Rosemary And Thyme (DVD)

...hotel where she runs into Rosemary Boxer, a horticultural lecturer who is unexpectedly made redundant. Following an investigation into a friend's death, the two women recognise their talent for gardening and decide to set up in business together, re-designing old gardens.

As well as their gardening skills, it seems that they also have a talent for solving crime - just as well because everywhere they go, they keep tripping over dead ...
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The characters/actors
Rosemary Boxer is played by ex-The Good Life actress Felicity Kendall, who still looks very good for her age. Despite the often ridiculous plot-lines, she is the main reason why this show is so popular - her acting makes the stories seem almost real. She is ably partnered by Pam Ferris as Laura Thyme. I always remember Pam Ferris for her role in The Darling Buds of May; this is completely different and although ... more

Introduction
The great thing about getting older is that I can forget about being trendy and just concentrate on what I like doing. This series is mainly aimed at middle-aged women (and I'm only 36), but I just don't care, I've liked this series right from the beginning and I've thoroughly enjoyed every episode I've seen. This is pure escapism and that's just what I need at the end of a long day at work.

The story
Laura Thyme, an ex-police woman whose husband has recently left her for a much younger woman, is staying temporarily at a hotel where she runs into Rosemary Boxer, a horticultural lecturer who is unexpectedly made redundant. Following an investigation into a friend's death, the two women recognise their talent for gardening and decide to set up in business together, re-designing old gardens.

As well as their gardening skills, it seems that they also have a talent for solving crime - just as well because everywhere they go, they keep tripping over dead bodies and people with pasts they want to hide.

The characters/actors
Rosemary Boxer is played by ex-The Good Life actress Felicity Kendall, who still looks very good for her age. Despite the often ridiculous plot-lines, she is the main reason why this show is so popular - her acting makes the stories seem almost real. She is ably partnered by Pam Ferris as Laura Thyme. I always remember Pam Ferris for her role in The Darling Buds of May; this is completely different and although she doesn't stand out as much as Felicity Kendall, she still fulfils her role in making this such a popular programme.

As characters, Laura uses her sensible nature and past experience as a policewoman to balance out Rosemary's vivid imagination. There are times when even I get fed up of the incredulity in Felicity and Pam's faces when they find yet another dead body, but for me, that's a small price to pay for what is otherwise is a very entertaining series.

Interestingly, when the two actresses committed to the series, the script hadn't even been written; at that stage, it was just a gleam in producer Brian Eastman's eyes. This enabled Felicity and Pam to model the characters as they saw fit.

Technical bits

Classification: PG

Running time: 292 minutes on two discs

Contents: The six episodes of the first series are split between two discs. Each episode is approximately 45 minutes each.

Packaging: This is a simple DVD case containing both discs - just the sort I like because anything larger and the postman won't leave without me signing for it and I usually end up having to traipse to my local post office depot to pick it up.

Extras
Exclusive interview with Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris. I enjoyed this - there was nothing earth-shattering about it, but it was interesting to find out how the series had come about and the actresses role in it. It only lasted about 8 minutes though, which I thought was incredibly short for a cast interview.

Production notes. This consists of a six screens of writing, detailing the production company that produced the series and the reasons behind Brian Eastman's decision to take the project on board. Apart from the information about the production company, which I could not care less about, the rest of the information had already largely been provided in the interview with Felicity and Pam.

Cast filmographies. This consists of one screen for each actress, detailing their main contributions to television and was vaguely useful.

Picture gallery. This is a collection of stills from the series and for me added nothing to the quality of the DVD set.

I didn't buy this series because of the extras; I like the show and to be honest, I only looked at the extras in order to review them. However, if the extras were important to me, I would be sadly disappointed. The interview was the only extra of interest to me and that was only 8 minutes long.

Conclusion
I think probably the best thing about this series is the simplicity of the plots. Although the murderer is not usually immediately identifiable, his or her reasons for committing the crime are immediately understandable, unlike some more serious crime fiction series where alibis are so complicated that it is difficult to follow the solution. Another thing that sets this show apart from other shows is that the main characters are women and for once equal to one another, unlike the usual main character and sidekick.

Another enormous plus for me is the beauty of the gardens in which the episodes are filmed. We are not talking about anyone's backyard here, the gardens in which the pair work are beautiful country house gardens, which provide a real feast for the eyes.

It is important to remember that this series is not supposed to be taken seriously. It is tongue in cheek and is supposed to be entertaining rather than factually accurate. Most of my friends who know I watch this show think I am totally mad. For me though, it is a welcome distraction, a chance to escape from reality for just a little while without having to think too much. So there!

I bought the series for ₤11.99 from play.com, which I thought was a bargain and of course it can be found for less on eBay. Unfortunately series 2 and 3, which have more episodes, are quite a lot more expensive, so I might have to wait a while before treating myself.

 

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