Customer Reviews

House of Eliott - Series Three

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

 

 

On viewing Series 3, I was struck by how well the producers targeted all three series to the late 20th-century-middle-class-working-woman-viewer. The House of Elliott is all about work problems: Establishing a career with insufficient formal credentials, working in a man's world, finding out who you can trust in business, working with people you dislike who are nonetheless valuable contributors to the business, supervising people who dislike each other, being hit on by male coworkers and business associates, juggling your demanding career with the often conflicting demands of a husband's or boyfriend's, juggling motherhood and work, and dealing creatively with work emergencies. In Series 3, lower-class working conditions, and socialism as a potential solution, are major new themes.

There is also more emphasis on the demands of motherhood (Bea and Tilly have babies) and on previously minor characters, especially on the home lives of House of Elliott employees. The pace is frenetic compared to the first two series, with lots of multiple plot lines and quick shifts back and forth between them, unnecessarily dramatic camera angles, dropped situations, and overall too much going on. All the characters make major life and in some cases personality shifts. Tilly becomes clinically depressed. Bea's new boyfriend Daniel rapidly evolves from an arrogant, callous, resentful, self-centered, exploitative jerk (he's even a gigolo) to a sensitive, caring guy who makes major sacrifices for Evie. Evie's rejected boyfriend Miles apparently turns from being a sweet, caring, sensitive, generous guy to a shark trying to take over the House of Elliott. Is this really a science fiction series where their brains got swapped in the night?

Every single one of the plots ends up as a cliffhanger. Will Tilly and Norm become employed again? Will Agnes leave the House of Elliott to become a full-time music hall singer? Will Jack succeed in his new career as a socialist politician, and will Bea be able to cope with being a politician's wife? Will Donald be happy with all the sacrifices he has made for Bea? Will Miles end up running the House of Elliott? And many more . . . but most of all, will the new rift between Bea and Evie (who throughout this show have always been closer to each other than to any husband or boyfriend) ever heal?

Stay tuned for Series 4: Except, as far as I can tell, there wasn't one. Nonetheless, fans of Series 1 and 2 will certainly want to watch Series 3.

Oh, and the clothes are great.

This is a beautiful series and I would continue to buy any sequels that come out. It's worth owning just to look at all of the beautiful costumes and is a must for anyone who loves fashion. Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard are every bit as gorgeous, charming and utterly feminine as they were in series one and two. What a wonderful escape to watch these two lovely sisters evolve and grow in their respective lives. Contary to what I read in some of the other reviews, I had no sound problems at all with the set that I bought and considered both sound and visuals to be first rate. At the conclusion, matters are left unresolved and I don't think there is a series four. But there is a book and a book-on-tape (narrated by Stella Gonet who played Bea) entitled "A House at War" by Elizabeth O'Leary. There are some inconsistencies in it, but it is worth reading or listening to and it brings a sense of closure to "The House of Eliott."

I will assume anyone interested in this series of The House of Eliott has seen the other two. If you haven't, skip this for now and watch the first two series. You won't know anything about the characters or their lives if you don't.

OK, since you've seen the first two, I'll say that in this one, the Eliotts encounter more trouble with double-dealing men (and a woman this time) as they enter the ready-to wear market,Evie falls in love (again) but at least this time the man is suitable, not married, and a good guy, Bea and Jack get back together (and Bea has a baby), Jack (improbably) enters politics, and Tillie has problems with her pregancy.

Actually, the series is quite good, with people you care about, and really gorgeous fashions. My main problem is that this series has only 10 (not 12) episodes, and ends with major cliffhangers and unresolved plot points galore. I understand that the series wasn't renewed, and this may have been a ploy to get it renewed (fans couldn't let that much remain hanging, could they?), but it didn't work. So enjoy, but be warned, there is no ending! (At least the first two series had something resembling an ending; this one doesn't.)

In response to a previous reviewer, I should also state that I had no trouble at all with the sound (in fact, I had to put the volume down).

