Beautiful Barchester

[callmemadam]

A whole weekend with absolutely nothing on television that I wanted to watch. So I reached for the DVDs and picked The Barchester Chronicles. Scripted by Alan Plater with an all-star cast and beautiful choral theme music, it has to be one of the best TV drama series ever made. It also launched Alan Rickman with his bravura performance as Obadiah Slope. Even the best need a lucky break and this was surely his. It was first shown in 1982! I can hardly believe how young I was when I first saw it and, gulp, that means I’ve had a thing about Alan Rickman for nearly thirty years.

I’ve now watched all but two episodes (bliss) and of course it made me want to read the books again. I have them in nice Folio editions but for convenient bedtime reading I downloaded The Warden (free) to the Kindle and enjoyed. Sheer reading pleasure from page one.

Comments

[land-girl.livejournal.com]

I've never seen it! I don't know why not. I'm going to order it now :-)

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Hope you love it as much as I do!

[land-girl.livejournal.com]

We have a Lovefilm account, and I had been meaning to choose more titles for ages. That was my first one!

[karamina.livejournal.com]

Oh Alan. Oh, swoon. Oh, swoon again.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Hee! Them's my sentiments, too.

Barchester Chronicles

[(Anonymous)]

I have this series on video and I still love it! Rickman wonderful, as is Clive Swift and Geraldine McEwan as Mrs Proudie (her best role in my opinion, so much better than Marple!)

Re: Barchester Chronicles

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Although it's all good, it definitely livens up in episode three when the Proudies and Mr Slope arrive. I've been 'doing' Mrs Proudie ever since first watching it. I also love Nigel Hawthorne's irascible archdeacon.

[gghost.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation. I recently saw a trailer for this series and have been thinking of watching it. Now I think that I will.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Oh, do! As I said above, it gets even better as it goes on.

[ramblingfancy.livejournal.com]

Oh I love this Barbara though haven't seen it for years. I especially like the bit when the Archdeacon roars "LIKE HIM?" etc

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Wonderful Nigel Hawthorne. I've been saying, 'The Bishop thinks - and ai totally agree...' for years. I also love Mrs P saying to Slope, 'Do you bandy waards with me?'Geraldine McEwan is way OTT but superb.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I've never seen this! *head off to amazon.co.uk*

Also, crikey. Between your icon and the post itself, it's Alan Rickman a gogo. Mhmmm.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Right. Now ordered.

I was momentarily distracted by the BBC's 'Anthony Trollope Collection', and David Suchet's eyebrows in 'The Way We Live Now', but I have remained focussed on the important thing. Namely, Alan Rickman.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I hope you enjoy it! Here for your pleasure is that icon again.

[lethe1]

I've never seen this. I don't think we had the BBC on cable until quite a while later, and I'm not sure if this series was ever shown here.

Hee, Alan Rickman's hair! I must say I much prefer him the way he looks in your icon, but maybe the old photo doesn't do him justice.

I picked up a lovely little edition of Barchester Towers a couple of years ago at the weekly book market. Would it be necessary to read The Warden first, or can it stand on its own? (Or, I'm suddenly thinking, perhaps I've asked you before?)

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Rickman was playing an unpleasant character, so the smarmy hair was right.

There are six Barchester books: The Warden is the first and Barchester Towers the second. You can probably enjoy any of them without reading the others but it is a chronicle.