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Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $29.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The British get it right yet again!
Review: Simply terrific! If you enjoy this, try "The Grand", also wonderful and my all time favorite, "Brideshead Revisited". I just received Berkeley Square and after watching it, I can't wait for the next in the series (yes, there is talk of a second part to help with all of those unaswered questions at the end).

I worked as a nanny in London in 1981...my how things have changed...and yet, there were still similarities. This was a joy to watch!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nannies Rule!
Review: The best upstairs/downstairs drama imaginable! Finely drawn characters and expertly woven plots make this series an absolute treasure for lovers of this genre! Though the last episode leaves open the possibility for more, the storylines result in a satisfying culmination.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Addictive--I loved it!
Review: This is a really entertaining series for anyone who loves British costume dramas and period movies. The characters were all entertaining whether you liked them or not. Lydia's naivety was cringe worthy throughout much of the story, Matty was a bit abraisive, Hannah was willfully making selfish and bad choices, yet you love them all. But ultimately, for me, this is a story of Matty and Ned. A lot of their scenes together were mesmerizing. Really great drama.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Soapy, soapy, Victorian soap opera
Review: This miniseries, comprised of ten 1-hour episodes, takes place in Victorian England during 1902. Three nannies from different backgrounds meet and help each other through adventures and travails in London's upper-crust Berkeley Square.
While the costumes and setting were interesting, the plot line was pure soap opera. The various characters' moral decisions and plot lines by no means accurately reflect the end of the Victorian era. The series starts out somewhat slowly, but completely jumps the shark in the implausible sixth episode "When the Bough Breaks".
If no new Masterpiece Theatre series will be airing for awhile, this series could be one to check out, but there are so many other series on DVD & tape that are better. BBC's The Duchess of Duke Street series with the marvelous Gemma Jones is one. BBC's 1976 Pride and Prejudice, A&E's Vanity Fair, and Masterpiece Theatre's The Cazalets are others.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Soapy, soapy, Victorian soap opera
Review: This miniseries, comprised of ten 1-hour episodes, takes place in Victorian England during 1902. Three nannies from different backgrounds meet and help each other through adventures and travails in London's upper-crust Berkeley Square.
While the costumes and setting were interesting, the plot line was pure soap opera. The various characters' moral decisions and plot lines by no means accurately reflect the end of the Victorian era. The series starts out somewhat slowly, but completely jumps the shark in the implausible sixth episode "When the Bough Breaks".
If no new Masterpiece Theatre series will be airing for awhile, this series could be one to check out, but there are so many other series on DVD & tape that are better. BBC's The Duchess of Duke Street series with the marvelous Gemma Jones is one. BBC's 1976 Pride and Prejudice, A&E's Vanity Fair, and Masterpiece Theatre's The Cazalets are others.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An addicting series
Review: This series far exceeded my expectations, and once I started to watch the series I could not stop untill I had watched it in its entirety. I wanted more and more, why are there not any more to this wonderful series?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An addicting series
Review: This series far exceeded my expectations, and once I started to watch the series I could not stop untill I had watched it in its entirety. I wanted more and more, why are there not any more to this wonderful series?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best British drama since Upstairs Downstairs
Review: This was recommended to me by Amazon, but I already saw it on PBS, so I won't buy it. But I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who loved Upstairs Downstairs in particular and other BBC shows in general. I was glued to the TV for several weeks waiting to find out what would happen--if you buy this set you'll be able to watch it all at once--lucky you. I guarantee you will not be able to stop and will sit through the whole thing at once. Wonderful characters, acting. Great writing. Excruciating class conflict presented realistically. One cavil--apparently some episodes were dropped, so you may find some plot threads unresolved. You'll still love it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Impossible to forget
Review: Weeks after watching this series, it has stayed with me. In particular, the scene with Mattie and Ned on the rooftop captured my heart. These two actors show so much feeling with just the slightest change in expression. In fact, the entire cast did a superb job! Highly recommended, it rates with "Anne of Green Gables" and "Wives and Daughters".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ATTENTION, BBC...PLEASE CONTINUE THIS SERIES!
Review: What a great series! I had never before seen it on television and, loving period pieces as I do, decided to make the purchase. It was worth every penny! My sister, who also loves period pieces, came over. Together, we hunkered down and proceeded to watch the entire series in one sitting, all eight and a half hours of it. We were positively riveted to the screen, so engrossing and well acted is the series.

The series centers around three young women, Mattie, Lydia, and Hannah, brought by fate to posh Berkley Square in turn of the twentieth century London. All three work in households where they are employed as nannies. All three meet and become fast friends.

Mattie is a an experienced nanny, who was brought up in the tough East End of London and, consequently, is firmly capable of holding her own. She works for a family that is on the unpleasant side with two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is a positive little beast, and the household is run by a crafty and cunning housekeeper. Mattie's benign and pleasant, baby faced countenance, however, belies a will of iron. She most certainly can take care of herself and hold her own with this motley crew.

Lydia, the fresh faced and naive country girl, works for a wonderful family, as assistant to a nanny who is like an old family retainer. She watches over the baby, the first child of her employer's second wife, who is an American with modern, egalitarian views. The only blight on her existence, is the grown, handsome son from her employer's first marriage.

Hannah has a more unusual history, as she is an unwed mother. She worked as a lady's maid for one of Yorkshire's first families. A love affair with her employer's handsome, only son leads to the birth of their illegitimate son. When her child's father unexpectedly dies, she and her child are forced to flee Yorkshire. She ends up in London, where a chance meeting with Lydia finds her accepting employment in a household in Berkley square, working with the nanny from hell.

The series revolves around their experiences and that of the families for whom they work. Over time, the threads of their lives are woven in such a way that they make for an intriguing tapestry of events. Very well acted, with engaging performances by all, and first rate production values, this is a series well worth having in one's collection and is recommended to all who love a well made, period piece.


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