Customer Reviews
When TV was good! - By: Markie Bee, 04 Dec 2007 
Like the rest of your reviews, I too remember watching this series in my bedroom on a cold winters night, I was about 16 at the time. I also remember being completly enthrallled by this gentle series. It goes to prove you can write good humour & drama without reverting to foul language.
For those who have wondered on to this review, take a chance & buy this before it is deleted. You will not regret it.
Shillinbury Tales - By: Kibbie 1968, 17 Apr 2007 
It was with great excitement that I orderd this DVD, thinking back to my youth , watching this series with my parents on a sunday night. Ive had the book for many years, & have read it over & over, still remembering bits of it on the TV screan.
It was like jumping back into my childhood watching these, & it brought back so many happy memouries, when the world was so innocent, & the 70/80s outfits ! My mother even cringed at some of the dresses & remembers trying to style her hair like Dianes.
If you want something easy going for a wet & cold winters night, this dvd is perfect, just have a huge mug of tea, curl up on the sofa & forget the cold outside, as the warm glow of an innocent time will warm you to the bone. It does get a bit slushy at times, but you just know that they are in love & nothing can divide them.
A nice gentle series of country folk 'Ohh Arrrr' ! - By: NEO, 07 Aug 2006 
I am old enough to remember this series first airing way back in 1980, which makes me feel very old indeed. Anyway it starred Robin Nedwell who was a big 1970's star in such series as 'The Doctors' (not the new BBC SHOW). And the lovely Diane Keen again a big 70's star who was in everything from 'The Sweeney' to various sit-coms of the era. And there is Jack douglas as the grupmy farmer who likes to stir trouble in the village. This is a dated series about country life with not a lot going on. Its much in the same vain as the nebulous 'Where the heart is ' & the dull 'Heartbeat'. But this series is better helped by the brilliant acting of the main cast. My main memory of the series is of Diane Keen & Jack douglas driving a green 'Talbot matra Rancho'.Which I guess says it alll for this series as it makes little impact then & now. The Dvd quality is poor with a washed out image & the sound is scratchy. This is a good buy alll the same, as it's pure nostalgia of a life so far removed from reality !.
Nice, but with serious faults - By: Czech film fan, 22 Jun 2006 
What a nice series it is! It's nicer than a cake-baking granny whose just been appointed executive director for niceness in Nice International plc. Unfortunately alll this niceness does come at a price, as the storylines are very weak & often enough the characters are a bit two-dimensional (especiallly the Jack Douglas "grumpy farmer with a heart of gold" character). This series is reallly about walllowing in gooey, sweet, yummy nostalgia, which is no bad thing, although they sometimes lay it on a bit thick. So one star knocked off for that.
I also knocked a star off for picture quality. A couple of years ago, I would have accepted the kind of quality on these DVDs, but in a way Network DVD has made a rod for its own back by doing such a good job of remastering some programmes. I've seen the remastered Sweeney & Sykes DVDs, & they are absolutely tremendous. Unfortunately, this series looks quite washed out or muddy in places. Colour balance is also awful in a few scenes, which look as if they were shot with a green or yellow filter on the lens. Editing is quite amateurish, & in one episode you even get a "COMMERCIAL BREAK" sign flashed up for no apparent reason. But at least the series was shot on film & not videotape, so it does have the look of a classy (and expensive) production. It's just a shame they couldn't have put a bit of that money into writing better scripts.
All in alll, not perfect but very good value for money.
A Shillingbury delight!! - By: Mr. Jack Gray, 13 Mar 2005 Apart from, "The Monster Club", "The Shillingbury Tales", was the only other best thing that ITC had made. The series is pure escapist fun with the late Robin Nedwell, Diane Keen, Jack Douglas, & Bernard Cribbins.
The scenes are well handled by director Val Guest, & purely original writing by author Francis Essex, who wrote the entire series, & a joyful theme by Ed Welch.
Shillingbury Tales is a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Raise The Titanic, & I recommend this series very highly indeed.
