Product Details

• Actors: Geraldine McEwan, Prunella Scales, Nigel Hawthorne, Denis Lill, Mary MacLeod
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 5
• Studio: Acorn Media
• VHS Release Date: September 11, 1999
• Run Time: 600 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304178166
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,343 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Based on E.F. Benson's stories, this beloved 1986 British miniseries makes its long-awaited DVD debut in a two-disc set that contains all five episodes from the first season. The incomparable Prunella Scales (best-loved as dragon lady Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers) and Geraldine McEwan star as Mapp and the recently widowed Lucia, who has come to the provincial English village Tilling-on-Sea. Lucia rents a house from Mapp for the summer. Almost immediately, the battle lines are drawn between these two formidable adversaries, who vie for control of Tilling society. Mapp and Lucia plot and counterplot against each other with such unconventional weapons as a conflicted gardener and a disputed lobster recipe. Adding to the fun is a gallery of eccentric characters, including Georgie (Oscar® winner Nigel Hawthorne), Lucia's fey confidante and co-conspirator, as well as the local minister, who insists on speaking with a Scottish accent, and Irene, a pipe-smoking artist who paints pictures of lady wrestlers. For those who have yet to make their acquaintance, Mapp and Lucia is a dishy delight. --Donald Liebenson

From the Back Cover

"Mapp & Lucia is positively delicious" - The New York Times "Prunella Scales is perfect as Miss Mapp" - Vogue The village of Tilling-on-Sea in the late 1920s is the setting for E.F. Benson's delightfully comic tales of provincial English society. Miss Mapp traditionally holds court over Tilling's social life - with schemes of low cunning and the help of a well-placed bay window - until the day Lucia moves to town. Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers), Geraldine McEwan (Barchester Chronicles) and Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George) star in this adaptation of E.F. Benson's classic novel, not seen by American audiences in over a decade.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best British comedies ever, May 3, 2003

By 

Bill (Seattle, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mapp & Lucia: Series 1 (DVD)

I'm a fan of the E.F. Benson books that form the basis for this series. The highlight of my trip to England a few years ago was visiting the charming town of Rye (called Tilling in the Lucia books), where Benson lived and this series was filmed. But I must say that I like the TV production, thanks to the inspired comic performances, even more than the books.

In particular, Geraldine McEwan (also in Barchester Chronicles) is exquisite. Her little comic mannerisms are absolutely hilarious, and she makes the character endearing in a way that I never thought possible. Again, "inspired" is the only appropriate word.

The same with the much-missed Nigel Hawthorne's Georgie. Absolutely perfect casting. And Prunella Scales (of Fawlty Towers fame) bites into her less-sympathetic role of Mapp and does not let go until she wrings every last laugh from it. As is particularly true for British series, the supporting cast is also excellent at bringing their own eccentric characters to life in just a few brushstrokes.

I was very much looking forward to the Mapp and Lucia DVD, because I had not seen this series since it was televised in the mid-1980s. I'm happy to say that the DVD quality is excellent, and my opinion of the series has only elevated through time. Many British comedies have come and gone in the years since Mapp and Lucia, but it remains the most delightful, in my book.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the series is highly addictive, so after enjoying this one you'll likely want to immediately buy the second series, also available on DVD.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cattiness was never more genteel, December 29, 2001

By 

Gwen Kramer "gwenhwyvar" (Sunny and not-so-sunny California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mapp & Lucia, Set 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Just a word of warning for new M&L viewers: the comedy from this series depends on the extremely eccentric cast of characters rather than pratfalls and such. As a result, a whole episode can be a set up for one very funny puchline but there are a lot of subtle jabs in between. If this sounds good to you, read on!

I have never read the book on which this series is based so I have no comment on how good the adaptation is. All I can say is I know good British humor when I see it.

Lucia is an elegant, controlling, eccentric widow who moves into the small town of Tilling. The queen of Tilling is Mapp, a dowdy spinster who keeps control of the populace through manipulation. At first, all is sweetness between the ladies and then more and more venom creeps into their actions. Before long, it is a deliciously civilized social war.

Other amusing characters include Georgie, Lucia's effeminate best friend/suitor; Quaint Irene, a zany modern artist who dresses like a boy; Diva, a silly woman who jumps sides depending on who is winning; the Wises, Mrs. Wise wears a fur coat in the middle of summer; and Major Benjy, Mapp's suitor, a military man who shouts in Hindi and is often drunk.

I found the first tape in the set to be rather dull but things picked up near the end of the second tape and by the third, I was hooked. I suggest watching the whole set before making a judgement.

One last note, I don't know who designed the costumes but they deserve an award of some sort. Each character is dressed perfectly for their personality.

Any fans of the comedy/drama (dramedy?) will find these shows to be a delight. (If you can afford it, buy both sets at once, you will be hungry for more after this)

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the high tradition of British comedy, May 11, 1999

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mapp & Lucia, Set 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

American sit-com actors should be forced to watch this series to see how highly trained actors can be funny without being cardboard and predictable. We all know people like Mapp and Lucia, although people like Georgie are a little harder to come by. Of course social pretensions are meat and potatoes to British satirists: "Keeping Up Appearances" being the best example. But keep your eye on the sheer brilliance of the techniques of this cast, right down to the smallest roles. The little town in which this takes place is inhabited by utterly believable beings and the things they do are equally believable. Well, perhaps floating out to sea on a kitchen table during a flood is an exception, but the reactions of the townsfolk are exactly what flawed mortals would display under similar circumstances. This set is a real right-on winner: what I have to call a Grabbit. (And yet I found some who find such sophisticated comedy not to their taste. Well, I never!) Note: the second series somehow does not quite live up to the standards set by this one but is still lightyears more stylish than anything on commercial primetime.