Product Details

• Actors: Peter Bowles, Bryan Murray, Anna Manahan, Brendan Conroy, Lise Ann McLaughlin
• Directors: Robert Chetwyn
• Writers: Edith Somerville, Martin Ross, Rosemary Anne Sisson
• Producers: Adrian Hughes, Barry Blackmore, James Mitchell
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 6
• Studio: Acorn Media
• VHS Release Date: September 11, 1999
• Run Time: 325 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1569382409
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,170 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #42 in	Video > Boxed Sets > Comedy
  #89 in	Video > Television > Miniseries

• This is item 1 in The Irish R.M. Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Things are different in Ireland." So learns Major Sinclair Yeates, "a fine gentleman from England," who resigns from the military to take a post in rural 1897 Ireland as the Resident Magistrate. Peter Bowles, one of PBS's most valuable players (Rumpole of the Bailey, To the Manor Born) stars in the first series of The Irish R.M., six of Masterpiece Theatre's finest hours. Based on the book by Somerville and Ross, The Irish R.M. is a fish-out-of-water comedy. Think Green Acres and Northern Exposure, only, you know, much more classy. Bowles is pitch-perfect as the well-meaning, but initially confounded Yeates, who finds himself presiding over "improbable" cases. Together with his incredibly tolerant wife, Philippa (Doran Godwin), Yeates finds himself at home among (and frequently at the mercy of) a gallery of eccentric characters, including his formidable housekeeper, Mrs. Cadogan (Beryl Reid), his Puckish landlord, Flurry (Bryan Murray), and Flurry's indomitable grandmother, Lady Knox (Faith Brook). As one character remarks, "It's all devilishly funny, no doubt." --Donald Liebenson

From the Back Cover

"A delicious sense of comedy and play." - The New York Daily News. Peter Bowles (Rumpole of the Bailey, To the Manor Born) stars in this dramatic comedy series about a retired English army officer who is appointed Resident Magistrate for the West of Ireland in the days before Irish independence. Living in a ramshackle country house surrounded by the community's eccentric inhabitants, Major Sinclair Yeates is confronted with the characteristic blend of curious affection and mutual misunderstanding that exists between the Irish and their English neighbors. Yeates must struggle to be accepted into his new community, while trying to come to terms with the demands and compromises of his new position. Set at the turn of the 19th century, this sought-after classic series from PBS' Masterpiece Theatre was shot entirely on location in the Irish countryside. The Irish R.M. also stars Bryan Murray, Doran Godwin, Faith Brook, Lise-Ann McLaughlin, Anna Manahan and Brendan Conroy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoroughly Charming & Delightful British Comedy-Drama, October 24, 2001

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

Those who enjoy Peter Bowles' roles in the ever-popular Rumpole of the Bailey and To the Manor Born will surely enjoy his role in this lovely series set in Ireland of the late 19th century. Bowles stars as Major Sinclair Yates, a retired English army officer who accepts a position in Ireland as a Resident Magistrate. His role here is reminiscent of Guthrie Featherstone in the Rumpole series, although Yates is a more multi-dimensional character, and his ineptness is due largely to an unfamiliarity with the customs and ways of life of the Irish.

Major Yates is joined by his fiancee/wife, Philippa, who is extremely tolerant both of life in a foreign country and of the comical predicaments in which the Major finds himself. Then there are the servants at Shrilane, the Yateses' less-than-pristine country home: Mrs. Cadogan is the no-nonsense (albeit highly humourous) housekeeper, whose every sentence is laden with the most elaborate of metaphors; Peter, Mrs. Cadogan's simple-minded nephew, is the stable lad; and finally Julia and the inept Bridgit are the two maids.

The real show-stealer in this series is the Major's new landlord, Flurry Knox (Bryan Murray), a clever, quick-witted and jovial young man who constantly rides the finest line between legality and illegality. Flurry is joined by his able albeit permanently inebriated cohort Slipper, played superbly by Niall Toibin (Ballykissangel's Father Macanally). The cast is rounded out by Mrs. Knox, Flurry's strong-willed and eccentric grandmother; Lady Knox, Flurry's pompous aunt; and Sally, Lady Knox's beautiful daughter.

This boxed set contains six 50-minute episodes. The series (at least thus far) is certainly more comedy than drama, and the episodes more often than not involve the Major ending up in an embarrassing and/or compromising situation (usually thanks to Flurry) from which he must somehow extricate himself--with his honour intact, if possible.

In conclusion, this is a warm and thoroughly charming series set in an Ireland that has long since disappeared. Like Ballykissangel, the humour is gentle and suitable for the enjoyment of the entire family. The only thing that takes a little getting used to are the Irish accents, for they are (unlike Ballykissangel) as thick as treacle. But it is well worth the effort, as this really is a most enjoyable series. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys good British comedy-drama.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IRISH R.M. is ADDICTIVE!, September 19, 1999

By	Judy H. Roberts "Ol' Judy Ro'." (Sedona, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THE IRISH R.M. has hit the top of my personal charts, and I can't stop re- and re-rewatching each show. With an hysterical story line, a brilliant script, fine directing, and best of all an INCREDIBLE cast, it is a treasure. The stand-out, of course, is Bryan Murray as the irrepressible Flurry Knox. And the question is: where has the film industry been hiding this glorious, brilliant and immesurably talented actor? He is a wonderful foil for veteran Peter Bowles; incredibly funny; and blessed with a never-ending collection of facial expressions that speak as elloquently as a Shakespearean sonnet. An Adonis-leprecaun, he lightly plucks scene after scene from his formidable fellow-actors as easily as if he were blowing dandelion seeds across a summer lawn. The acompanying music score transforms these exchanges into a celebration dance, saluting the wonderful complexities that have made Ireland a country that is the twinkle in the eye of Europe.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and high jinks in late-Nineteenth Century Ireland., December 14, 1999

By	Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Major Sinclair Yeates (Peter Bowles) leaves the army and becomes a Resident Magistrate in late-Nineteenth Century Ireland. There he encounters a people so foreign to his way of thinking that he often finds himself befuddled and hopelessly confused. Surrounding him are such people as the formidable Mrs. Cadogan (pronounced "Cayder-gorn"), the forceful and self-confident Mrs. Knox, and the leprechaun-like Flurry Knox. Major Yeates, though outmaneuvered and outthought by Flurry at almost every point, comes to appreciate the people he now lives amongst, and their charming culture.

The stories in this series (there are 5, one-hour tapes with one show per tape) are expertly done, and the cast is masterful at their parts. Indeed, Bryan Murray (who plays Flurry) steals the show as if he were born to the part. This show is great for family viewing containing nothing objectionable. Indeed, my two small children have developed a dance that they perform whenever the opening music begins!

This show is great if you like British humor, period drama, family entertainment, et cetera, ad infinitum!