Rosamunde Pilcher’s
Coming Home (British TV
Mini-Series)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
The tales of the Carey-Lewis Family have been put to film
before, as witnessed with the impressive Nancherrow (1999, reviewed
elsewhere on this site), which was a sequel to Coming Home (1998). This first mini-series features Joanna
Lumley as Diana Carey-Lewis, who is joined by Peter O’Toole as Colonel
Carey-Lewis, the head of the retreat known as Nancherrow. This first tale begins with two young girls
(Emily Mortimer and Keira Knightley) being sent to an annoying boarding school
due to the beginning of World War II.
Soon, Judith (Mortimer) lucks out and meets the
inhabitants of Nancherrow, then becomes a regular there. It makes all the difference with her blood
relatives diverted by service. However,
Edward Carey-Lewis (Paul Bettany) himself is going to war, whether the family
likes it or not. Even in a makeshift
paradise, war cannot be ignored.
The first half of the nearly 200 minutes is really good,
then the second half turns into melodrama, cliché and formula. This includes an annoying thing too many
British WWII TV shows offer; newsreel footage to make the story’s timeline more
believable, even if that footage does not match the new footage in any
way. To all creators of British TV,
please drop this practice.
Director Giles Foster (Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The
Unexpected, Foyle’s War) does his best with the material, but cannot
overcome the shortcomings of the latter half.
Writer John Goldsmith wrote both this and Nancherrow began
writing for British TV on action shows like The Protectors, The New
Avengers (both sets of both reviewed elsewhere on this site), The
Professionals and Return Of The Saint. He did better the second time around for this material and knows
how to keep a story going. David
McCallum, reuniting with Sapphire & Steel co-star Lumley more or
less and Susan Hampshire also star.
The 1.66 X 1 letterboxed image is not bad, as shot by
cinematographer Simon Archer, as a safe middle-ground between theatrical
presentation and buffer against undecided digital High Definition
standards. Color is consistent and the
source prints are fine, but there are detail limits. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds and plays
back nicely. Extras included all on DVD
1 are Mortimer’s screen credits, a bibliography of Pilcher’s work and a
27-minutes-long 1997 documentary on Pilcher.
It is a good, if not great show.
We recommend if you want to watch this one, follow it up immediately
with Nancherrow.
- Nicholas Sheffo
