Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5488 in VHS
• Released on: 2003-09-06
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: PAL, Colour, HiFi Sound, Full Screen
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 2
• Running time: 144 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's easy to be cynical about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's adventures as a downshifted smallholder in Escape to River Cottage; after all, given his fame and fortune, he could upshift again faster than a BMW sports gearbox whenever he chose. "Why don't you give it a go?", he asks us. Because we don't all have fat media contracts to fall back on, we roll our eyes and reply.

However, despite HF-W's seeming like a Posy Simmonds character, the fact remains that no TV chef has come close when it comes to reminding the supermarket generation about where food really comes from, or indeed where it should come from, as well as the values of indigenous produce (also a largely overlooked aspect of macrobiotics, incidentally). In this well-stuffed double DVD set Weirdly-Eatingall does alarming things with a goose, smokes fish in his chimney, eats his rather cute pigs, monitors the movements of mice by marking them with lipstick (why does he just happen to have some lippy lying around?) and, almost in passing, cooks up some wonderful dishes with his home-grown ingredients.

On the DVD: Escape to River Cottage two-disc set includes six episodes, plus a bonus in the form of the Christmas special. Extras are on-screen recipes, F-W's biography and some outtakes, which are deeply unfunny except when various things decide to bite the presenter, which they do fairly often. The extras are duplicated on both discs, which is pointless and/or a bit of a swizz. --Roger Thomas

Synopsis
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall escapes to the country and begins a new life in River Cottage in Dorset. This is his story.

From the Back Cover
It is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s dream to escape the urban sprawl and find a little place in the country where he can live off the fat of the land.

When he finds River Cottage nestling in the heart of the Dorset countryside, he sets about turning his dream into reality. The first casualty to self-sufficiency is the beautiful flower bed which makes way for terracing designed to maximize growing space for edible crops. Once the vegetables have been taken care of, Hugh sets off in his 1965 Ford Corsair in search of livestock. The first arrivals at the cottage are a pair of eight-week-old ‘Old Spot’ pigs but more animals soon follow. Hugh also finds time to show how a sumptuous meal or two can be prepared from the local produce, be it sea fish, pigeons or a freshly-caught pike.

Customer Reviews

Escape the Rat Race
This DVD takes you right back to the beginning, when HFW planted his first broad beans and took delivery of his prime Gloucester Old Spots. I love this series and being able to sit back and luxuriate in the albeit rose-tinted version of self-sufficiency espoused by HFW is a real treat.

I love the food. It's real food, robust and never poncy. It always makes me want to get into the kitchen and make a mess.

I love the idyllic setting. Dorset is beautiful and the bits near Bridport and Beaminster are especially good. Hugh has a natural presenting style and you can see the affection and good humour he and his new found friends feel for one another is genuine.

I'm already looking for my own 'River Cottage', somewhere deep in the countryside. And after watching this ground-breaking series my guess is that you will be downsizing too.

Another River Cottage treat...
The first series of River Cottage coming out on DVD has been long awaited, but it well worth every second. The DVD has all that the televised series had with interactive extras- 7 episodes of 'Escape to River Cottage' (including the Christmas special), Christmas goose recipes & some fabulous clips of when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's wonderful presenting style does not go to plan. Also, there is a 'menu' selection, where you can view the preparation of each of the recipes featured in each episode without having to trail through the series looking for the recipe of your choice, alternatively you can opt the watch the full episodes back to back.

Fearnley-Whittingstall is from a "very posh family", but his presenting style is classless, appealing to all viewers of all ages, though the outakes give the DVD a 15 certificate (including an uncut scene of HFW in the bath!). His cooking shows that trully amazing food should not be the reserve of the sofisticated dinner party, but it should be enjoyed everyday by everyone.

You can learn from this series, about real food or you can just sit back and enjoy the excellent production of this real classic. The only thing that this title is now lacking are the follow up series, that hopefully will not be too long in coming.

I love this show
I was traveling in Europe for two months and had the opportunity to watch this program when in Dover and loved it. I wanted to show my US friends this wonderful program and ordered the DVD (even though the current exchange rate makes this quite expensive). We were not disappointed with any of the programs and loved the Christmas special. After watching each of the programs, I have the overwhelming desire to drop all I do and move out to the country. This program is wonderful. Please continue the show and the DVDs. Thank you.