When this series popped up under "my recommendations" on my Amazon.com home page, I nearly fell out of my chair. I taped every episode of the series when it aired on A & E 15 years ago (hard to believe) when I was in Junior High! Being unable to find the series in its entirety, I contacted the BBC in London for information on whether it was ever expected to be released as a box set, but received word that there were no plans to release it. So I resorted to buying a DVD dubber and transfering all of the episodes to DVD myself. Kudos to Amazon.com for bringing the remaing episodes of this wonderful series to everyone as soon as it is released! Even though I have all of the episodes, I have purchased all 3 series and am excited about the prospect of viewing the episodes without all of those cheesy commercials that I taped with the episodes.

This series is just fun to watch. The costumes and sets are beautiful, and the actors perfectly inhabit their roles until they become as familiar as friends. Definitely a favorite that I will continue to enjoy for years to come.

This is the 3rd installment by Acorn Media of the "House of Eliott". I bought series 1 and 2 in this format from Amazon too and gave them 5 stars. They were great quality. Unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong with the transfer to DVD this time - namely the sound. Throughout most of the episodes it oscillates from loud to quiet every couple of minutes (within the same scene), making constant adjustments of the volume necessary. The picture quality is good however with colour balance and sharpness up to standard.

It is a shame that this seems to be the only DVD version of series 3 available so far. Because of that, I recommend buying this product anyway and putting up with the sound, because the series itself is brilliant. "The House of Eliott" is a must for anyone who loves BBC period dramas. It is made with the same attention to detail and brilliant storylines as "Upstairs Downstairs".

As far as extras go, there isn't anything here that wasn't on the previous sets - a scene index and cast filmography. I suppose that is partly because this was filmed before things like DVD "bonus features" existed. But in short, I say buy it and enjoy it, and try to relax about the sound issues.

I loved the first two series, but the third is very different. For a story about a fashion house, there is strangely little about fashion in this series. There is far too much about Jack's failed directing career, Jack's failed journalism career and Jack's political career. There are a few good little subplots about Tilly, Agnes, and the others from the workroom that I actually enjoyed more than the plots regarding Evie and Beatrice, which seemed to be retreads from the first two series. The grand finale of the showing of the latest collection was a big letdown compared to the other series.

The production values for this series were also noticably lower, especially the sound. Be prepared to keep your hand on the remote to make frequent adjustments and do rewinds a few times to hear the lower-volume conversations.

Series 3 continues the long tradition of House of Elliot- 2 sisters who struggle to set aside their differences and run a fashion house. In this season the big challenges are Bea's pregnancy, Evie's growing selfishness and relationship with her struggling artist boyfriend. Jack enters politics, and the family become embroiled in a scandal which threatens all of their careers.

Personally, while I enjoyed season 3 I found the interludes with Jack and the labor party boring. I found myself tired of Jack's character, and his on-again-off-again relationship with Bea. Evie's bf starts off as being a jerk and grows on you by the end of the season. I actually liked Miles, the artist who Evie spurned, and honestly think he was a better fit for Evie.

Overall, a fun exciting series, but some of the subplots got away with them I think. Also, since there is yet to be a season 4 I have no idea what will happen to characters such as Tillie, Jack, Bea and Miles.

This is the best story. I love it. I search for years for the ending and they finial came out with it. If you love to sew as I do, love fashion and histroy you will love this story.

Ever since I first saw House of Eliott on PBS I loved it, but only saw the first two series. Now after so much anticipation and expectation, I'm left disappointed. I was glad the series tried to branch out and look into the private lives of the staff (a la "Upstairs/Downstairs"), but not all of the workers' story lines gelled and many felt flat (singing careers and illegal fight clubs). Some did work (working mothers, adultery,censorship). It seems they were put there just to give them something to do other than make clothes. Speaking of clothes, you hardly saw any fashion shows. All that build up and you probably saw one model and one outfit, even though there were racks of clothes backstage. I thought this was a show about fashion and working women in the 20s, but instead I get more of Jack than the Eliott sisters, too many unnecessary characters, false start story lines and not enough fashion. Now I can see why there wasn't a fourth series.

Enjoyed watching this very much and hope there will be more of them.