Acorn Media has released both Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained in a 14-disc combined box set. Written by John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey), 1986's multi-episode Paradise Postponed and 1991's Titmuss Regained takes a dyspeptic look at Mortimer's vision of England as it leaves behind its post-WWII socialist dreams (albeit temporarily) in favor of the more conservative Thatcher era. Hard-core Brit-TV fans may appreciate the subtleties of Mortimer's scornful gaze cast over the epic-sized narrative (at least in the longer Paradise Postponed), but it's a scattershot approach, and the largely unsympathetic characters make it difficult to root for anyone here (as well, the pacing is a tad pokey, even for this kind of British long-playing drama).

Far too involved to adequately summarize here (both series run for a combined total of 12 ½ hours), Paradise Postponed begins with the death of the wealthy Reverend Simeon Simcox (Michael Hordern). Infamous for his passionate commitment to socialist causes (while seemingly getting a pass for his wealthy lifestyle due to his shares in a local brewery), we come to know Simeon through the course of the miniseries as a deeply complex man, who more often than not questions (and outright dismisses) the very Christian faith he's supposed to embody. However, none of that is of importance at his death when it's learned that Simeon left his estate to local neighbor Leslie Titmuss (David Threlfall), a Conservative Member of Parliament who use to work for Simeon as a boy, and who would seem to embody all the political tenets that Simeon abhors. Why did Simeon look kindly on this man with whom he had so little in common? That's the central mystery of Paradise Postponed. Why wasn't the family fortune left to country doctor son, and political fellow traveler, Fred Simcox (Paul Shelley)? Or why not to son Henry Simcox (Peter Egan), who starts off a radical "Angry Young Man" of literature, only to sell out his principles to become a Hollywood scriptwriter (while hardening his increasingly conservative political viewpoints)? Later, after Paradise Postponed concludes and the mystery is solved, in Paradise Regained, we encounter Leslie Titmuss in the full flower of his career, when he meets a lovely widow, Jenny Sidonia (Kristin Scott Thomas). Their love affair and marriage are set against the efforts of Titmuss to engineer the plowing under of a beautiful valley in the English countryside, with his brother Fred fighting him while making emotional contact with his wife, Jenny.

MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!

I haven't read Mortimer's book upon which Paradise Postponed is based, but he did write the screenplay for this long adaptation, so I can only assume it's the vision he wanted of his story. Watching Paradise Postponed, though, it became apparent fairly early on that any resemblance to density of either plot or characterization was merely a parlor trick on Mortimer's part, since the two elements of the central story weren't particularly compelling: the multi-year sweep of the story only hid the fact that not that much was going on in Paradise Postponed. The story's main hook - the mystery of why Simeon left his fortune to Leslie - isn't much of a mystery at all, with the solution easily guessed within the first few episodes by even the most casual of viewers (as I've written countless times in my reviews, I purposefully "turn off" my sleuthing powers, scant as they may be, to just enjoy a mystery and let it happen to me - something I couldn't do with Paradise Postponed because it telegraphed its solution so clearly). I doubt the mystery element of the story was Mortimer's main purpose in writing the novel and miniseries, but if his various stabs at the personal, religious and political foibles of post-war Britishers were, then they succeed in individual scenes, while failing to find a unified voice over the long haul.

I'd like to think I know a tiny bit about post-WWII England's history - at least in a broad, generalized way - but Paradise Postponed doesn't set out to instruct an American viewer on the myriad nuances that shaped the way Britishers looked at their religion and their politics as the country tried to embrace conservatism in the 1980s (nor should it). While you can certainly glean little tidbits here and there as to what Mortimer felt about this situation (I would imagine, after seeing the Leslie Titmuss character, it was a negative view), Paradise Postponed doesn't have the rigid cohesiveness and overall vision necessary to successfully tackle such a daunting historical prospect. What we think might be an integrated drama that serves a historical overview, quickly becomes a glorified soap opera/mystery with historical flourishes used to gin up its legitimacy (and with a faux-complicated flashback/flashforward structure that more confusing than invigorating). That in and of itself would still be acceptable, had the soap opera elements been achieved with some verve, and the characters enacting those conventions been of interest. I could have excused the interesting but scattershot denunciations of post-WWII British society if I could have enjoyed just one of the colorful characters Mortimer invents.

