Following in the tradition of such fantastic BBC mini-series brought to the U.S. via "Masterpiece Theatre" as "The Grand," "The Pallisers" and "Upstairs, Downstairs," "Berkeley Square" holds up well for lovers of Victorian/Edwardian-era costume dramas cum lavish soap operas.
"Berkeley Square" focuses on the very end of the Victorian era, and the begining of the Edwardian phase, taking place in 1902, when all of Britain was celebrating the coronation of a new king. Like "The Grand" (my personal favorite) or "Upstairs, Downstairs," "Berkeley Square" focuses on the difference in the classes, highlighting the lives of three nannies: Mattie, Hannah and Lydia, all of whom work in the stately homes on Berkeley (pronounced "Barkley" by the Brits) Square. It's also a fairly accurate depiction of a subject little discussed in most series--the fate of children in Victorian England. Watch "Berkeley Square" with a modern sensibility and you'll be shocked how the "privileged" class looks upon their children. (Something like children speaking when presented at an adult social event is enough to cause "extreme embarrassment" for their parents and the possible dismissal of a nanny and, like real upper class Victorians, these parents rarely see their offspring, generally leaving 100% of the child-rearing to servants.)
You first meet Mattie, the goodie-two-shoes of the group, as she starts her new job as nanny to the Sinjin family. Mrs. Sinjin is less than happy in her marriage and is carrying on a flirtation--that could so easily lead to more--with the dashing, and quite possibly diabolical, Captain Henry Morgan. Mattie's nursery maid, Pringle, is less than thrilled with her lot in life (she wanted to be named nanny herself) and tends to take it out on the children, including often obnoxious, eldest son Tom. Further downstairs, the cook and the housekeeper have problems of their own and don't really need a new nanny bossing them around. Among other things, Mrs. McClousky, the head housekeeper, is trying to keep her son, Ned, from being arrested for murder.
Hannah's life is equally in flux. A former ladies maid who fell in love with a Lord, Hannah is content to live with ridicule as long as she has her illegitimate son, who is doted on by his aristocratic father, William, who flouts convention by openly loving Hannah, though he can't marry her. All that changes when William dies in a horse race (I'm not giving anything away--this happens about 2-1/2 minutes after we first meet Hannah). Suddenly, Hannah, already an outcast and deemed a "wicked woman" by Victorian standards, is alone in the world with a child to raise.
Lydia is a country girl and moving to London to become a nursemaid will make her the most successful member ever of her family--that is if her uneducated father lets her go. But naive Lydia has a lot to learn about the big city, not the least of which is how touchy the elderly nanny can be when Lydia starts to invade her turf AND how so-called "gentlemen" of the household, like Lord Hugh, can make a country girl's life very unpleasant indeed.
This 10-hour mini-series follows the lives of Mattie, Hannah, Lydia, and the families they work for, and will keep you engrossed throughout (each episode ends with a cliffhanger, making you glad you've got the DVD and don't have to wait for the next TV airing to find out what happens next). My main complaint, and why I didn't give this series five stars, is the lack of early character development. People pop in an out of the series rather randomly, and with little introduction. The nannies also become "fast friends" by episode two even though they've supposedly only met once, during a walk in the park where they spoke less than two minutes to one another. Despite this they suddenly know each other inside and out, including knowing everyone that each other knows. It's almost as if the episode where they bonded ended up on the cutting room floor. Despite this, you do quickly become engaged in the character's lives.
Also frustrating is the innumerable loose ends just left hanging at the end of the series. Many characters outcomes are left unknown and several story lines simply disappear. The series could have quite easily, and entertainingly, been extended. (Apparently, the writers didn't know it was over at episode 10, assuming the BBC would order more episodes.) But, all in all, "Berkeley Square" is a great way for an Anglophile to spend a weekend!
