Customer Reviews
Even Better Than I Remembered It - By: The Kinniburgh Kid, 25 Jul 2007 
I was convinced this was much older than it is - 80s, not 90s, but the dates don't lie so it must just be me getting older. Anyway, the real point is The Crow Road made a big impact on me when I first watched broadcast 10 (not 20) years ago & watching it again now I can understand why.
It is funny, darkly funny, very well scripted & in the post Monarch of the Glen TV world of today it is nicely subversive of the whole Scottish Highlands as Sunday night fantasy for the English Middle Class phenomenon.
In many ways similar to Edge of Darkness (the hero talking to dead or absent relatives) it is probably best watched in episodes, not alll at once since the pleasure comes not so much from finding out whodunit, but in the character interactions.
99% better than 99% of what is being broadcast as entertainment these days.
lacking pace - By: 01gnu, 30 Jan 2007 
Did not read the novel but watched the whole series in one evening. By the last episode it was reallly just mild interest that got the last disc into the dvd player. In fact "mild" just about sums up my experience. By the the time the credits rolled I was a mildly disappointed that the twists & turns of the plot had failed to produce that cliffhanger feeling & was mildly relieved that there was no more to watch.
I found it reminiscent of the Merchant/Ivory productions... beautiful locations, beautifully filmed & acted with consumate skill but devoid of any sense of urgency.
Top notch BBC drama - By: Scotch On The Rocks, 10 Jan 2007 I'm perplexed by the 'Little of Substance' review below: switching off after 20 minutes of a complex & intricately-woven four hour series is hardly a good qualification for writing a review of any kind...neither is it meant to be a 'made for the big screen' film: it's a TV production that needs & uses well every minute of its four hours length.
This is a superb production. I watched 'The Crow Road' when it was first broadcast in 1997 & it stuck in my mind ever since. After seeing it again on TV a couple of months back, I decided to invest in the DVD set. The DVD quality & presentation is top-notch, with the four episodes supplied on 2 discs, & an interview with Iain Banks included as a bonus.
The Crow Road has a complex plot & so many subtle (and not so subtle) asides, jokes & beautiful Scottish words & phrases (not to mention the landscapes) that it requires much more than a single viewing (or 20 minutes) to appreciate it. It repays the viewer more with each viewing & the DVD set is well worth its cost. This production shows just how good the BBC can be when it gets it right.
A four-hour story that starts off with a cremation (the 'exploding grandmother') might not seem to bode well for the rest of the series, but there is plenty of black humour & wry observation of the unique Scottish way of life throughout this story. The acting is superb. My own favourite character is the mysterious, missing-for-six-years Uncle Rory (Peter Capaldi), who keeps turning up for short periods as a sort of 'biker ghost' beside or behind the main narrator of the story, Prentice McHoan, who tries to find out what happened to Rory & in doing so manages to uncover deep, complex family secrets.
I would recommend this set unreservedly to those who like their drama imaginative, a little out of the ordinary, & who are willing to spend time involving themselves in the sort of superbly crafted TV production that the BBC makes alll too seldom in these days of 'reality tv'...thank goodness for DVD.
Little of Substance - By: Gwyddel Cymraeg, 17 Sep 2006 
I was persuaded to get this on Amazon DVD Rental by the other reviews but I switched off after about 20 minutes, as I found alll the characters somewhat unreal & I could not care in any way about what had happened or would happen in their lives. Perhaps the book is better but I have not read it & am not persuaded to do so by what I saw on the DVD. If you like the idea of searching for details of what happened in a family's past then you will probably enjoy this, I don't, but who knows, I might have found it watchable episode by episode on TV. It just does not have the zip of a 'made for the big screen' film. I don't say Avoid!, but consider carefully before selecting this one.
A superb adaptation of a great novel - By: Shinkansen, 01 May 2005 I chose not to watch The Crow Road when it was originallly televised, it did not appear to be to my taste. Some years later I read Iain Banks' novel & realised just how poor my judgement had been. I was gripped by the coming-of-age/family saga/mystery/love-story & it remains one of my favourite pieces of contempory fiction.
The BBC adaptation, while naturallly missing some detail, is an exemplar of good an adaptation of a literary classic can be. No vital parts of the plot are sacrificed, & the narrative, even with flashbacks is clear. An interesting - & successful device - is the imagined series of conversations between Prentice & his missing uncle Rory.
Production values & acting are of a consistently high standard throughout.
Excellent.
