Product Details

• Actors: Jane Horrocks, Janet McTeer, Jodhi May
• Directors: Catherine Morshead, Simon Curtis, Declan Lowney
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media Pub Inc
• DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
• Run Time: 354 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000MV8Z9K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,046 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

A bold engaging miniseries from the BBC

"She’s got people talking!" That's what everyone says about Ros Pritchard, the successful supermarket manager and mother who ignites a political firestorm when she stands for Parliament and ends up winning the general election. Running on little more than charm, honesty, and common sense, Ros knows next to nothing about politics. Will her passion and determination be enough to guide her as Prime Minister?

Jane Horrocks (Little Voice, Absolutely Fabulous) delivers a warm, winning performance as an ordinary woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to bring politics back to the people. She relocates Parliament to make it more accessible to the masses. She introduces "No Cars Wednesday" to tackle global warming. At the same time, she juggles the needs and demands of her increasingly frustrated family, which she fears is slipping away from her. With humor and charm, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard takes a bold unflinching look at the modern political process -- and the toll it takes on our leaders and their loved ones.

Contains coarse language

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining, Though Incomplete, Story, October 8, 2007

By 

TheBandit (SEA-TAC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (DVD)

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Viewing this six-hour UK miniseries was an unusual experience. I expected the show to be a comedy - after all, it's premise of an ordinary middle-class woman becoming Prime Minister easily lends itself to lighthearted laughs. This isn't the case. While humor is definitely a strong element throughout, the show is very much a serious drama. The six episodes are very good - densely packed with multiple interlocking storylines, each episode moving along at a brisk pace. The acting is uniformly excellent as well. Based on those strengths, I'm tempted to rate the show higher - but there is a problem: it ends with a never-to-be-resolved cliffhanger.

Apparently the show did not perform well in the ratings when it aired last year in the UK. As a result, it seems the show is not returning for a second season. There are a couple of screens containing brief text in an attempt to tie up the most important aspects of the story. These, of course, can't be discussed without revealing too much of the story. But suffice it to say, this is a highly unsatisfactory ending to an otherwise involving TV show. Too many questions are left unanswered - it's literally only half the story.

The main storyline concerns the title character and her unlikely career change from grocery store manager to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Her decision to run for such an esteemed position stemmed from her frustration with the available candidates, as well as her friends and family assuring her that she could do a better job than any of them. Surrounded by a skilled staff - all of whom she relies heavily upon - Ros Pritchard finds herself completely ovewhelmed with her immense responsibilities. Throughout the six episodes, we see her trying to adapt and adjust without compromising her most important principle: direct honesty to the people of the UK. She strives to be the people's PM to an unprecedented degree.

In addition to being politically out of her league, the show details the (mostly) negative effects her career move has on her family life. As a mother of two, Ros finds herself unable to devote nearly the same amount of time she once did to her two girls. Her marriage becomes strained as her husband finds himself more and more a bystander rather than participant in his own family life. And in a key plot development, some potentially damaging family secrets are uncovered and attempted to be dealt with.

I found all the character-based elements to be very compelling. The excellent acting by a mostly-female ensemble, achored by Jane Horrocks's Mrs. Pritchard, deserves special note. Horrocks does a good job of conveying Ros Pritchard's hesitancy at making decisions of such great importance. Jodhi May is superb as Pritchard's 'right hand woman' Miranda Lennox. Also particularly noteworthy is Carey Mulligan as Ros's college-age daughter. It's really a shame we won't be able to see any more of these characters.

As for the show's political content, I had a more mixed reaction. For one, not knowing much about the British political system I was often a little confused about who everyone was and what their function is. But the political issues that are dealt with, for the most part, are the same issues we face in the U.S. However, there is a somewhat haphazard approach to this throughout the show. Initially there is a focus on terrorist threats, which doesn't really go anywhere before switching gears to environmental issues. I'm guessing that the goal was to provide an overview of the many challenges Ros was facing, but it seemed a little less focused than it could have been.

