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264 of 268 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ATTENTION, BBC...PLEASE CONTINUE THIS SERIES!, January 21, 2002
This review is from: Berkeley Square (DVD)
What a great series! I had never before seen it on television and, loving period pieces as I do, decided to make the purchase. It was worth every penny! My sister, who also loves period pieces, came over. Together, we hunkered down and proceeded to watch the entire series in one sitting, all eight and a half hours of it. We were positively riveted to the screen, so engrossing and well acted is the series. The series centers around three young women, Mattie, Lydia, and Hannah, brought by fate to posh Berkley Square in turn of the twentieth century London. All three work in households where they are employed as nannies. All three meet and become fast friends. Mattie is a an experienced nanny, who was brought up in the tough East End of London and, consequently, is firmly capable of holding her own. She works for a family that is on the unpleasant side with two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is a positive little beast, and the household is run by a crafty and cunning housekeeper. Mattie's benign and pleasant, baby faced countenance, however, belies a will of iron. She most certainly can take care of herself and hold her own with this motley crew. Lydia, the fresh faced and naive country girl, works for a wonderful family, as assistant to a nanny who is like an old family retainer. She watches over the baby, the first child of her employer's second wife, who is an American with modern, egalitarian views. The only blight on her existence, is the grown, handsome son from her employer's first marriage. Hannah has a more unusual history, as she is an unwed mother. She worked as a lady's maid for one of Yorkshire's first families. A love affair with her employer's handsome, only son leads to the birth of their illegitimate son. When her child's father unexpectedly dies, she and her child are forced to flee Yorkshire. She ends up in London, where a chance meeting with Lydia finds her accepting employment in a household in Berkley square, working with the nanny from hell. The series revolves around their experiences and that of the families for whom they work. Over time, the threads of their lives are woven in such a way that they make for an intriguing tapestry of events. Very well acted, with engaging performances by all, and first rate production values, this is a series well worth having in one's collection and is recommended to all who love a well made, period piece.
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172 of 180 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Addicitive Television Viewing!, February 25, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Berkeley Square (DVD)
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!
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86 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER KEEPER FOR VICTRIAN DRAMA FANS VIA THE UK, April 12, 2011
A wonderful 1902 period London Victorian drama. Activity surrounding three nannies in different posh families makes for dialogue and interaction between the classes. It's a shade like "Upstairs Downstairs" yet something unique too. Each of the 3 girls: Matty (Claire Wilkie-`Eastenders'),uneducated Lydia (Tabathia Wady-`Doctors' `Sense & Sensibility'), & Hannah (Victoria Smurfit-`Trial and Retribution' `Ballykissangel') have different backgrounds with Hannah perhaps being the most `colorful' having born a child through a relationship with a former Yorkshire upper. The girls become friends as well as soldiers tending the care of those rich youngsters. Of course the activity and lively constitution that the upper class families provide adds to the storyline, making its mark on the nannies hopes and dreams.
Britain seems to have a hold on top quality Victorian series. The fact it is a period story makes the series very re-watchable. The settings, costumes, and props are first rate, a standard for British made turn-of the century Victorian tales. This is simply one of those many produced that have and will continue to be sold and watched, like classic Victorian novels.
Also to be watched is part-nasty Nanny Collins (Rosemary Leach-many roles, I like "Titmus Regained' `A Room with a View')and full-nasty Nanny Simmons (Ruth Sheen-'Lorna Doone' 'Vanity Fair') who is the head nanny to the Hutchinson kids where Irish Hannah assists. Ned Jones (Jason O'Mara-`Life on Mars' "Monarch of the Glen' 2 great series) who is besotted by Matty (aka Sarge) and he sparkles back adding some interesting romance to their lives--and with footman Jones' violent past, tsk, tsk. Expect some intrigue and scandal along with the treks to the park and smiles. This is no "Mary Poppins" revival. This is more in line how British Victorian life of the posh as portrayed in the UK, not Disneyland. I like both, so I have no problem swallowing a bit of sour pickle with the sugar plums. Solid drama. What is life in 1902 without a few villains and some conflict?
Episodes (NO subtitles) approx 50 min ea:
1 Pretty Maids all in a Row
Matty, Hannah, Lydia, & Nanny Simmons & Collins introduction episode.
2 Hide and Seek
The nannies settle, get acquainted in the park, and Ned Jones gets a position.
3 Ladybird, Ladybird
Secrets-kidnapping-liaisons-wreckage & more around pre-coronation events.
4 All on a Summer's Day
Picnic day in the country has good and bad moments.
5 A Pocketful of Posies
Unwanted advances, unidentified giver of nose gays, unwanted disease, and an inside robbery involve the nannies.
6 When the Bough Breaks
Disaster at St. Johns #5 on Coronation Day. Lydia lives in fear at #17. Extraordinary day at Berkeley Square.
7 Gone a'Hunting
All sorts of trouble happens at the Wilton hunting/shooting event.
8 Who Killed Cock Robin?
Sons turn up missing, found, and found-out all a part of the unraveling complexity of Berkeley Sq.'s conflicts of Oct, 1902.
9 Wednesday's Child
Police look for murderers, and the quests reach two Berkeley Sq homes.
10 I, Said the Sparrow
the story wraps up in this final episode with some happy resolves, some tragic ends, and some issues caught in the middle of emotion. Leaves you wanting more, a sign of a good series. No bonus materials.
Not as funny as "Duchess of Duke Street" and not as romantic as `Pride and Prejudice" but it has its rightful niche in the halls of fine British Victorian (Edwardian) Drama.
Household names might be helpful:
Matty: Arnold/Victoria St. John, Tom, Harriet. Mrs. McC, Ned Jones, Pringle
Hannah: Albert/Elspeth Hutchinson at #5, Master Bertie, Charles. Nanny Simmons, Bowles
Lydia: George/Constance Lamson-Scribener at #17, baby Ivo. Nanny Collins, Fowler, Gibbons.
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