To the Manor Born - Gift Set

The series was very well done and will leave you laughing for weeks, especially if you enjoy British humor. My family and I enjoyed the series so much we made a special side trip while in England to see the estate used in the filming of the series.

Cheers!


Penelope Keith at her BEST......   June 9, 2002
the buddhadharma (Ohio)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

One of my fondest memories of childhhod was our local PBS station continuously playing "Good Neighbors" reruns. That cast was perfect and the show a classic, but the person who stood out for me was Penelope Keith. She just stole every scene she was in. Quite recently I discovered "To The Manor Born" at my local library in their video department and was so happy to see that this series starred Miss Keith as well. I checked out as many as I was allowed on my card and couldn't wait to watch them all. Needless to say (or I wouldn't bother to write this) this show was wonderful as well and Penelope Keith is at her best. Upon viewing every episode, although a "special Christmas episode" was NOT on my library's edition, I discovered the boxed set for sale on Amazon and ordered it as soon I saw it.
Not as cartoonish as Margot in Good Neighbors, her "Audrey fforbes-Hamilton" is quite a character indeed and Miss Keith makes her pathetic, comedic, pompous AND accessible all at the same time. I can't imagine anyone else playing this role as well as Penelope Keith. If you are a fan of her work or if you are a just a fan of Britain's funniest female actors such as Patricia Routledge, Mollie Sudgen, The AbFab "Ladies" etc.,then you MUST, MUST, MUST own the work of Penelope Keith, as she, at least to me, is the Grande Dame of them all! I would highly suggest that you please buy the boxed set to see the entire series in order. And as a special feature there's a "lost" Christmas episode at the end of the last episode on Tape 6. In addition to Penelope Keith, I'm sure you'll enjoy this very gifted supporting cast as well and the location shots are very beautiful! Cheers.


An Absolute Delight to Watch and Rewatch!   January 6, 2005
Tiggah (Calgary, Alberta Canada)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

To the Manor Born is a thoroughly delightful Britcom co-starring Penelope Keith (Good Neighbours, Executive Stress, No Job for a Lady) as the snooty Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, a strong-willed, opinionated, blue-blood. The series opens with Audrey, the Lady of Grantleigh Manor, having been brought down a peg or two by the death of her husband, which has necessitated the sale of the Manor (resulting in her having to take up residence in the pokey little lodge on the grounds of the estate).

As if having to leave her beloved Grantleigh isn't humiliation enough, Audrey is miffed by the fact that the new Lord of the Manor is a gauche, noveau-riche grocery store magnet--and a foreigner to boot--named Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles (Rumpole of the Bailey, The Irish R.M.)). Richard is a self-made man who, now that he's got the money, wishes to live the life of a landed, moneyed English gentleman. But he finds there's more--much more--involved than simply buying a beautiful old Manor, as Audrey is only too quick to point out.

As a successful, practical businessman, Richard approaches life from a very different perspective than Audrey, who having lived a life of privilege has never had to work a day. The tension in the series arises from the radically different perspectives from which each approaches various local issues that arise, and the result is that the two are at loggerheads more often than not.

But though Audrey is quick to criticise Richard's lack of taste and his vulgar, profit-oriented motives, he is a handsome and, for all his "faults", charming man, and we cannot help noticing a certain jealousy on Audrey's part with respect to other women--a jealousy Audrey herself may not even realise exists (and certainly would never admit to!). The most frequent "other woman" whose plans or aspirations are quashed by Audrey is her best friend, Marjory Frobisher, a dowdy, middle-aged spinster who's positively love-struck by Richard.

As for Richard, though Audrey is a constant thorn in his side, thwarting his plans and finding fault with him at every turn, we do see in him a growing admiration and fondness despite himself. Though his feelings for her are sincere, it must be said that Audrey is the one person who has the class, the connections, and the ability to enable Richard to achieve the acceptance and respect that he, as the Lord of Grantleigh Manor, so desires. Richard's Czechoslovakian mother (whom Audrey affectionately dubs "Mrs. Pooh") recognises class (and the power and open doors that accompany it) when she sees it, and is constantly trying to coax Richard in Audrey's direction.

The DVD set contains all twenty 30-minute episodes (which ran from 1979-1981). Special features include the 30-minute 1979 Christmas special (which should be watched after disc one), plus a 30-minute profile of Penelope Keith (1999), and a 9-minute segment with Peter Bowles discussing the turning point in his career (2000). In 1997, four new 30-minute audio episodes were written for radio (which was apparently the originally-intended medium for the series), all of which are included on the special features disc, and they are really a treat. Unfortunately, the role of Richard was not reprised by Peter Bowles; still, the episodes (which take place at a point in time prior to the last episodes in the television series) are just as good as those in the original series, and I personally had no trouble picturing the scenes and characters in my mind's eye. Finally, there are text-based bios.

In conclusion, this thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing series is one of the gentler, cosy comedies, and it's one which I highly recommend to fans of British comedy.



Next to Jeeves and Wooster, simply the greatest...   October 23, 2005
Jack Dempsey (South Miami Beach, Florida)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Ah, "To the Manor Born." I say "next to Jeeves and Wooster," but in all honesty, it's probably next to Jeeves and Wooster and Fawlty Towers in terms of all-time greatest in the BBC. Nothing short of these inspires me to break out my Harris Tweed (even though living in South Florida), pack and light my Dunhill with some of my finest Navy Flake, pour a nice gin and tonic, and sit back and watch some of the finest television ever made.

To have this compiled in one collection (finally) is simply fantastic. I had originally purchased the individual sets in the UK, for far more, so one is definitely getting their money's worth with this set and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Get this immediately. Then, by all means, get the Jeeves and Wooster mega-set (and also everything ever commited to print by Wodehouse), along with the Complete Fawlty Towers, the Complete Black Adder and, for good measure, the complete Father Ted.

Enjoy.


At Last!   April 2, 2004
H. M Pyles (Chicago, IL United States)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

How could an overbearing snob, a mean-spirited xenophobe, and a woman rejoicing at the untimely death of her husband, be an appealing character? Penelope Keith in the hands of superb comedy writers is how. Anyone who, after venting about the inroads immigrants are forging into the English upper crust, can end the tirade with the line "England for the English, as we always used to say about India" is a character you're bound to like.

While America was riveted to the unlikely romance that was unfolding on "Cheers" between Diane and Sam, our friends across the ocean were doing it their way with "To the Manor Born". But there was a key difference. Neither Diane nor Sam ultimately matured enough to make it work. The closest they came to self-awareness was in realizing in time that it couldn't work.

Audrey (Penelope Keith) travels a different road as her awareness dawns that much of her reliance on heritage and breeding is simply filler for the absence of an abiding love in her life. The wit and good nature with which she slowly opens herself to this realization is what this wonderful series is all about. And what wit it is! . . . sophisticated, fast and sparse, politically and socially pungent, and ultimately humane.

If you like gentle satire, elegaic comedy writing, first-rate comedic timing, subtle tongue-in-cheek delivery, and a cast of local eccentrics that'll make you want to sell everything and move to the English countryside, you'll like this series. It just doesn't get any better.