But that proves to be problematic, as well, in Mortimer's script (and to be fair, with Alvin Rakoff's square, pedestrian direction, too - everyone seems to be acting underwater). Regardless of the scorn in which the author may view his characters (rightly or wrongly, depending on your own personal views), the viewer has to be able to hold on to someone in a long-range drama such as Paradise Postponed, but who is that to be here? By the end of the drama, it's almost impossible to point to anyone in the series that one could truly care about, or worry about, or identify with, or show even the smallest passing interest in - and that's the miniseries' central crippling drawback. With characters either so bitter towards themselves or each other, or compromised beyond all redemption by their own selfish behavior, we eventually stop looking for Mortimer's points and start sighing in relief, "Thank god I don't live over their with those vicious and/or vacuous twits." I'm not suggesting Mortimer pasteurize the drama down to simple good and evil, with characters who are easily readable - we get enough of that in American television. But have pity on us with Paradise Postponed's endless parade of malcontents, snobs, bitches, losers, schemers, chiselers, and self-righteous lily-livers - all of which might have been entertaining if they weren't enacted through a sieve of English archness and inertia (several of the lead turns, particularly Paul Shelley's Fred, are to put it kindly, unconvincing). Is Fred Simcox truly supposed to be the hero of the piece? A vacuous, upper-class snit who frowns on everyone's lack of moral fiber as he smugly destroys his brother and pushes for his girlfriend to have an abortion? It certainly can't be Simeon, who comes across as vaguely impassioned about the plight of others (I never believed that Mortimer believed in Simeon's radicalism), while living a wealthy lifestyle, discounting the solace others find in religion, while masquerading as a paragon of that religion? The only characters we can vaguely feel sorry for are Charlie and Leslie, but Mortimer nips that in the bud by making unstable Charlie a happy suicide (could Mortimer have been suggesting that the mating of a socialist with a hedonistic conservative only result in a mad offspring?), while particular scorn is reserved for Leslie. Set-up to be felt sorry for (his treatment by the upper-class bullies who belittle his station in life will be especially resonant with American viewers), Leslie is the only character who actively strives to improve himself - and that's apparently a big no-no with Mortimer, who then punishes Leslie by turning him into a cardboard cutout conservative who cares only for money - a bumbling but baleful machine of vengeance against his former tormentors. Any doubts I had about Mortimer's intentions towards Leslie were banished when Fred - with a straight face - tells Leslie he's led a wasted life, and that he should have stayed a beer clerk at the brewery.

And Titmuss Regained isn't any better. Focusing more narrowly on the issue of developing England's rural countryside for housing and commerce (it only runs 2 ½ hours), the film uneasily mixes romance and politics to give us a further degradation of the Leslie character (he again can't escape his personal rage at his upbringing and destroys the genuine love he finds with Jenny), while trodding old ground with the hackneyed notion that "all development is bad"...while generally blowing any chance to tell us why "all development is bad," or giving us any convincing argument for the opposite view. Without the generational sweep of Paradise Postponed to mask the wavering focus of the central story hook, Titmuss Regained has to rely on the solidity of its dramatics to carry it over - and it fails. The romance between Leslie and Jenny is predictable in the extreme (the arc of their affair will be apparent from the first five minutes for anyone who's watched Lifetime on a handful of occasions), while the political subplot comes in sputtering starts and stops. The ending, which I won't reveal, contains a ludicrous final image of a murderer dressed as an astronaut - an attempt at an ironic joke that falls sadly flat. Thinking back on the film, "sadly flat" fits not only this last shot, but the first as well...and the ones inbetween, too.

The DVDs

The Video
The full-screen, 1.33:1 video transfers for Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained look about what you'd expect for a British TV miniseries shot (possibly) on Super 16mm (which was still the film stock of choice for filmed minis in Britain at this time). Grain is evident, along with slightly muddy, washed-out colors. Screen anomalies do show up - some scratches and dirt - while the picture isn't the sharpest overall. Again, though - if you're at all used to these British TV series from this era, the look of Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained on these transfers will be acceptable.

The Audio
The Dolby Digital English stereo audio mixes for Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained again vary according to the original source materials used...as well as the original recording equipment used by the British for these TV productions (which pale in comparison to comparable American productions). Levels go in and out, and hiss is apparent; unfortunately, no subtitles or close-captions are on hand to help out. One note: on the back of the box, there's a notation that some of the original music for the series has been replaced for this DVD presentation. Since I haven't seen the original British broadcast, I can't speak to what those changes are.

The Extras
Except for the standard Acorn Media text bios on the author and the cast filmographies, no other extras are included here for Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained.

Final Thoughts
Slow-going, scattershot, and not particularly convincing, Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained aren't nearly as vicious and telling and true as their author, John Mortimer, must have thought they were on paper. We have no stake in rooting for any of the characters, while Mortimer's little one-sided jabs at England's descent into Thatcherism, although amusing, can't distinguish themselves from the film's own soap opera mechanism. Hard-core Brit-TV fans may want to check it out for some of the performers, but there are better Brit minis out there: 12 ½ hours is a lot of time to devote to Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained...for such little return. General audiences can skip Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained.