Rating: 
Summary: Au Resevoir!! And come out battling!
Review: Mapp and Lucia was the well-mannered but determined combatants of Tilling-on-the-Sea and at stake is nothing less than to crown of Queen Bee of TOTS! Mapp has rules the tiny hamlet with an iron fist as lady of the village and has everyone dancing to her tune, until Lucia enters the pictures. Lucia has come to summer in Tilling-in-the-Sea. Mapp has rented out her less than humble abode to Lucia, but still wants to hold control of the house and the village. Lucia, however, sees as this as her chance to bring class to the tiny village of eccentrics. A battle to the death - literally - well, almost.
It's based on E.F. Benson's stories and is loving brought to life under the talented performance of Prunella Scales (Mrs. Fawlty in Fawtly Towers) as Lucia and Geraldine McEwan star as Mapp.
It's Brit Com at it's very best.
Rating:
Summary: Delightfully Delicious!
Review: Set in 1930 in the English Cotswolds, this 1984 production (which is presented on two boxed sets with five 50-minute episodes per set) is a slightly quirky British drawing-room comedy revolving around two domineering women, both used to being "top dog" in their respective communities, who end up residing in the same small village of Tilling. Miss Elizabeth Mapp is the current resident, whose position at the centre of her small society is threatened by the flash, air-assuming newcomer, Mrs. Emily Lucas ("Lucia", as she prefers to be called). Geraldine McEwan (Mulberry, Barchester Chronicles) is impeccably cast as the wealthy, elegant, widow Lucia, a woman with a strong personality and a flair for the dramatic. Her vocabulary is peppered with the Italian, a language in which she is only too happy to let others think she is fluent. She provides (at least initially) a little spice, excitement, and mystique for the villagers in humdrum Tilling. But she is also a woman who knows well how to get what she wants, and her grace, smiles, and impeccable manners belie a shrewd and cunning mind. Mapp (Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales) is a somewhat dowdy, unwealthy spinster, not to mention an insufferable busybody. So it is no wonder she is less than thrilled that Lucia, having decided to leave her home in Riseholme for pastures new, has set her sights on Mapp's terrain. But Mapp, though lacking Lucia's elegance, wealth, and marital status, is not willing to relinquish her position without a fight. Watching the episodes (which are serial in nature) is a bit like watching a game of chess between unequals. In essence, each woman, with an abundance of outward grace and politeness, seeks to establish (or reassert) her position by bringing the other down a peg or two. Lucia is clearly cleverer and at times seems to toy with Mapp as a cat does with a mouse. But Mapp is nothing if not determined and we wonder is she will, after all, succeed in toppling the grand Lucia. As for a few of the other characters: Lucia is joined by her devoted friend Georgie (Yes (Prime) Minister's Nigel Hawthorne), a rather effeminate, toupee-sporting chap who enjoys painting and petit point. She is also adored by Quaint Irene, a trouser-wearing, cigar-smoking, eccentric local artist who doesn't hesitate to speak her mind and thoroughly enjoys watching the sparring match between Mapp and Lucia. There's also the gruff, masculine, and perennially intoxicated Major Benjy, whose habit of summoning servants with a bellowing "quay-hi" does not endear him to them. Mapp's closest friend is a dowdy and rather timid woman named Diva, to whom Mapp is less than kind at times. In conclusion, albeit a tad quirky at times (like the time the two rivals get swept out to sea on the kitchen table!), I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a delightful, relaxing, and gently humorous drawing-room comedy. It is dialogue-based (as opposed to physical) comedy. In other words, if you're looking for pratfalls, action, hard laughs, or a fast-paced, in-your-face comedy, then you'd best look elsewhere. The pace here is leisurely, the dialogue is deliciously witty and intelligent, and the humour wonderfully subtle, with often as much conveyed through body language--be it the raising of an eyebrow, the sharp intake of breath, or the tensing of a muscle--as through words itself.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly Perfect
Review: The reviewer who reported audio problems may be either very unlucky or perhaps have player problems. After suffering through the wretched audio on the VHS version, the generally excellent sound was a welcome relief, with only the credit music needing a bit of improvement. There were no video problems, either. "Mapp and Lucia" is a superbly done comedy of manners which is not for everybody, but is quite nearly perfect for what it is. With a cast including the incomparable Geraldine McEwan ("Henry V"), the formidable Prunella Scales ("Fawlty Towers"), and the delightful Nigel Hawthorne ("Yes, Minister"), it lives up to the best these great comic actors have done. The story line, for all its plot complications, could not be simpler - two women compete for social supremacy in a tiny English town that is apparently inhabited only by eccentrics. That such a simple idea is so engrossing and humorous should give you an idea of how well it is done. The DVD is as good as the broadcast version in every way.
