, climbing through the military ranks and negotiating through the royal court where strategy and tactics are just as important as on the battlefield.  He raises to some of the highest echelons of power, but the more powerful he becomes, the more enemies he attracts.  Eventually, remaining in favor, even when his wife's childhood friend is on the throne, is an impossible task.

This was an excellent series.  It started out a little bit slow, mainly because I was having trouble keeping everyone's titles and relationships straight, but after an episode or two I found myself engrossed in the political machinations and plots that were being woven through out the series.  My only complain is that it is very helpful to know some British history in order to get the most out of this program.  Viewers who know little of England's past, like myself, may be a little confused at times.  Eventually you pick up everything, but when the Charles I's advisors were discussing the anti-papist movement, I didn't catch the fact that he was a protestant but that his brother, and heir to the throne, James was a Catholic.  It became clear in short order, but there were several instances like that where knowing a bit of history would have made the program more clear.

The acting is absolutely wonderful.  John Neville shines as the handsome and brilliant John Churchill, but the show is really stolen by Susan Hampshire.  She shines as Sarah, instilling her character with an intelligence and style that is hard to come by.  But even the minor roles are filled with very talented actors.  The BBC has long been know for having extremely talented casts, and this production is no exception.

Being a BBC production the budget for the show was very limited, but they were able to utilize the limited resources in a very effective fashion.  While there were hardly any location shots, and the number of people in any one scene were limited (in the first episode a castle is stormed being stormed but you only see four people,) a good deal was spent on the costumes.  The clothing for both the military officers and the regal court robes looked excellent.  The dresses and cloaks were trimmed with fine lace, and everyone wore layers of clothing.  This attention to the clothing often drew your eye away from some of the lesser aspects of the sets and scenery.

This series consists of 12 episodes each running approximately 45 minutes.  The entire series comes on four DVDs, each with its own case and all four enclosed in a slipcase.

Audio:

This show comes with a two channel mono soundtrack.  The show sounds flat and not very dynamic, which isn't very surprising since it was made in 1969.  Still, the dialog is clear and there is only a touch of distortion in a few scenes.  There are no subtitles.

Video:

The full frame image is acceptable, but just barely.  The picture is generally soft, with the colors being just a little muted.  The blacks are not true black, but close enough.  Several digital errors crop up through the show.  The fine lace that everyone seems to wear has a tendency to shimmer and shake when on screen, as do fine lines especially parallel ones.  There is a fair amount of aliasing and there is some low level noise present.  There appears to be some edge enhancement too.

There are also a good number of video defects associated with video tape.  Microphony that appears as light vertical bands in the picture is present, and there are a few tracking errors that briefly crop up.  This doesn't mean that the image is horrible, just not great.  The series is still very watchable.

Extras:

There are a couple of extras included with this set.  The most interesting is A Conversation with Susan Hampshire, a recent 18 minute interview with the star who played Sarah Churchill.  She talks about the role and how she felt about her character.

The only other disc based extras are a two minute reel of production photos and text filmographies of the major cast members.

There is a very helpful insert enclosed with the first DVD.  It has a list of major characters and a short biography of each, along with the definition of some antiquated terms used in the show.  The insert also has a family tree of the house of Stewart, and a sample of letters that John and Sarah exchanged.

Final Thoughts:

This is an excellent show.  Though I was a tad confused after the first episode, the show became interesting very quickly and I was soon hooked.  Both the acting and the writing are first class.  It is unfortunate that the video wasn't restored, but that is understandable for a show this long that is going to have limited appeal.  Anglophiles and those interesting in history or just really good drama should be sure to check this show out.  Highly Recommended.