Hurrah for the BBC!
russbowes from from London,
12th August, 2008
They just dont make them like this any more! Although the series gets off to a very slow start, with much posturing and speechifying, it soon picks up the pace as the Civil War sweeps across England and tears relationships apart. OK, the acting is slightly hammy on occasion, and there are some rather strange costumes and hairstyles at times, but who cares? Yes, it was shot on a limited budget (can 8 Roundheads really storm a castle?) but that just adds to its 'Sunday Afternoon' feeling. Interesting snippets of information - the minstrel boy is played by Simon Buttriss, now a big noise in the world of professional operetta (mainly Gilbert and Sullivan). And there is a minor part for Ken Kitson, who went on to play Cadman in the 'Mapp and Lucia' series. What I would like to have seen is a little more of the story behind the Civil War - this series really does presume that we have all paid attention at school and know exactly why Parliament and the King were at loggerheads. For those of us who went to school in the dim and distant past, this presumption on the part of the scriptwriters does sometimes leave you feeling a little out of your depth - in fact I had to get a book out of the library at one point and bone up on the history lessons. The series really does assume that you did Double History on the Friday before and that you're 'up' on all the facts. But its a splendid costume romp nonetheless, with heroes to cheer and baddies to hiss, sometimes unwittingly funny, all in the best traditions of BBC Children's TV.
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