The stories all contain some sort of interaction with the English environment, whether that be art students out and about under the perhaps lecherous eye of teacher Ian McKellen (and how surprising it will be to fans of Lord of the Rings or even Gods and Monsters to see him cast as a dashing young romantic lead), or, more depressingly, a disowned daughter sent to work for a bedridden woman, where she is oogled by the woman's lecherous husband and later her son. There seems to be a good deal of lechery running through these stories of rural drama, giving quite a few of them a sort of unseemly undercurrent. Add to that the depiction of an undereducated and kind of smarmy lower class in several of these episodes, and you get a sort of early 20th century British version of "kitchen sink" drama, although there's no indoor plumbing.

While some may find the literary roots of this series enough to recommend it, the adaptations are uniformly slow, character-driven fare that have little or no drama in the traditional sense. While there are some nice recreations of early 20th century working-class England (notably in such episodes as "The Sullen Sisters," where a mining town comes vividly to life), if you're not a fan of British short stories, there's really very little here to sustain your interest.

Aside from McKellen, there are a few other names that some astute fans may recognize, including two Prunellas, Ransome and Scales, as well as Peter Firth and Stephen Chase. While it's fun to see these performers at a very early stage in their careers, unfortunately the material is not engaging enough to really make this must-see television, even with this marquee value.

The DVD

Video:
As I have noted in previous reviews of British television, there's a marked dichotomy in the video quality between the videotaped, in-studio elements, and the filmed location shooting. The film elements are uniformly pretty poor, with faded color, lots of grain and occasional abrasions. The videotaped elements are rather good for their age, with above-average color and contrast. Unfortunately the focus on the countryside, which is all filmed, makes the video presentation of this series decidedly lackluster.

Sound:
This is a typical 1970s-era television soundtrack, nothing special, but nothing horrible. Though it is ostensibly in stereo, there's little if any separation to be heard, but there is perfectly fine fidelity.

Extras:
None are offered.

Final Thoughts:
If you're a big fan of McKellen or some of the other actors mentioned above, or have a particular interest in the rustic English literary tradition, this may well be worth a rental for an evening or two. Others will probably want to skip it.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet