The Darling Buds of May-The Perfick Collection (1991)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1991
Running Time	1002:41
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL Multi Disc Set (6)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Rodney Bennett David Giles
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	David Jason Pam Ferris Philip Franks Catherine Zeta-Jones Julie Davis Abigail Rokison Christina Giles Katherine Giles Stephanie Ralph Ian Tucker Moray Watson Rachel Bell Kika Mirylees
Case	?
RPI	$89.95	Music	Pip Burley Barrie Guard

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

    The title of this whimsical television series is based upon the Shakespeare sonnet from which I have included an excerpt above. This series was shown on ITV in the UK between 1991 and 1993 and included 9 episodes and 2 specials, all of which are included on this 6 disc set. Each episode was approximately 100 minutes in length and was shown over two weeks. The specials are approximately 50 minutes each. The set is basically in the order the episodes were shown on television, except that the second special which was shown between episodes 6 & 7 is included last on this set. It does not make a huge difference as the special in question does not advance any of the ongoing storylines. This special, Le Grand Weekend, also answers the question I posed in my teaser on the main page. Gollum (or at least a very young Andy Serkis) guest stars in this special as Greville, a young man who is on the same trip as Pop & Ma Larkin (the main characters).

    The Darling Buds of May follows the mild adventures, family dramas and love of life exhibited by the Larkin family. They live in the idyllic world of 1950's Kent, 'The Garden of England', on a farm near a small village. The patriarch is Pop 'Sidney' Larkin (David Jason), a lovable rogue who enjoys his food, loves a drink, enjoys flirting with women, always has a plan or a deal on the go and has a heart the size of a horse. He always tries to help everyone around him whether they are his family, friends or even people he has just met. The matriarch is Ma 'Flo' Larkin (Pam Ferris), a well padded woman who loves to cook, runs a tight household and has a heart nearly as big as Pop's. At the beginning of the series they have 6 children. The oldest is Mariette, a beautiful young girl (played by a young and comely Catherine Zeta-Jones). The others are Montgomery, the only boy; Primrose; Zinnia & Petunia, the twins and Victoria. The show is based upon the novels of H.E. Bates. Besides the family there are a number of recurring characters, however only three of these are important. They are Angela Snow (Kika Mirylees), a friend of Pop and one of his female admirers who he gets involved in his schemes, Edith Pilchester (Rachel Bell), another of his female admirers who lives in the village and is quite lonely and The Brigadier (Moray Watson), a retired Army officer who is chairman of the town council.

    The episodes are:

• Season 1 - Episode 1 : The Darling Buds of May - This episode introduces the other main character, visiting tax inspector Cedric Charlton (Phillip Franks). He calls to discuss Pop's lack of a tax return, but is soon drawn in by the combination of the Larkin's hospitality, a few drinks and their attractive daughter, Mariette. Pop decides that he should be called Charley. He stays the night and then just doesn't seem to be able to leave. Pop buys an old Rolls Royce, has problems with some villagers, hosts their gymkhana and makes an offer to buy the local stately home for scrap. By the end of the episode a question is popped and a secret is revealed.
• Season 1 : Episode 2 : When the Green Woods Laugh - Pop buys Bluff Court, the local stately home and immediately sells it again for a large profit. Charley asks the Brigadier to be best man at the wedding being organised. A woman, Corinne Perigo, tries to get Pop to have an affair with her. Pop ends up in court charged with indecent assault on the morning of the wedding.
• Season 1 : Episode 3 : A Breath of French Air - Ma's seventh baby is born, Oscar. They all head off for a holiday in Brittany in the Rolls Royce at a hotel which Charley stayed at as a child, on the beach. The hotel is not quite what they expected but they begin to enjoy themselves and Pop starts to charm the hotel manageress Antoinette Dupont (Anna Massey). Due to the car the locals think he is an English Lord and they start to treat them much better. Primrose meets a boy and Charley & Mariette celebrate their first anniversary after some tension between them.
• Special 1 : Christmas is Coming - This is a more dramatic episode involving the lead-up to Christmas and an escaped convict hiding out in the area. Mariette is pregnant, her and Charley get their own cottage and Mariette causes some drama.
• Season 2 : Episode 1 : Oh To Be in England - Mariette and Charley have their baby, John Blenheim. Pop gets involved in a deal to buy some stuff from an old lady but one of her relatives interferes. Charley tries to do some deals without Pop but gets in trouble. They are planning the christening but are trying to work out who should get done as none of their children have been. Antoinette Dupont travels to England to be godmother but soon realises Pop is not a lord. Primrose takes a shine to the new vicar.
• Season 2 : Episode 2 : Stranger at the Gates - A backpacker, Pieter, visits the farm and the children like him. Monty is getting angsty. For a variety of reasons the villagers turn against Pieter, but Pop & Ma wont let him just leave. As usual Pop sorts the problem out. Charley is again considering a new business venture. Primrose is still after the Vicar.
• Season 2 : Episode 3 : A Season of Heavenly Gifts - Smallpox vaccinations are being carried out. Pop meets an ex-Wing Commander and unknowingly helps him smuggle in some alcohol. A developer tries to buy a piece of land which Charley has made an offer for. A safe cracker is captured at the Wing Commander's club while Pop & Ma are there. Pop & Ma get more involved than they would like. Monty joins the merchant marine as a cadet. The developer gets a group of thugs involved. Another more dramatic episode.
• Season 3 : Episode 1 : The Happiest Days of Your Life - Pop is having the roof re-tiled, Charley worries about money, and Mariette develops her business acumen. Charley gets some work as an accountant with the local Brewery. Their headmaster suggests that the twins should go to boarding school. The school has some maintenance issues and eventually the twins run away. The owner of the brewery wants to sell but Charley works out it is about to go broke. (All episodes in Series 3 were split into two episodes which played one after another, and were not separately selectable.)
• Season 3 : Episode 2 : Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine - There is a new man in Edith's life, George. He offers to get Pop involved in a great business plan. Primrose falls for a new boy and runs away to Liverpool. All is not as it seems with the business deal. This is the only episode not to include Charley & Mariette.
• Season 3 : Episode 3 : Climb The Greasy Pole - Unlikeable new residents the Battersbys want to develop a beautiful hill as a sand quarry. He decides to stand for council to push the plan through with the prompting of his wife. After some reticence, Pop decides to run against him to stop them. Things don't go so well. Charley & Mariette try to buy the Brewery and Mariette finds Charley in a compromising position with another woman. A fitting end to the series.
• Special 2 : Le Grand Weekend - (Originally shown between Series 2 & Series 3). Ma wins a holiday in Paris and Pop & Ma head off leaving Charley & Mariette to look after things. The holiday does not go smoothly, however, Pop takes charge and makes sure everyone has a good time. Features Andy Serkis as a member of the tour party, Greville.

    Overall, this is a very enjoyable and relaxed television series with many pleasures to be found, although it is pretty light so may not suit those who like their TV gritty. By the way, this collection in the shops is subtitled 'The Perfick Collection' because Pop constantly describes things as 'perfick'.

Video

    The video quality is average.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced, which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was fairly clear and sharp throughout but badly affected by grain and colour bleeding, with no evidence of low level noise. From a sharpness perspective it was watchable but no more. The shadow detail was generally poor but luckily was not needed too often.

    The colour was washed out and suffered from a number of colour artefacts, especially bleeding and rainbow effects on clothing. The bleeding affected light colours worst but most were affected to some degree or other.

    Besides the colour artefacts there were also significant amounts of specks and flecks, minor aliasing on jackets and the like, some tape tracking artefacts and some minor edge enhancement.

    There are no subtitles.

    Most of the discs had layer changes which were quite obvious and caused significant pauses. One disc was a DVD5 and therefore did not have a layer change.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is fine but certainly nothing spectacular.

    This DVD contains one audio options, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. The sound quality was reasonable although was fairly flat 

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The theme tune by Pip Burley is good and suits the series well. Other incidental music was composed by Barrie Guard and does its job without standing out.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer added a small amount of bass to the music but this was as a result of my amp's bass management, not the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    None.

Menu

    The menus were very simple and allowed for episode selection only.

    Previously, a three episode set of this series was released in Region 2 & 4, including episodes from all three series. The full series has also been released in Region 1 and includes a number of extras including interviews with the cast, biographies & picture galleries. Region 1 seems to have the edge as it actually has some extras, although reviews indicate the picture quality is just as bad.

    The video quality is average.

    The audio quality is fine.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall