Product Details

• Actors: John Alderton, Pauline Collins, James Berwick, Kenneth Benda
• Directors: Bill Turner
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Acorn Media
• VHS Release Date: February 15, 2000
• Run Time: 175 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1569383227
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,928 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Anglophiles and Britcom aficionados will welcome the video of this delightful 1974 series based on the books by Charlotte Bingham. Happily, the sparkling dialogue and engaging characters wear much better than the actors' horribly dated '70s wardrobes. John Alderton and his real-life wife, Pauline Collins, star as C.D. and Clara, the George Burns and Gracie Allen of Hampstead, right down to the "Say goodnight, Clara" that closes each episode.

This boxed set contains the first seven episodes of the series. Episode 1 sets the stage as C.D. and Clara, who have been married, Clara notes, "nearly 10 years next Thursday a week on Monday," recall how they met at "Freddie's awful party." Framed by the couple's light banter, each of these episodes flashback chronologically to their often comically confused courtship and marriage. Oddly enough, we do not see them joined in (again, Clara's words) "holy deadlock," but instead join C.D. and Clara as they embark on their honeymoon and endeavor to keep their newly married status a secret (why they keep it a secret is a bit unclear) by pretending to be a boring, frustrated long-married couple.

"Life with Clara," C.D. observes at one point, "is not a bowl of cherries, it's a dish of blouse buttons." And in less expert hands, Clara could get tiresome quickly ("I tend to get things rather muddled," she confesses early on), but Pauline Collins (perhaps best known for her signature role as Shirley Valentine) plays her with a mischievous twinkle that make her leaps of illogic endearing. She particularly shines in episode 4, in which she resists C.D.'s efforts to make her dress more fashionably than like "the remnant of a disbanded folk group." --Donald Liebenson

From the Back Cover

"A lovely blend of wit and soft insight that rings true." - Los Angeles Times From the treasure trove of British comedy classics, comes this hilarious sitcom about the unlikely romance between Charles and Clara - a struggling young actor and a guileless debutante. Starring popular British acting duo Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine, Upstairs, Downstairs) and John Alderton (Upstairs, Downstairs, My Wife Next Door), each riotous episode opens with the now married Charles and Clara looking back fondly on their early days through a series of hysterical flashbacks. From the moment the two meet, social worlds collide, football teams enter into the fray, high cuisine is put to the test and, oh yes, they fall madly in love.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real treat from two comedic superstars, March 19, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: No, Honestly - Set 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Since Mr. Liebenson's in-house review says much of what Iplanned to say, I thought I might expand on some of the details. Thereference to Burns and Allen is very apt but with a difference. Burns' timing to Gracie's inanities is slow, letting the audience have their laugh at her line before laughing at his reaction. With this Alderton and Collins, the delivery is rapid-fire; and indeed there are times when I had to ask my wife, "Did you catch that last remark?" because some of the zingers went by too quickly. And of course, those based on British idioms need footnotes for us Colonials.

As with Hyacinth Bucket's family relations, Clara's loopiness is obviously inherited from her parents, who will insist on misinterpreting everything they are told. Into this menage, Royal the super-Jeeves butler fits in perfectly.

The concept of chronological plots in these seven episodes is a good one from their first chance meeting to their (well, it was only 1974!) off-camera wedding night. And, by the way, their reason for not wanting to be known as newlyweds is explained--and fairly logically too, for Clara!--at the start of the episode.

The funniest two of the seven are those based on mistaken identity, that hoary device that goes back to Terence. The 3rd episode has C.D. arrive at his future in-laws just in time to be mistaken for the plumber with predictable results. The 5th episode is more elaborate, when an orphaned C.D. asks two fellow actors to appear as his parents at a dinner given at Clara's, just when her family has to hire temporary help to serve it. Once we accept the silliness of his not wanting to be known as parentless and the premise that no one in these scripts ever really tries to explain a thing in a normal manner, the results are not predictable at all; and this single episode alone is, I think, worth the price of the set.

Now if Acorn Media will only reissue these two wonderful comedians in the "Wodehouse Playhouse" series of "Mulliner" stories, life would be that much more perfect.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, delightful, witty -- British humor at its best!, June 5, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No, Honestly - Set 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

No, Honestly is a wonderfully funny British comedy showcasing the comedic talents of Pauline Collins and John Alderton as two young people who meet, fall in love, and eventually marry. The viewer is presented with a tour-de-force of wit and hilarity, as we see Charles (John Alderton), a struggling young actor and Clara (Pauline Collins) a kind of British Gracie Allen, look back fondly on their early days together through comical flashbacks that include football teams, parties, parents, friends, and the sometimes bewildering process of falling truly, madly, unexpectedly in love. No, Honestly will prove a delightful and very popular addition to any community library video entertainment collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and delightful, February 4, 2000

By 

D. Marshall (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No, Honestly - Set 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

She was Sarah, the difficult maid, on "Upstairs, Downstairs"; he was the chauffeur. Married in real life, they portray a courting couple from disparate backgrounds who have charmingly wacky conversations and misunderstandings in the manner of George Burns and Gracie Allen. The comedy is low-key and witty, with plays on words often leading the way. Shown on some US PBS stations many years ago, this will appeal to lovers of British comedy and Brit humor.