Berkeley Square

The British series crossed the line in one of the later episodes into soap opera plot lines. The three nannies are well-played and are unique and different. Mattie is the solid, moral nanny. She must deal with the manipulative Mrs. McCluskey (played excellently by Kate Williams in this role). It's interesting to see how the households in upscale Berkeley Square run quite differently. The townhouses are really organized by the staff. Relationships between staff and employer is pretty well looked down upon by the upscale upper classes. The families are uniquely different. Hannah has a history and baggage. She is far more complicated and intriguing than the other two nannies. She must deal with Nanny Simmons (well played b Ruth Sheen). Then there is Lydia who comes from a small farming village and must work beside Nanny Collins (played wonderfully by Rosemary Leach). The cast is first rate but the writing is very melodramatic. The art direction and costumes are first rate.

Yes it was an excellent series. Unfortunately, it's broadcast coincided with the World Cup Football here in the UK and it's time slot was constantly being shunted around the schedule to make way for all of the games. Sometimes it was shown on Saturdays, sometimes Tuesdays or Fridays - sometimes at 8pm, 9pm or 10pm or whenever it was given a little window between football matches. Consequently, the viewing figures were lower than they undoubtedly would have been and the BBC thought it was because not enough people wanted to watch it! WE COULDN'T EVEN FIND OUT WHEN IT WAS ON!!! So the BBC would not allow a second series! It was a magical costume drama. Everyone who sees it wants to know 'how it ends'... We will have to imagine it for ourselves. Another brilliant decision from the BBC in their infinite wisdom... To cut it short after all the wonderful work from everyone involved in the production, if I were any one of them or the director or creator of Berkeley Square; that would eat away at my heart big time.

This mini-series is wonderful all around, from the actors to the plots in each installment. It is a joy to experience and should not be missed by anyone. It accurately tells the story of the three women right down to their clothing. History and culture from the early 1900's comes alive and entertains the viewers. Never a dull moment. In two words, the mini-series is great fun!

As the co-creator of Berkeley Square, it's very exciting to see all the great reviews. Thank you for all your kind words. I loved coming up with the idea and we had a great time making the series.

I do want to set the record straight on two points: Lyndahayes-1 commented that the broadcast dates were chopped and changed at the Controller's whim. That's certainly true and it drove us absolutely insane.Yet amazingly, in spite of this vicious rescheduling, the ratings were excellent, I believe they were consistently above a 30% market share, which is pretty bloody amazing. (Thank you, Lyndahayes-1 and everyone else, for sticking with us as best you couid!)

So why wasn't the series picked up for another season? Debbie Cook and I had some great stories in the works and Victoria Smurfit and the other leads did a remarkable job. However, the BBC is a beast unto itself and often casts aside common sense. A show that got terrific reviews across the board and which despite all the odds, was a great success? Shall we commission a second season? Hmmm...

Perhaps it's somewhat different now, but at the time it was possible for a head of department to more or less independently make such a decision, without little regard to the show's quality or ratings. There were a lot of voices calling for a second season as well. Thank God the BBC isn't an American network and doesn't have to be so entirely ratings-driven, but still...

As I recall, we got a new head of series around this time. Being inherited (for show and staff) is always tricky, new people want to put their own stamp on things. Perhaps it didn't feel masculine enough for him...who knows?

But it makes me very happy that people are still enjoying the show. Thank you!

My wife and I love this show but had difficulty understanding some of the dialogue.

As a gift for her, I took the past three months and painstakingly created the subtitles word for word. In her incredible generosity, she asked that I share it with others who love the show.

You can find the subtitles for all ten episodes on these two websites: OpenSubtitles dot Org and Addic7ed dot com