Rating:
Summary: Some of the best, strangest, most inventive TV of the 1980s.
Review: The, er, jewels in the crown of 1980s British costume drama are generally assumed to be 'The Jewel in the Crown' and 'Brideshead Revisited'. To these eyes, at least, the need of those serials to be scrupulously faithful to their highbrow literary sources resulted in programmes that were overlong and dramatically inert. For me, they are superceded by the likes of 'The Irish R.M.' and 'Mapp and Lucia'. Because these are based on so-called 'light' literature, the adapters feel freer to rework the material, to create more narratively coherent plots, to play with characters. 'Mapp and Lucia', from its glorious opening credit sequence, a diarama painting of our heroines and the coastal surroundings of Tilling, and that movingly nostalgic English waltz theme, is a beloved comic gem, an art-deco piece of period stylisation about the civilised 'war' between two dotty dames in the middle-class nouveau-rich society of a provincial backwater. There is no attempt at period realism; rather, director McWhinnie and writer Savory adopt the modes of contemporary musical comedy and comic theatre, emphasising the artificial sets, the insane costumes, the preposterous affectations, gestures and dialogue, with which a series of glorious marionettes go through their demented, hysterically funny motions. Because TV doesn't take the same interest in its past as cinema, the quality of the print is a little faded and grey; otherwise, make sure you watch this box-set early in the morning, because you will not be able to stop - it is more compulsive than the best suspense thrillers.
Rating: 
Summary: faithful adaptation of Benson's beloved Lucia
Review: These two discs contain five episodes of a faithful 1984 British television adaptation of one of EF Benson's comic novels. The book is set in a seaside village during the 1920s, where social butterfly Mapp is loathe to part with her hold over Tilling's residents when proto-diva Lucia comes to town. The tortured machinations of the two women is very funny and, as usual, the sets and costumes are lovely. The dvd set is ultra-minimal! Not even cast and crew info. Nothing.
Rating:
Summary: faithful adaptation of Benson's beloved Lucia
Review: These two discs contain five episodes of a faithful 1984 British television adaptation of one of EF Benson's comic novels. The book is set in a seaside village during the 1920s, where social butterfly Mapp is loathe to part with her hold over Tilling's residents when proto-diva Lucia comes to town. The tortured machinations of the two women is very funny and, as usual, the sets and costumes are lovely. The dvd set is ultra-minimal! Not even cast and crew info. Nothing.
Rating:
Summary: Classic small town rivalries
Review: This TV dramatisation is a superb realisation of the intense and grand rivalries of the two would-be leaders of small town society in the 1920s world of Tilling, poking fun at pretension and social rivalry. It is difficult to believe that the leading roles of Mapp, Lucia and Georgie could be better cast and the supporting roles all bring joy. Au reservoir.
Rating:
Summary: If you love Mapp & Lucia a must see!!!!!
Review: This video collection is a "dead on" dramatization of the books. Wonderfully acurate, and a pleasure to watch!!! Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD transfer
Review: Unlike so many 1980s British TV shows, which have had mediocre transfers to DVD, MAPP AND LUCIA is stunning. Someone must have taken good care of the master tapes because these are bright, sharp, and detailed. There is the occasional spot and scratch (most noticeably during the opening credits), but these are so much better than the VHS tapes which were released a few years ago. Most likely, these DVDs are better than what we saw when they were originally broadcast as well.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD transfer
Review: Unlike so many 1980s British TV shows, which have had mediocre transfers to DVD, MAPP AND LUCIA is stunning. Someone must have taken good care of the master tapes because these are bright, sharp, and detailed. There is the occasional spot and scratch (most noticeably during the opening credits), but these are so much better than the VHS tapes which were released a few years ago. Most likely, these DVDs are better than what we saw when they were originally broadcast as well.
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