Customer Reviews

To the Manor Born: The Complete Collection (Silver Anniversary Edition)

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3 star:		(1)
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This very witty BBC series of the 70s stars Penelope Keith (formerly of The Good Life aka Good Neighbors) and Peter Bowles (many many supporting dramatic roles). When rich from birth Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton (Keith) loses her husband, she learns that he left her completely penniless and is forced to auction off the family manor. The estate gets bought Richard Devere (Bowles) an eccentric millionaire in the food business. Moving into a small cottage on the estate, Audrey with help from her friend Marjorie and her butler spends the next few years doing everything her power to get her ancestral home and place in society back including falling in love with the new "Lord of the Manor". This newly released set includes a newly released "silver anniversary" reunion disc which is also available separately for those of you who (like me) own the earlier released set. Chances are the earlier (blue) set will eventually get discontinued, so like series (plural) like Vicar of Dibley and others that have released revised box sets (years after previous releases of the "complete series"), the deal is this: if you have the old set like me, order the separate copy of the silver anniversary disc, if you don't, then order this set (currently a better price than the older set alone) and you'll get all the discs together.

To the Manor Born is the second best Britcom behind Butterflies. Twenty five years has passed since Audrey and Richard finally tied the knot. This rerelease is the fantastic orignal series plus the new 25th Anniversary Christmas special (which has not been shown in the US!!)

This dvd set contains all 21 episodes from the original 3 series plus the 25th Anniversary hourlong special.

Audrey fforbes-Hamilton's (Penolope Keith) husband has passed away (but she is really not mourning it). He has left her virtually penniless and she must save her family home (which she is mourning). The manor is sold to a self made foreign millionaire, Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles). While Audrey despises everything Richard stands for but there is definite sexual tension between them. With help of best friend Marjorie (Angela Thorne) and Richard's mother, Mrs. Poo (Daphhe Heard), Richard and Audrey will find happiness. The series finale ends with two happy endings (I won't spoil it but it will not surprise you.)

Jump 25 years later, it's the Dever's 25th Wedding Anniversary and Audrey is going to celebrate it in style but it is going to take everyone's effort to save the day and the town.

This is one of the best comedy series ever (British or American). It has witty writing, razor sharp direction and a perfect cast. Penelope Keith has proven to be one of Britan's great comic geniouses (she has had over half a dozen hit comedies.)

Just buy this set and just plan and laugh alot.

If you're a fan of the show then you must have this dvd set. The transfer quality is excellent. I have one suggestion though...for some reason they put the Christmas special at the end of the dvd set and it really should be watched after the first dvd so it is in sequence with the series.

'To the Manor Born' is one of the better Brit-coms, witty and intelligent without being over-the-top or inaccessible. It has an oh-so-British tone to it, deliberately so, as it looks with grace and humour at the clash of cultures in modern Britain, the clash between tradition and modernity (finding out that neither is always what it seems), as well as the clash between social classes. All of this is done in such a light-hearted manor, er, manner, that one scarcely realises the biting and insightful satire that runs alongside the comedic situations.

The series begins as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, a straight-backed, upper-crust woman of breeding who revels in her situation, is celebrating the funeral of her husband (yes, celebrating). Meanwhile, Richard Devere, wealthy (read, nouveau riche) financial officer heading a multinational conglomerate of food stores, arrives in the village in search of a classic gentleman's period home in the English countryside. As Audrey's husband was not one to keep up with the bills, she discovers that she is in fact bankrupt, and is forced to sell the manor. Richard Devere buys it at auction; Audrey is a surprising twist retains the estate's hunting lodge down the road, and the stage is set for the tensions between new homeowner and historical lady of the manor.

Supplementing the main characters are Audrey's best friend Marjorie, who variously has designs on Richard Devere, but these are almost always thwarted; Richard's mother, Mrs. Pu (Poluviska, actually, but the name is reduced for ease by Audrey); Ned, the traditional groundskeeper who helps keep the traditions alive with Audrey; and finally, Brabinger, the quintessential English butler, who relocates to the old lodge with his mistress Audrey, and always has a few suprises up his sleeve.

There are twenty-one episodes in all from the original series 25 years ago, filmed and broadcast over a two-year period in 1979-1981. These run from the start of Audrey's losing the manor through to her regaining the manor, along with the hand of Richard in marriage, but not by the means often expected throughout the series. Throughout the episodes, Audrey is constantly introduced to 'ordinary life', from having to rely on the National Health for her doctor rather than private-pay, personal service, to having difficulties in shopping in supermarkets (Devere's, as it turns out) and not being able to entertain as she once did, or go on holiday (this makes for perhaps the best episode of the lot, save for the first and final episodes). Meanwhile, Devere gets lessons in being lord of the manor by the ever-present Audrey, who counsels him on everything from horse-purchasing to community responsbilities. Despite his wealth, Audrey says, 'he is still at the bottom of it all a grocer.' This is a biting commentary -- the upper-class disdain for the working class is an undercurrent here, and the entitled/en-nobled folk in Parliament used to insult both Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher, who were both children of shopkeepers, by using the term 'grocer' to describe them.

From the threadbare carpets to the when-we-were-in-India knick-knacks to the church clock that never worked properly, this is a wonderfully crafted comedy trip through a slice of British culture that is both past and future. These are not 'issues' episodes -- 'To the Manor Born' educates by stealth. One might be completely unaware of having been taught ways of acting and being. Grantley Manor is a perfect backdrop (shot in a town with the very English-sounding name of Cricket St. Thomas), and the actors are perfectly selected. Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton has the kind of mannerisms and deadpan delivery befitting a displaced socialite; Peter Bowles has the blustering presence as a self-assured businessman flustered in his new environment. Old Ned (played by MIchael Bilton) and Brabinger (John Rudling) are perfected cast in both physical type and acting ability. Angela Thorne as Marjorie Frobisher, the life-long friend of Audrey, always in her shadow, is great as the 'straight man' against whom Audrey's humour unfolds.

Much to the delight of fans, many of the regulars reunited to produce a Silver Anniversary special, which shows the progress after a quarter of a century for Audrey and Richard, neighbour Marjorie Frobisher, and even the same befuddled rector.

There is an earlier DVD release that does not contain the Silver Anniversary special. If you have that packaging already, you only really need to get the separate DVD of the special. If, however, you have yet to purchase this gem (or have it on VHS), you would put a real touch of class into your life by getting this series.

This is a perfect show, certain to win the heart of any Anglophile.

My mom has been watching her personally recorded VHS casettes of this show for 20 years. She said that it is amazing the stuff that she missed. First of all, when the episodes aired in America, evidentally they cut off the very beginning and/or end (teasers, if you will) of the show. By the time you combine all of the new footage, it's like a whole new episode. Then there is the famed grandfather clock. She assumed that it was an English antique. WIth the clarity of DVD she was actually able to see for the first time that it is a beautifully intricate Chinese Clock. And don't forget the anniversary show is in this pack, as well. FANTASTIC! If you ever watched this show, this is the gift for you! Don't miss the interviews. Very fun, and interesting.

Droll British humor at a peak. One-liners a-plenty. The humorous character interaction is quick and "spot-on." And the Silver Anniversary Special (2007) even tops the outstanding 3-year sit-com. 1979-1981.

The barbs and constant badgering of Audrey (Penelope Keith) with grocer magnate and Grantleigh Manor's new owner, Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles) brings on laughs, not smiles. Oh, sure, there are some tender moments, since Richard actually likes Audrey and wants to be a good laird of the manor, but it's the aristocratic bits of verbal bite from Audrey's mouth that makes the series. Another character pairing just as good is that of Audrey and her friend, Marjory (Angela Thorne). That duo is something very like the past, long-running American teamwork of Johnny Carson & Ed McMahon. Like Ed, Marjory gets her own share of pointed remarks expressed, but the air of Audrey seems never to catch them. It's a stretch, but Aubrey could be likened to an Aristocracy-British-Female version of Steve Martin. Constant fast witty jokes.

This series pits the new rich against old wealth. British aristocratic VS Czech/Polish immigrant. Upstart with a desire to "fit in" against 400 years of perfected snobbery. "He's got the money; I've got the breeding." That's conflict that made this great sit-com fun for 3 seasons.

The series is delightful and has the nostalgic flavor of the decade change from 70's to 80's. Even the canned laughter, at first seeming a disturbance when one is used to mostly watching films rather than TV, becomes acceptable. Subtitles would have been a plus, but not really a must, and the anniversary special disc does have that available.

Sharing one of the best barbs from the script is perhaps the best way to recommend this DVD set. After a Grantleigh Manor guest was served a plate of overcooked food, he stated, "Ah, Emmeridge, excellent. My compliments to the blacksmith."

To the Manor Born is highly recommended to viewers who appreciate a true-blue Brit comedy. The humor, wit and fast one-liners are hilarious. Each episode comes across quite believable even if in real life things rarely happen as such. The actors are impecable, true to character and will remain in your thoughts long after you've watched them. This is a priceless English gem, finely cut, shining brightly in all directions and of great value to those who wish to learn and enjoy more of the clash between the classes. The scenery is as lush as the language. One can almost smell the pungent English soil and grass. You'll realize how the country grew from muddy boots! You'll always love this England.

Light hearted look at being a snob. One person being poor but the other being rich with no pedigree in his background.

I have loved this show from the time i first started watching it...and getting to watch all the shows at once has made a very good impression on me..i love British comedys and i love this..well worth the money

Love this series. I saw it years ago (pre VHS or DVD) and told my sister if the technoligy every becomes available, this would be the first series I would buy. I bought the VHS and now the DVD. Funny and fun.