Product Details

• Actors: Gemma Jones, John Welsh, John Cater, Victoria Plucknett
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 5
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: July 7, 2000
• Run Time: 750 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004W5XX
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,555 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding British Period Drama!, November 12, 2003

By 

Tiggah "the Anglophile" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Duchess of Duke Street, Vol. 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Produced and co-written by John Hawkesworth (best known for his role as producer and co-writer of Upstairs Downstairs), The Duchess of Duke Street tells the story of Louisa Leyton Trotter, a young Cockney woman from a working-class background with aspirations of becoming the finest cook in London. The series open in 1900, with Louisa landing a job as a cooking assistant to one of London's finest chefs. It's the chance of a lifetime for her, but her outspokenness threatens to be her downfall.

Nevertheless, she indeed rises to become a first-rate and much-sought-after cook and the proprietor of London's exclusive and very expensive Bentinck Hotel on Duke Street. Louisa owes much to Bertie, the Prince of Wales, with whom she has a brief affair. But she owes the bulk of her success to her own hard work and determination. The series spans some 30 years, throughout which we are privy to everything the hotel has to offer--from encounters involving aristocrats to the personal problems of the servants. Of course, it is Louisa's life that is at the forefront, and she must make some tough choices as she deals with crises of her own at both a professional and a personal level.

A feisty and independent young woman, Louisa is more than capable of taking care of herself, and she's played to absolute perfection by Gemma Jones. So convincing is she as Louisa Trotter that it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. As a point of interest, the character was based on a real-life individual named Rosa Lewis, a mistress of the Prince of Wales who set up a London hotel called the Cavendish. She died in 1952 and was personally known to John Hawkesworth.

Louisa is joined by a motley group at the hotel. The oldest servant, a butler named Mr. Merriman, came with the hotel when she bought it. He's a perennially wingeing old codger who one expects will keel over at any given moment. Then there's the new doorman, the mysterious Mr. Starr, with his trademark squeaky shoes and fox terrier Fred (upon whose supposedly unerring judgement Starr bases his opinion of potential guests!). Another fixture on the show is the Major (Richard Vernon of Sandbaggers), a decent and well-connected but destitute old war horse for whom the Bentinck has become home. Of course, one mustn't forget Louisa's right hand, the devoted Welsh servant, Mary; or Charlie Tyrrell, Lord Haslemere, a man with a permanent residence at the Bentinck and to whom Louisa owes much. In addition to the regulars, fans of British television will enjoy guest appearances by Robert Hardy (All Creatures), Anthony Andrews (Brideshead Revisited), and Joanna David, amongst others.

The series was produced between 1978 and 1980, and the entire series is presented in two video boxed sets. The series was originally televised in episodes of roughly 50 minutes each. For some reason, when releasing the series on video the BBC decided to run three episodes together on each tape, thus creating one long episode of approximately 150 minutes per tape. The editing, however, is beautifully done--apart from a gentle shift in the storyline (ie. old characters gone and new ones arriving), it is impossible to tell where one episode ends and another begins. Overall, the quality of the videos is excellent.

In conclusion, this is one of the best period dramas ever produced. Fans of British period dramas in general--of shows like Upstairs Downstairs, for example--are sure to enjoy it. But I'd go so far as to recommend it to anyone looking for a captivating, well-written, and consummately-acted series. This truly is quality entertainment at its very best!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best British series ever, December 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Duchess of Duke Street--Series (VHS Tape)

This series, which premiered on the (old, good) Masterpiece Theatre program in the '70's, covers over 20 years in the life of Louisa Trotter, a thinly-disguised take off on a real-life cockney scullery maid named Rosa Lewis who worked herself up into the "best cook in England," opened a "private hotel for gentlemen" in London, and knew just about everyone worth knowing in her time.

Gemma Jones, as Louisa, is simply stunning in the role, ably supported by a raft of those fine English character actors whose faces you will recognize with delight, if their names escape you.

Like "Upstairs, Downstairs," this series is the REAL DEAL; historically accurate, poignant, hilariously funny, sometimes tear-jerking, as we watch the ups and downs of Louisa's fortunes (and England's) from 1900 to the mid-'20's. The current five tapes cover the period roughly 1900-1910, from the beginning to the end of the Edwardian Age. Further episodes of the series, which went through the First World War and into the Jazz Age, will hopefully be released in due course.

This is a definitely not-to-be-missed and you'll-see-it-over-and-over series for those who love the best in British history on video!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'd give it six stars if I could!, January 2, 2003

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Duchess of Duke Street, Vol. 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Easily the best television series I've ever seen -- worth watching two or three times. We have three-dimensional characters, brilliant acting, and a realistic view of life in Edwardian England. There's nothing romantic about World War I in this series. We see how war damages young men who set off idealistically. And there's nothing romantic about Louisa's rise to riches: she works hard and knows when she can't buck the system.

In fact, there's little romance at all here. We have unrequired love and unhappy men and women trapped in marriages of convenience. We have servants working long hours for low wages with little personal freedom. (Applying for a position as assistant cook in an elegant household, Louisa learns she will be expected to attend church -- C of E, of course.)

Louisa's spirit triumphs through adversity -- with some help at important moments from her special friends, especially one Lord Hazlemere. She has a knack for making friends with men and she's a gifted administrator.

I'm incredibly fussy -- and I LOVED this series.