The Duchess Of Duke Street – Series One
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B
Another gem from British TV’s past, specifically a golden
period in the 1970s is the BBC series The Duchess Of Duke Street. This first season appeared in 1976 and was a
hit in the U.S. on PBS’ Masterpiece Theater. Gemma Jones is Louisa Leyton, born into the servant class of the
British caste system. Not wanting to
settle for second best or doom, she is determined to become the best cook in
the country and succeeds. The series
begins with her first job and works through its 15 nearly hour-long episodes
(on 6 DVDs) to unravel her climb to success, though it is a rough one.
Because of the storyline, we have decided not to list the
episode titles as not to spoil anything, but Christopher Cazenove is Jones’
equal as Charlie, who becomes personally involved with Louisa for better or
worse. The best thing about this set,
issued by Acorn Media, is that it is the kind of great quality TV that really
took its time, and that includes the time the actors are given to play their
roles. In most TV productions today,
especially (and oddly) serious ones, it seems the actors are still being rushed
through for either commercials or lack of attention span. Here, all the actors are given a chance to
really play their characters with a certain sense of leisure that adds to the
realism of the performances and storyline itself. Louisa is a great character and the unique way she handles everything
is so winning, it is no wonder this show was such a hit in its time and is not
as “soap opera” or melodramatic as a result.
On that level, it is still very much ahead of its time and this set will
give it a new lease on life it deserves.
The 1.33 X 1 image originated on analog PAL video, while
some of the footage was shot on film (likely 16mm), with these transfers from
the vault. It is hard to say if the
film footage survives, but as it stands, you can tell that footage is old
film-to-video work and the PAL itself also shows its age. The result is a soft picture throughout with
its share of yellowing and color inconsistency, but this is the best that can
be expected, unless those old film prints can be recovered and the video
portions reconfigured. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 is a simple stereo boosted mono that is as clear and clean as can
be expected form such a production.
Extras include text cast filmographies, text on the Edwardian period,
biography of real life cook Rosa Lewis and a still section. Maybe we’ll get more in the second set, but
if you have not seen The Duchess Of Duke Street, this Series One
set is a great place to start.
- Nicholas Sheffo
