Mapp & Lucia: Series 1 - 2dvd

In particular, Geraldine McEwan (also in Barchester Chronicles) is exquisite. Her little comic mannerisms are absolutely hilarious, and she makes the character endearing in a way that I never thought possible. Again, "inspired" is the only appropriate word.

The same with the much-missed Nigel Hawthorne's Georgie. Absolutely perfect casting. And Prunella Scales (of Fawlty Towers fame) bites into her less-sympathetic role of Mapp and does not let go until she wrings every last laugh from it. As is particularly true for British series, the supporting cast is also excellent at bringing their own eccentric characters to life in just a few brushstrokes.

I was very much looking forward to the Mapp and Lucia DVD, because I had not seen this series since it was televised in the mid-1980s. I'm happy to say that the DVD quality is excellent, and my opinion of the series has only elevated through time. Many British comedies have come and gone in the years since Mapp and Lucia, but it remains the most delightful, in my book.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the series is also highly addictive, so we Mapp and Lucia fans -- you'll be one too after you see this -- are eagerly awaiting the release of the second part of the series on DVD. Please, Acorn Media/Granada (who released this DVD), make haste!

Geraldine McEwan (Mulberry, Barchester Chronicles) is impeccably cast as the wealthy, elegant, widow Lucia, a woman with a strong personality and a flair for the dramatic. Her vocabulary is peppered with the Italian, a language in which she is only too happy to let others think she is fluent. She provides (at least initially) a little spice, excitement, and mystique for the villagers in humdrum Tilling. But she is also a woman who knows well how to get what she wants, and her grace, smiles, and impeccable manners belie a shrewd and cunning mind.

Mapp (Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales) is a somewhat dowdy, unwealthy spinster, not to mention an insufferable busybody. So it is no wonder she is less than thrilled that Lucia, having decided to leave her home in Riseholme for pastures new, has set her sights on Mapp's terrain. But Mapp, though lacking Lucia's elegance, wealth, and marital status, is not willing to relinquish her position without a fight. Watching the episodes (which are serial in nature) is a bit like watching a game of chess between unequals. In essence, each woman, with an abundance of outward grace and politeness, seeks to establish (or reassert) her position by bringing the other down a peg or two. Lucia is clearly cleverer and at times seems to toy with Mapp as a cat does with a mouse. But Mapp is nothing if not determined and we wonder is she will, after all, succeed in toppling the grand Lucia.

As for a few of the other characters: Lucia is joined by her devoted friend Georgie (Yes (Prime) Minister's Nigel Hawthorne), a rather effeminate, toupee-sporting chap who enjoys painting and petit point. She is also adored by Quaint Irene, a trouser-wearing, cigar-smoking, eccentric local artist who doesn't hesitate to speak her mind and thoroughly enjoys watching the sparring match between Mapp and Lucia. There's also the gruff, masculine, and perennially intoxicated Major Benjy, whose habit of summoning servants with a bellowing "quay-hi" does not endear him to them. Mapp's closest friend is a dowdy and rather timid woman named Diva, to whom Mapp is less than kind at times.

In conclusion, albeit a tad quirky at times (like the time the two rivals get swept out to sea on the kitchen table!), I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a delightful, relaxing, and gently humorous drawing-room comedy. It is dialogue-based (as opposed to physical) comedy. In other words, if you're looking for pratfalls, action, hard laughs, or a fast-paced, in-your-face comedy, then you'd best look elsewhere. The pace here is leisurely, the dialogue is deliciously witty and intelligent, and the humour wonderfully subtle, with often as much conveyed through body language--be it the raising of an eyebrow, the sharp intake of breath, or the tensing of a muscle--as through words itself.