Product Details

• Directors: Simon Cellan Jones, Graham Evans (II), Don Leaver
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: July 6, 2004
• Run Time: 650 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00023BKNQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,144 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "A Fine Romance - The Complete Collection" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From the vaults of British television comes a comedy gem starring two consummate actors who were also a couple in real life: Dame Judi Dench (Iris, Shakespeare in Love) and her husband Michael Williams (Educating Rita). They play a pair of middle-aged, dating-game dropouts as wary of romance as they are perfect for each other.

Laura, a brainy translator, and Mike, a shy landscape gardener, are introduced by Laura’s glamorous younger sister, who is intent on finding a mate for her spinsterish sibling. Awkward and rumpled, Mike drives an old wreck and fails to impress the prickly Laura. Still, Mike senses an opportunity, if only he can find the courage to pursue it. From this unpromising beginning, the pair lurch and swerve their way to companionship, friendship, and, finally, love. This is a fine, funny, and all-too-real romance. Written by Bob Larbey (As Time Goes By).

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE cast and crew biographies and episode selection.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Enjoyable Light, Romantic British Comedy!, December 11, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: A Fine Romance - The Complete Collection (DVD)

Those who are familiar with As Time Goes By will already be familiar with the writing of Bob Larbey, who also wrote A Fine Romance, and those who've enjoyed As Time Goes By will almost certainly enjoy 1980's A Fine Romance. Though not so well known, this light romantic comedy about two mismatched 40-something lonely hearts bears all the hallmarks of Larbey's classic and engaging style of writing.

Briefly, Dame Judi Dench (As Time Goes By's Jean Pargetter) stars as Laura Dalton, a highly competent albeit somewhat shy, nervous and highly-strung translator with a tall, pretty, charming and very happily married younger sister named Helen, who only wants to see Laura as happy as she is. Helen and her husband Phil decide to team Laura up with Phil's friend Mike Selway, but it's a match made more out of desperation than a belief that the pair would be suitable companions. Mike (the late Michael Williams, Dame Judi's real-life husband of 30 years who died of cancer in 2001), is a shy, laid-back but very nervous, unkempt, disorganised, and socially-inept landscape gardener. He also has very little in common with Laura with respect to their likes and dislikes. The humour in the series is gentle, and it gets its "spark" from the tension engendered by the pairing of this seemingly unlikely couple.

The set contains the all twenty-six 25-minute episodes of this sweet, charming, relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable series, which I highly recommend to fans of As Time Goes By. Personally, although I did have a slight preference for As Time Goes By when I first saw A Fine Romance, I have found that following a second viewing of the latter series, I now enjoy it every bit as much as As Time Goes By. Both are absolutely delightful series that are a joy to curl up watch time and time again.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you love "As Time Goes By"?, August 26, 2005

By 

Darlene "Darlene" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fine Romance - The Complete Collection (DVD)

Then you MUST buy this complete series. It is different, but wonderful. Dame Judi and Bob Larbey (the author of both this and "As Time Goes By") shine. Judi Dench plays opposite her now deceased husband, Michael Williams, and they are a real treat. Playing a middle-aged couple who miss as often as they click, they show, through real acting skills, what this crazy thing called love is.
I bought this, not having heard a word, or seen a bit. Because I so enjoyed "As Time Goes By". I sat down with my mom and we laughed and cried and just loved it.
DO NOT hestitate-for this cannot be available much longer-it is over 20 years old. Just go for it...you won't be sorry.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Finest of Sitcoms!, January 8, 2007

By 

Lizz (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fine Romance - The Complete Collection (DVD)

"A Fine Romance" brings together the witty writing of Bob Larbey with the engaging comic delivery of Michael Williams and Judi Dench. The unfathomable attraction of this unlikely and very awkward couple is conveyed convincingly through the physical comedy, the sharp and seamless delivery of lines and a brilliant sense of timing. We roll in our seats as they throw buckets of water at each other, cower before the dentist and deliver a brilliant dinner party which neither could attend! As viewers we long for them to get it right at the same time as we revel in all they do hilariously wrong. While this sitcom was created in the early '80s it continues to capture and represent the struggles that all couples face as they embark on a relationship, taken of course to the comic extreme! Dench and Williams breath new life into the sitcom genre, both coming from strong theatrical backgrounds, their sense of dramatic engagement is at times unexpected but always incredibly fun.