Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home / Rosamunde Pilcher's Nancherrow (DVD)

...with the same name by Rosamunde Pilcher (which I haven't read - sorry!)

The drama is set in 1930s/1940s Cornwall, and centers around Judith Dunbarr (Keira Knightly and Emily Mortimer). Her family move to Singapore when she is 11 or 12 and she is left in England going to boarding school, staying with her aunt Louise (Penelope Keith). There, she meets her best friend Loveday Carey-Lewis (Katie Ryder Richardson), whose (Joanna Lumley) ...
...have lots of money. The plot then leads on to Judith and Loveday growing up, switching actresses and living through World War II, but fighting issues still relevant today - such as shagging and love and all that sort of stuff!

The whole thing is really brilliant - the cast speak for themselves! Emily Mortimer isn't all that great, but not so bad so that it detracts from the story - but Katie Ryder Richardson gives a really excellent ... more

Please note, I have the VHS edition of it so am only reviewing the main feature itself, not any extras etc. which may be on the DVD.

Coming Home is a truly excellent ITV two-part drama. It is a dramatisation of the book with the same name by Rosamunde Pilcher (which I haven't read - sorry!)

The drama is set in 1930s/1940s Cornwall, and centers around Judith Dunbarr (Keira Knightly and Emily Mortimer). Her family move to Singapore when she is 11 or 12 and she is left in England going to boarding school, staying with her aunt Louise (Penelope Keith). There, she meets her best friend Loveday Carey-Lewis (Katie Ryder Richardson), whose (Joanna Lumley) own a lush stately home in the countryside - and have lots of money. The plot then leads on to Judith and Loveday growing up, switching actresses and living through World War II, but fighting issues still relevant today - such as shagging and love and all that sort of stuff!

The whole thing is really brilliant - the cast speak for themselves! Emily Mortimer isn't all that great, but not so bad so that it detracts from the story - but Katie Ryder Richardson gives a really excellent performance. Joanna Lumley is fabulous, as always, and plays a really fun character (Loveday's mother) - although when things start going wrong (no spoilers!), her reaction is completely engaging, even sometimes provoking tears.
Any Keira Knightley fans should most definitely watch this - it was made in 1998 and she does an OK job of playing the young Judith, and she can only have been 12 or 13 at the time. Penelope Keith is also very good. It's also interesting to see Paul Bettany (Wimbledon, A Beautiful Mind) play one of Judith's loves, before he went off to Hollywood.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say about it - except that if you don't buy this right now, well, you really should, it's really excellent. For anyone who likes period dramas, is interested in war-time britain or Joanna Lumley, this is a must-see.

PS sure you can pick it up quite cheaply on Ebay. 

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