THE BARCHESTER CHRONICLES (1984)



THE BARCHESTER CHRONICLES video artwork





DONALD PLEASENCE.....Reverend Septimus Harding
GERALDINE McEWAN.....Mrs. Proudie
NIGEL HAWTHORNE.....Dr. Grantly
SUSAN HAMPSHIRE.....La Signora Madeline Versey Neroni
ALAN RICKMAN.....Reverend Obadiah Slope

Directed by DAVID GILES
Written by ALAN PLATER
Produced by JONATHAN POWELL


REVIEW BY ERIC ESTRIN


Barchester Chronicles, this season's offering on Masterpiece Theatre, is definitive proof that British TV is not necessarily too haughty or highbrow for popular tastes. If you don't believe it, watch closely as the reverend in this seven-part miniseries tries to set an upstanding moral example for his community but is battered to and fro by the vagaries of small-town mentalities. Are you beginning to catch on yet? That's right: Barchester Chronicles is nothing more than a dressed-up version of The Andy Griffith Show!

Andy, of course, took instantly recognizable characters and put them in situations where their quirks and foibles became magnified to a point just this side of absurdity. Here, Septimus Harding is a clergyman (not much need for a sheriff in Barchester) charged with administering the cathedral's hospital and taking care of its 12 elderly patients. He's the most respected man in town until an overzealous reformer decides that he's profited illegally from his position. Accusing the reverend of corruption may seem ridiculous, but Harding, in his obsessive quest for fairness, sees merit in his adversary's position and would happily acquiesee to certain demands. But that can't happen, because Barney's gone and riled up Aunt Bee, and now Floyd and Goober want a piece of the action. Or something like that.

Donald Pleasence plays the reverend with the sweetness and strength necessary to ground this tale of human folly. He's the kind of guy who can say things like, "If I am to be ruined, I wish to be ruined quietly," and make it immensely admirable.

The story was adapted for television by Alan Plater from two novels by Anthony Trollope, who made only one mistake: He should have registered his works with the Writers Guild, thus laying the foundation for legal battles that would have closely rivaled the troubles in Barchester.



Review from the October 1984 issue of LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE.

Review © 1984 LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE. All Rights Reserved.

Video artwork courtesy of Karen Rappaport

Video artwork is the property of BBC HOME VIDEO. All Rights Reserved.

Title and logo designed by Karen Rappaport




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