Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25539 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-30
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 240 minutes

Synopsis
The BAFTA Award-winning series from the BBC. Julie T Wallace stars as the terrifying and tall lady who stalks Dennis Waterman and wants to have his children. Patricia Hodge, his lovely lady, gets in the way, and living on the edge of a cliff provides an obvious method of killing, not to mention scary satanic rites and glowing eye-balls. But she must undergo some drastic surgery to make herself beautiful for her man--that is, the spitting image of Ms Hodge. Aaaaaaaargh!

Customer Reviews

Brillianty weird
Warning: the 12-rating belies some fairly adult content. I have fond memories of watching this as a 13-year-old with my parents and everyone getting hideously embarassed, so do watch out. This mid-80s BBC production is faithfully adapted from the Fay Weldon novel of the same title and is infinitely better than the hollywood movie version. Dowdy housewife Ruth finally flips out over her husband's (Dennis Waterman with a bad 'tache) latest affair and sets out on an epic mission to ruin him and his mistress, the romance novelist Mary Fisher. In the course of doing so she assumes various personas and affects a fair few other lives. As she takes on her She-devil mantle and approaches her goal things get progressively weirder and weirder, culminating in an admirably unsettling climax which the movie shied away from. The title and satanic-looking imagery on the box are misleading though - the show dallies with the paranormal but doesn't go much further than Ruth scaring a Romany lady.
There are a few technical problems, including the standard nasty washed-out look common to many eighties programs, some truly scary eighties hairstyles and makeup and some pretty leaden acting in places - Waterman's numerous temper tantrums are particularly laughable, though I think this is more the fault of the script. However when the most believable character in the production is Tom Baker playing a randy priest you know something is not quite right. These issues, however, wind up contributing to the general air of weirdness and really enhance the experience.
We've waited a long time for this to become available and I'm glad to say it's worth the wait.

Sympathy for the She-Devil!
Julie.T.Wallace and Patricia Hodge were so perfect for these roles.Particularly Julie T, she steals every scene she appears in,what a shame she has'nt had more leading roles.
Liz Smith gives a terrific and hilarious performance as Patricia Hodge's(Mary Fisher's)trouble making mother.And there is also Miriam Margoyles,Dennis Waterman and Tom Baker.The cast is fantastic,though Dennis Waterman is not convincing as the middle class Bobbo.He is too much of a 'lad'.
It is great wicked fun,and so British.A little dated, but that is to be expected.And it is a shame the cast could not have done new interviews for the D.V.D release.And my discs are incorrectly labelled.But I love it!

Fantastic
Excellent stuff- probably my favourite tv programme of the 1980s. Yes, dodgy hairdos and fashion nightmares abound, but this does not detract from a fantastic tale of utter revenge.

Beware though, my discs were wrongly numbered as well....