All things considered, this was an intriguing and well-made miniseries that I would recommend cautiously recommend. The DVD offers nothing that wasn't shown on TV originally, with the exception of aforementioned brief text notes at the conclusion of episode six. It's unfortunate that the show's creative team wasn't able to discuss (via commentaries or interviews) their intent for the show beyond the initial six episodes. Perhaps they could have offered a clearer idea of the plan than the few lines that pop up on screen before the final credits roll. I couldn't help but feel cheated, even though that wasn't the intent.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars British Political Fantasy, October 5, 2007

By 

Richard Nelson (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (DVD)

(What's this?)

This six-hour BBC miniseries tells the story of a grocery store manager who decides, after watching two candidates for Parliament engage in fisticuffs outside her store, that she could do a better job. As luck would have it, a TV camera catches her saying so, and soon she finds herself in the middle of a whirlwind political movement. She inspires other women to run for office, and many defect from their political parties to join her. Come election day, her party wins--and she becomes prime minister. (Forgive me--I've just told you how the first hour ends.)

But all is not so simple for Ros Pritchard, the titular star of the show (played with aplomb by Jane Horrocks). Her husband does not support her choice and urges her to refuse the job, fearful that his own secrets will come to light if she takes office. And within hours of her election, she faces the first of several crises that demonstrate to her that being a world leader is tougher than it looked on TV.

Ros rises to the challenge, though, and for four of its six hours this miniseries is a delightful fantasy about how the world would be if "the great British people" got behind a leader with common-sense ideas and a desire to effect real change. Supporting players generate much of the interest, with no one's story more compelling and intriguing than that of Catherine Walker, a former Tory and now the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Catherine is the voice of wisdom and experience that Ros desperately needs, but as portrayed by the stellar Janet McTeer she is a woman with regrets that need working out, as well. Watching her work through her own issues while keeping the country running is a gripping experience.

I limit myself to four of five stars because the final hour of the series goes a bit off the rails. Without giving anything away, all I dare say is that the two days depicted in the last hour proceed as if the responsibilities of government have been temporarily suspended. And Americans, used to our tidy endings, probably won't love the way the series concludes; the text at the end, which British audiences evidently did not see when the program aired on the BBC, seems to wrap things up in a bow but actually makes the conclusion less believable.

Despite that, this is a fine series that anyone with an interest in politics will heartily enjoy. Bonus points if you're an Anglophile!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ROS TO THE RESCUE, October 14, 2007

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (DVD)

(What's this?)

This six-part series by Sally Wainwright reminds one a bit of the old film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - an idealistic upstart sets about changing the stale political status quo. Of course, you do have to cross the big pond as this is a British drama but the idea is much the same.

In this case, the upstart is, of course, Ros Pritchard, a super market manager who is up to her blond bob in the empty promises politicos make. Then, when two candidates start brawling in front of her market, that cuts it. She says that she could do better than they and sets about doing it, mainly as she puts it "To prove a point."

Well, she more than proves her point as she enlists a number of ardent followers, even wins over some powerful politicians, and her Purple Alliance Party is on the move. Things aren't that positive on the home front as husband, Ian, begs her not to continue. He has a few secrets he'd rather not have made public. Their two daughters, the beauteous Emily and bespectacled Georgina are a bit more compliant.

It will come as little surprise to viewers that she wins the election and as Prime Minister-elect goes about forming a new government, rewarding the strong women who have stood beside her. She is barely in office when deadly serious issues arise and she has to make decisions that she believes are totally beyond her realm. However, self-doubt doesn't stem what is evidently her inexhaustible store of ideas, and she even suggests that Parliament be moved to Bradford.

For this viewer the series peaked with Ros's election. What follows is a series of more personal problems - Emily posing for a boy's magazine, Ian's secrets coming to light, and one of Ros's cohorts having an abortion.

Jane Horrocks turns in an outstanding performance as Ros Pritchard, and she is surrounded by a fine supporting cast. The series is pleasant viewing sparked by generous pokes at Jolly Old England and its citizenry.

- Gail Cooke