As well as being one of the most beautiful areas of the UK, 'The Lakes' is a 14 part TV drama series, originally broadcasted in 1997 on BBC1. Series 1 consisted of four of these episodes, the first lasting 90 minutes, the next three 50 minutes.

Away from the obvious attraction of John Simm, what I initially liked about the show is that the storylines appealed to me because they sounded edgy without being too over the top yet realistic without being boring.

THE SETTING
One of the reasons why I found this series to be intriguing from the get go is due to the fact that it is set in the Lake District, a place which I have visited a few times before and loved. At least when I've been, it has a warm, friendly buzz but with all of the beauty and charm of the surroundings to reinforce this almost docile feeling.

The rest of the Quinlan's are involved in a number of captivating sub-plots throughout the series which accumulates in a rather interesting storyline in the middle of series two. Mary Jo Randle takes on the role of Bernie, a middle aged housewife and part time hotel worker who is run down by her hectic family life but with an incredible amount of faith which is tested ever so slightly at some points. Her husband, Peter, as played by Paul Copley, is an old fashioned, hardworking family man who worships his wife immensely. There are moments when he manages to drag a different facial expression out of Bernie other than extremely anxious which is a miracle in itself!

Robert Pugh stepped seamlessly into the part of Father Matthew, the Priest who throughout the episodes, battles to try and recover his fleeting faith. His portrayal of this character I thought may have been slightly predictable in places but then there were many flashes of greatness that just happened during many episodes, especially when he was working alongside Simm. I think that the impact of this character as well as the eldest Quinlan's were a mechanism to perhaps change people's perceptions of the supposedly sleepy Lakes. Through the dramatic plot, especially in series two, it shows just how essential these three characters were and how the contrast of younger and older generations might be stereotyped but don't always have to follow these preconceptions.

The other main family of the series, the Archers, provided most of the drama and oddly enough, most of the comedic value. Lucy Archer, played with as much flare and enthusiasm as a firework by the tremendously underrated Kaye Wragg, is the vehicle for most of the town's angst in series two. Yet, sticking to series one, Lucy's purpose was to flirt tremendously with all of the town's men, and her parent's employees, which leads to another significant story later on. She was also a way to make Danny question his marriage to Emma; her girl next door, sex kitten type character was very entertaining if not crude in most situations. The on screen chemistry that she shares with Simm was brilliant and one of the reasons, in my mind, why the series was so good.

One of my favourite characters of the show was the demented John Fisher, played demonically well by Kevin Doyle. The storyline he is most heavily involved with is easily the one that keeps the viewers wanting to learn more about each episode, even though I did ruin it for myself slightly because I'm a suspecting media student (damn education!). The way in which the writers and producers chose to show his 'obsession' and unravelling was very well done and very entertaining to watch, in the most wickedly perverse way possible. Like with the Quinlan's and Father Matthew, his story is portrayed much more effectively in series two yet to understand the reasoning behind his menacing mind, it's essential that series one is watched or it might not be as thorough to as it could - and should - be.

PACKAGING AND PRESENTATION
The actual DVD cover I think is quite well produced. Whilst I'm not a fan of the rather dingy, dark blue and green colours, the editing of the character of Emma in the background is very poignant as it seems as if she is a constant moaner to Danny; she is always there in the background, nagging about money and how he simply shouldn't be gambling as he needs to support them.

With each episode too, the theme tune at the end varies. There isn't really a fixed tune but instead they have used British band's music at the end of each episode, including people like Radiohead. This also shows how out of place Danny seems to be in the Lakes; the modern music just shouldn't fit with the traditional, more secluded surroundings.

However, these audio commentaries are separate and I do think that for a double disk set, there should be something more than just a couple of commentaries, especially for people like myself who didn't see the show the first time round and who are interested in the background story and how the programme was written in a bit more detail.