Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #519 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-09-01
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 663 minutes

Synopsis
The legendary television series, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, based on the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, is included here in its entirity. Set in the glittering, yet fading world of the British aristocracy, the series stars the astonishing trio Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, and Diana Quick, and features stunning performances by Sir John Gielgud, Claire Bloom, and Sir Laurence Olivier.

Customer Reviews

ONe of the greatest pieces of TV - ever!
Quite simply this is brilliant. Producing the book as a TV series gave the director the opportunity to indulge in Waugh's lush and vivid text and whole sections of the book are quoted verbatim. And of course, in hindsight, the casting was inspired, with Jeremy Irons as Rider and Anthony Andrews as the rather beautiful Sebastian Flyte. But don't forget such cameo's as Nikolas Grace as the effete Anthony Blanche - masterful!
The film I understand, leaves a lot to be desired, so better to buy this AND read the book. You will regret buying neither.

Classic Masterpiece
Beautiful celebration of a world gone by, this is the only exception to the rule of film adaptation not doing justice to the book I've ever seen. Or rather - the original TV series with nearly 13 hours' run time was. Unfortunately the 'Complete Series' title for the DVD release is misleading because the original TV series run time (11 x 60 min episodes, except 115 min opening and 105min closing) has been cut from 760 minutes to 660 minutes which is an incredible shame. I can understand the budget and time constraints imposed on productions when classic books are adapted to screen, and one settles for the 'central theme of the book was achieved' -result. But I find it incomprehensible why such a unique masterpiece as Brideshead Revisited in its original format has been lobbed off - at times in mid-scene - to fit adjusted episode format.

Other than that, watching this series on a lazy Sunday truly transports you to another time when 'it is always summer, the berries are always ripe and Aloysius is in a good mood'.

Television of the highest quality
This is a staggeringly good piece of TV drama which has justifiably become a classic. It's hard to imagine any producer today taking the time to explore a novel in the way this adaptation does, a full 11 episodes which allow the viewer to luxuriate in the story and thoroughly explore the characters. There has always been debate over whether there was a mythological "Golden Age of TV", but I think the early 1980s saw something quite remarkable at Granada Studios, at least in the field of period adaptations, and Brideshead might just be the pinnacle.

Evelyn Waugh's novel is a heady evocation of time and place, as well as an exploration of spirituality, and the series captures all this with consummate skill, from the glorious period detail to the brilliant script by John Mortimer. The acting is simply faultless, to be expected when talent like Irons and Andrews stands alongside veteran greats like Olivier, Gielgud and Claire Bloom.

In sum, I enjoyed this series immensely. Craft and class like this don't come together very often, more's the pity.