Customer Reviews

Ballykissangel: Volume 1 - Trying to Connect You, The Things We Do For Love [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another reviewer has compared BALLYKISSANGEL to NORTHERN EXPOSURE, and there's certainly some truth to that. An outsider arrives in a small town. He quickly finds himself squeezed by the pressure of the local financial overlord, the town conscience, a group of occasionally odd individuals, and his own feelings for an unattainable woman. And, just when the the transplanted hero gets REALLY interesting, the actor playing him decides to "pursue other interests", leaving the show's producers to scramble in another lead actor.

Only, unlike NORTHERN EXPOSURE, BallyK's inhabitants are a bit more realistic than Cicely's. You won't find radio announcers making catapult art, insane hypochondriacs badgering hermit chefs, or waitresses breaking into chronic song. Rather, BallyK is peopled by characters who present us with humor derived from their very ordinary humanity.

In truth, after the departure of Stephen Tompkinson and Dervla Kirwan, that humanity becomes a little too ordinary, and the show slips into a kind of soap opera normalcy. But for the two-year tenure of Tompkinson's Father Clifford and Kirwan's Assumpta Fitzgerald, BallyK is a fascinating place, where the storyline is fresh, and the characters genuinely evolve.

It's clear that the writers love their characters. They take great care to provide us with ones so involving, it is sometimes difficult to discern who the stars of the show actually are. Each main character has a well-defined relationship with all the rest.

At the end of the day, however, the show is most about two of them. The writers' greatest feat is the complete story arc of the Clifford-Fitzgerald relationship. It stands as one of the most complex liasons in the history of English-language television. Each episode teases greater definition out of the characters, and greater loyalty out of the viewer. By the end of their run, both Father Clifford and Asumpta have grown well beyond their initial characterizations.

I don't think that the whole of the first two seasons is yet available on VHS, but no matter. Start here at the beginning and work your way slowly forward. By the time you get to Topkinson and Kirwan's departure, you'll be left wondering why series television can't generally be this good.

When I first saw this on video, I was astonished at the quality of the print. When I saw BALLYKISSANGEL on the BBC America channel, the prints had a certain foggy quality to it, as if one was looking through a slightly fogged up window. This was nonexistant on the video version. The video print was so clear and different that it looked like watching a theatrical film instead of a British TV show.

Being a big fan of the show, I generally wanted to get BALLYKISSANGEL when it was released on tape. It is a very entertaining show about the going-ons of a small Irish village. Although it may resemble a normal drama, don't let that fool you. It possesses an atmosphere of oddball humor. Despite the realistic trappings, anything unusual, from an automatic confessional to wooden sheep, may occur in this town. It's NORTHERN EXPOSURE in Ireland. Volume one features the pilot episode, introducing Father Peter Clifford (DROP THE DEAD DONKEYS' Stephen Tompkinson) as the arriving priest of the town's St. Joseph's parish. Along the way he meets the no-nonsense barkeeper Assumpta Fitzgerald (Devla Kirwin), the ambitious businessman Brian Quigley (Tony Doyle), his headstrong daughter Niamh (THE SNAPPER'S Tina Kellegher), and clumsy Gardi Ambrose Egan (BRAVEHEART'S Peter Hanly).

As an additional treat to BallyK fans, each video features a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the show.

I stay up late to watch this on PBS. I care about the characters, I worry about what will happen to them, I'm way too sucked into this TV show. The story of an outsider (Fr. Clifford) a stranger in a strange land, struggling to do what's best, for his job, for his parishoners, and therefore for himself. With some very low-key but absolutely hysterical moments. You have to pay attention, but it's well worth it. Cross Northern Exposure with All Creatures Great and Small and you've got it.

If you have missed the series on PBS, you have no idea what you are missing. It is a series where all the characters are rich and interesting, and there is something that is so subconsciously captivating about the story that you just can't wait til the next installment. I brought my first tapes directly from BBC and have to ahve them translated from PAL to NTSC, and it was worth it. Here's to hoping that they will sell series 2 and 3!

Watching these first two episodes of Bally-K is a supremely pleasant experience. After watching a couple seasons of the show, to go back and see the beginning is fun. One can see foreshadowings of future plot lines, appreciate the characters and their quirkiness, and relax with these old friends.

This is a charming, funny, engrossing and thoughtful series that I first saw on BBC America and highly recommend. The story of a young English priest sent to a quirky Irish village, it deals with the all-too-human foibles of the inhabitants thereof and addresses many serious subjects with humor and understanding. It is a very high quality series and the actors are uniformly excellent.

Let's face it. We all have our favourite programs to watch, whether it is an hbo tv series, the news, the comedy channel, or a nice BBC program for us to view here in america. Ballykissangel just happens to be the one of the best bbc programs I have ever seen. I just hope they keep putting more of them on video to enjoy as our local stations don't show them in a steady stream.

I started watching Ballyk on PBS, but not until the middle of the third season, so I didn't know how Father Clifford came to be in Ballyk or how his friendship with Assumpta Fitzgerald began. Being able to buy the first three volumes of this set (I'm HOPING that there are going to be more than three volumes) was great because I got to see how it all started.

My two favorite episodes are, I believe, on the second volume. But all three volumes are great. You gotta see the flying confessional box in Volume One!

My sisters think I'm nuts for liking this show so much, but I've got my mom hooked now. She likes Brian Quigley, I'm more partial to Father Clifford...oh well, to each his (or her) own!

Billed as a "soap," this show is unlike any other soap. You'll laugh from the first episode and start siding with the protagonists soon thereafter. Once you've seen a show or two, you'll be hooked. Here's hoping they issue the other 4 seasons!

We all love the videos or have seen all six series!! (not all pbs stations air this wonderful show either). So, Please Please, Please, BBC, when are you going to get your act together and put more of these series on videos or DVDs? this is mind boggling that you have not done so already.