This Life - The Complete Series One (DVD)

...first hit British Television screens. This Life followed a group of professionals living in a house share in Southwark, London. Filmed in a kind of fly on the wall style, with wobbly camera work and blurry vision This Life became an instant hit.

The group consist of Miles a snobby lawyer wannabe high court barrister; he has low opinions of virtually everyone around him. Miles spends both series in an on/off relationship with Anna who ...
...of string so to speak. This does not weaken the story at all but from an outsider point of view may lower their chances of taking the plunge or purchasing this fascinating television series.

Since This Life ended in 1997 there is always talk of a new series of a movie telling the tale X amount of years on, so far this has not happened, but the launch of the series on DVD may increase the chances.

If drug abuse, sex ... more

In 1996 a revolutionary new television serial first hit British Television screens. This Life followed a group of professionals living in a house share in Southwark, London. Filmed in a kind of fly on the wall style, with wobbly camera work and blurry vision This Life became an instant hit.

The group consist of Miles a snobby lawyer wannabe high court barrister; he has low opinions of virtually everyone around him. Miles spends both series in an on/off relationship with Anna who works for the same law firm as Miles. Miles has no trouble seducing women up to the point of where he has to open his mouth. The character of Miles is played by Jack Davenport, he went on to appear in another smash hit TV series Ultraviolet and movies that include The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Edgar Cook or Egg as he is nicknamed was a highly trained professional however his big career led him to a smaller life, Egg loves to cook and throws in his career to run a small cafe in upper class area. Egg co-habits his part of the house with his long-time lover Milly who is also a lawyer. Egg in the search to live a normal life always ends up getting the rough end, as the series unwinds his business faces financial difficulties, and pressures put upon him by Milly lead Egg into temptation. Egg is played by Andrew Lincoln who wet on to other Television roles such as Teachers, and movies including Love Actually.

Milly cohabits with Egg as stated above and works for at least part of the series with a different law firm and at times representing the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service). Milly is very uptight over most things, temptation of lovers is always in her sight, she does not understand Egg's want to live a normal happy life which increases the tension between the two. Milly believes Egg should just focus on the big picture for now, and when he is financially established he should go off and be more creative. Another more cultural issue between Milly and the other people in the household is her culture, Milly is of Asian origin and although the series never entertains any form of Racism, her beliefs often create havoc in the house. Milly is played by Amita Dhiri, she has stayed mainly in television working on successful shows such as The Last Train, Judge John Deed and Happiness.

Warren Jones is another professional, except rather like Egg he is not achieving his hopes and dreams. Warren comes from a devout Christian Family in a small Welsh village, but came to London to progress his career and to be an open homosexual. And Warren is very open about this, a series of temporary lovers stay at the house during the series. But with the enhancement of his sex life and his Career, Warren still is lost in a big world. Warren is played by Jason Hughes who is the lesser seen now days of the cast, he went on to star in Mine all Mine, and Midsomer Murders both fairly popular television shows.

Anna is the on / off lover of Miles, as the series progresses they get closer only to be severed apart, but you always know in the back of your mind that they are meant to be together. Anna works with Miles and as well as struggling in a failing relationship she always loses out on work opportunities too, with Miles always becoming the victor. When not in a relationship with Miles she is always trying to get him jealous, and at one point enters into a relationship to improve her career prospects. Anna is played by Daniela Nardini, she works mainly on the stage now but has appeared in a variety of film and television work including Tube Tales, Quite Ugly One Morning and Reckless.

Outside of the house we have some other interesting characters O'Donnell is having a secret affair with one of the housemates. Jo an on /off house resident and brother of Egg has in involvement in another will they wont they relationship with Kira. Kira is madly in love with Jo, but the road is a hard road to take as no matter how obvious she makes herself, he never seems to get the idea.

I consider I have been careful not to enter too much into the stories regarding these characters, as the stories are laid on quite a thin piece of string so to speak. This does not weaken the story at all but from an outsider point of view may lower their chances of taking the plunge or purchasing this fascinating television series.

Since This Life ended in 1997 there is always talk of a new series of a movie telling the tale X amount of years on, so far this has not happened, but the launch of the series on DVD may increase the chances.

If drug abuse, sex scenes involving both straight and gay couples, and bad language offends you then This Life is maybe not for you. However if you like to see a real taste of real life which in my view is an understated view of This Life, then I advise you to see this series. It's warm and inviting and often very amusing. It presents the viewer with situations that many will have been in and never known how to react. This life engages those what if's and makes them happen.

Totally compelling viewing.

There are no real special features on this box set, however it does feature subtitles in English, which at times is needed because of the mass influx of language regions. And the odd hidden Easter egg.

I purchased this life series one from Play.com it was priced at £14.99. I received this nearly a fortnight ago despite that fact that the DVD is not due for release until the day after I wrote this. The DVD comes with two DVDS with 11 episodes scattered across them.
 

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