Mapp & Lucia

I never read these books, but I caught the broadcast on PBS here in the States, with my mother.

My mother fostered in me, a love of the dry British wit. Mapp and Lucia was required viewing, as far as she was concerned, and I must admit, that the beauty (and ugliness) of this series has long since stuck with me.

I found the characters to be endearing, well developed, and hysterically funny. We laughed until there were tears literally streaming down our faces. This was an excellent BBS series which is wholly enjoyable by all with an open mind.

If you have any appreciation of dry and/or dark humor, this series definitely rates a good watching.

This delightful series rates a 7.8/10 on the "TV" scale, from...

the Fiend :.

This was first shown on Channel 4 here in the UK in about 1985, I don't know if it was ever repeated. I missed it then and it wasn't until I read the books several years later that I started to look out for it. I recently got the entire series on video (would have been better on DVD) and it is a hoot.

The main characters were just as I pictured then and the casting was spot on. Geraldine McEwen (not yet a Dame alas, apropos a previous comment) and Nigel Hawthorne (who is indeed Sir Nigel) shine as Lucia and Georgie but perhaps they had easier characters to portray and it is Prunella Scales as Mapp who give the best and most difficult characterisation, though all the parts are really caricatures. Everyone must have had such fun making this and Lucia's costumes are something to behold.

The exteriors are mostly Rye in Sussex, where the author E.F. Benson lived (and was the Mayor). Lucia he probably based on himself, which begs the question who was Georgie in real life?!. You can go to the house he lived in which was clearly Mallards in the books and is now National Trust property. Henry James lived there before him. However, it wasn't used as the exterior here.

Some characters from the books are dropped in the series, the Padre's wife and the Wyses's daughter, but you don't miss them. Traces of McEewen's power mad and devious Lucia can be seen in her portrayal of the mad religous mother in 'Oranges are not the Only Fruit' (1990).

Sip tea and cakes with friends on a wet Sunday afternoon as you watch this - it'll cheer you up no end.

What a delightful portrayal of Mr. Brenson's works! One wishes that his entire series of books had been included; it would have been a plethora of riches indeed! Having recently had the great pleasure visiting Rye, It is now possible to immerse myself all the more completely into these tales! (Beautiful country, by the way!)

People seem to be trying to analyse this series to death, at the end of the day it is simply a wonderful comedy of manners, wonderfully acted and beautifully presented. The principles are all actors of great experience and charisma, working with almost infallible material. If you want slapstick or alternative humour, this is not the place for you! If you love watching a comedy where it is the actors who make the script brilliantly funny, rather than simply being given punchlines to deliver, then you should be in seventh heaven. Watch, relax, enjoy.

If this is a "poor adaptation" then by all means I will have to get my hands on the original books because I really loved this production! It's an absolute hoot of a good time! I find it hard to believe it is over twenty years old! It's seems like it could have been made just yesterday.The character studies are pretty much timeless. London Weekend certainly didn't skimp on the sets or costumes and the acting was all around superb. It was a little difficult at first to adjust to Mapp and Lucia's exaaaaaggerated voices but by episode two I was laughing so hard...I no longer cared. As a comedy it succeeds on all levels but it's also somewhat intriguing as a period study as well. It recreates a time in post WWI England when people could be leisurely enough to care about the superficial things of everyday village life and when class was so important it actually dictated how people related to each other. Before the fall I guess you could say. Similar to east coast America before WWII or the over the top Regan years and eons before 9/11.

The cast includes the many favorites that others have already listed but I have to reiterate the brilliance of Nigel Hawthorne as Georgino mio and the endearing pair of Mary MacLeod and Cecily Hobbs as Godiva and Quaint Irene...in fact all the minor characters were brilliant and so believable I felt like they were family. I am truly sorry the series didn't go on to include all the books. All I can say is it must have been a lot of fun to act in this series and if you enjoy light hearted English comedy...you will really want to take a look at these episodes on DVD.