Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12073 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-05
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Formats: Closed-captioned, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 220 minutes

Synopsis
This BBC TV mini-series is an adaptation of John Mortimer's novel of the same name, and follows a family as they attempt to enjoy a relaxing holiday in Tuscany. Molly Pargeter takes her family to the luxurious destination but spends more time trying to find out who owns the villa they are staying in than she does relaxing on the beach. Meanwhile, Molly's father ditches the family in pursuit of a romantic liaison, providing some welcome comic relief from the sinister dealings that Molly uncovers.

Customer Reviews

Hoist the Jolly Roger!
Although I am still not certain who did what to whom and why, I nevertheless enjoyed a second watching of John Mortimer's mystery, "Summer's Lease," which I saw when it was first broadcast in the 1980s. "Summer's Lease" is John Gielgud's show. It does not matter how old he is; he still steals every scene as the outrageously libidinous old pirate of a father to Molly(coddle) Pargeter, a repressed 40-something wife and mother, who cannot help being embarrassed by his unrepentant tales of jolly "rogering", which he will tell to anyone, anywhere, and at any time, no matter how inappropriate the occasion. Mortimer has given Gielgud some of his best lines; one of my favorites is his apology for being a poor excuse for a socialist in a capitalist world: "Until we've got the red flag flying, we've got to live with the rat race!"

Among the delights of this series are the magnificent locations of Umbria and Tuscany, the latter renamed Chiantishire by its British expatriate inhabitants. As a former resident of Italy, I reveled at the sight of the cypress-dotted hills and at the sound of so many birds chirping (now a rarity in my part of California). Watching this series is equivalent to going on a vicarious vacation to some of the most stunning parts of Italy; and to put the panna on top of the gelato, as it were, we are treated to the magnificent frescoes of Piero della Francesca.

As for the mystery, it is suspenseful, as all of Mortimer's mysteries are. If it leaves us rather unsatisfied because it does not tie up all the loose ends, it nevertheless makes us think about what actually might have happened. The body in the swimming pool is a reality, but are the contessa and the British residents as sinister as they seem? Or are we, the viewers, merely seeing them through the eyes of Molly, not only a stranger in a strange land, but also a woman whose emotions are raw due to the strains put on her marriage by her philandering husband? Are we perhaps influenced by Molly's misinterpretation of her surroundings? Such a scenario renders Molly's blunderings and their catastrophic results the more convincing.

For those who love Italy and adore John Mortimer, this DVD is highly recommended!

An exquiste tale.....
My love affair with this series began when back in the summer of 1988 I heard a book review on Radio 4 and went out and bought the then very expensive hard back of John Mortimer's novel. I lay on my bedroom floor in the sun one Friday evening and read it over two days. I recall thinking what an excellent TV programme it would make and low and behold the four part series came to light in 1989. Better even than the book, the simple yet engaging and clearly contrived plot is none the less deeply satisfying. It has been on the original VHS recorded from the TV for years to the point where its worn out. John Gielgud is wonderful, simply outstanding. This is one of my favourite programmes of all time, and eventually in 2000, I finally made the pilgrimage Molly Pargeter, played with exceptional dignity by Karen Fleetwood, was so keen to make herself. And it was well worth while. An abosloute must for any Italophile.

One not to be missed
I bought this when Acorn released it in the US last year. John Gielgud delivers an Emmy-winning performance in this memorable drama as an eccentric English patriarch spending the summer in a Tuscan villa with his daughter and her family. When a neighbour mysteriously dies and the residence's water service unexpectedly fails, he teams with his child for some amateur sleuthing while attempting to romance a wealthy expatriate. With Susan Fleetwood.