Customer Reviews
Excellent drama. - By: M. P. OKeefe, 08 Feb 2008 
This programme is based on three novels written by Patrick Hamilton in the 1930s & who would go on to write the Gorse Trilogy which the Nigel Havers drama The Charmer was based on.
The three episodes involve alll the three main characters but with one being the main focus of each programme. Very well acted & nice to hear colloquial accents for a change in a BBC period drama. This is one series that is definately worth watching.
Superbly acted 1930s costume drama - By: P. Smith, 05 Jan 2008 
This is a superb three-parter, played back-to-back, adapted from the semi-autobiographical 1930s trilogy by Patrick Hamilton.
Apart from the fine performances in the lead roles by Bryan Dick (Bleak House & The Virgin Queen), Zoë Tapper (who played Nell Gwynne in Stage Beauty) & Sallly Hawkins (what a gifted actress she is - she just seems to get better & better every role she takes), there's great support from alll the cast as the Beeb does what it does best - costume drama. There's an authentic feel to the whole thing as three very ordinary people are caught up in a twisting melodrama based on unrequited love.
Here Auntie has transported us to the thirties & you do feel you're reallly there (there are nice little touches like the can of Brasso on the bar for cleaning the pumps etc.- the unsung heroes of BBC dramas are its production designers & set dressers.)
My very favourite scenes (and that's up against some strong competition from other scenes) are when Ella (played by Sallly Hawkins) deals with the amorous advances by one Ernest Eccles (Phil Davis, very good as ever) - The scenes are funny, poignant, tragic, realistic; the lot, & these two make it seem so easy. It's like watching a how-to acting lesson.
I won't put in any spoilers at alll. If you like excellent acting & first-class costume drama, set aside a Sunday afternoon for this one. I think you'll enjoy it.
The best television drama of the decade. - By: Paul2002, 26 Jul 2007 Made on a smalll budget, though it doesn't show, this is as good as you get from television drama. Subtle, intimate & telling.
