The Pallisers - DVD

The Pallisers - The Complete Collection

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What would you get if you combined the BBC, six Victorian novels, and a cheesy 1970s soap opera? Well, this! The Pallisers is as lavish in its aristocratic intrigues (political scandal and opportunity, lecherous dukes, palatial country houses, a world where everyone knows their place) as it is in its soap opera aesthetic (characters' tumultuous struggles for power, money, love). This made-for-television production is a strange blend of exquisite costuming, remarkable sets, and surprisingly good acting on the one hand and video-quality production and an utterly melodramatic script on the other. Definitely pleasurable viewing for all who enjoy watching the period passion, pomp, and politics of upper-class Victorians.

The BBC's 12-disc, 26-episode serialization of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels (1865-1880) introduces Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glencora, whose politically expedient marriage sets the stage for the rest of the Palliser dynasty's saga. Future episodes follow Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glencora's rise to an even higher social echelon and the challenges that their growing family, including a new generation of Pallisers, must face. These episodes emphasize two family intimates--the ambitious and attractive Phineas Finn (Donal McCann), who divides his energies between politics and romance, and Lizzie Eustace (Sarah Badel), the comely young widow with diamond troubles. The splendid cast also includes Derek Jacobi as the lovelorn Lord Fawn and Penelope Keith as his overbearing sibling, and Brideshead Revisited's Anthony Andrews (Lord Silverbridge) and Jeremy Irons (Frank Tregear). Special features include a 36-page viewer's guide, an interview with Susan Hampshire (Lady Glencora), and information on Anthony Trollope, his fiction, and the Trollope Society. --Tara Chace

The Pallisers, Set 1

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What would you get if you combined the BBC, six Victorian novels, and a cheesy 1970s soap opera? Well, this! The Pallisers is as lavish in its aristocratic intrigues (political scandal and opportunity, lecherous dukes, palatial country houses, a world where everyone knows their place) as it is in its soap opera aesthetic (characters' tumultuous struggles for power, money, love). This made-for-television production is a strange blend of exquisite costuming, remarkable sets, and surprisingly good acting on the one hand and video-quality production and an utterly melodramatic script on the other. Definitely pleasurable viewing for all who enjoy watching the period passion, pomp, and politics of upper-class Victorians.

Set 1 contains the first 8 episodes of the BBC's 26-episode serialization of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels (1865-1880), introducing Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glencora, whose politically expedient marriage sets the stage for the rest of the Palliser dynasty's saga. The DVD's special features include a 36-page viewer's guide, an interview with Susan Hampshire (Lady Glencora), and information on Anthony Trollope, his fiction, and the Trollope Society. --Tara Chace

The Pallisers, Set 2

Amazon Price: $53.99 List Price: $59.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Acorn Media Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $25.77

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What would you get if you combined the BBC, six Victorian novels, and a cheesy 1970s soap opera? Well, this! The Pallisers is as lavish in its aristocratic intrigues (political scandal and opportunity, lecherous dukes, palatial country houses, a world where everyone knows their place) as it is in its soap opera aesthetic (characters' tumultuous struggles for power, money, love). This made-for-television production is a strange blend of exquisite costuming, remarkable sets, and surprisingly good acting on the one hand and video-quality production and an utterly melodramatic script on the other. Definitely pleasurable viewing for all who enjoy watching the period passion, pomp, and politics of upper-class Victorians.

Set 2 contains episodes 9 through 17 of the BBC's 26-episode serialization of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels (1865-1880), following Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glencora's rise to an even higher social echelon and the challenges that their growing family must face. These episodes emphasize two family intimates--the ambitious and attractive Phineas Finn, who divides his energies between politics and romance, and Lizzie Eustace, the comely young widow with diamond troubles. The splendid cast includes Derek Jacobi as the lovelorn Lord Fawn and Penelope Keith as his overbearing sibling. The DVD's special features include a new interview with Susan Hampshire (Lady Glencora) and cast filmographies. --Tara Chace

The Pallisers, Set 3

Amazon Price: $53.99 List Price: $59.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Acorn Media Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $28.59

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Complete at last 5 out of 5 stars.
33 of 34 people found this review helpful.

At last all 26 episodes of are available on Acorn Media DVDs! The concluding 9 parts are on 4 discs and finish the tale of "Planty" Palliser, his wife Glencora, and the countless other characters--major and minor, high born and low--that have crowded the screen in what the jacket blurb calls "one of the most popular series ever to air on PBS."

The entire story would be high-class soap opera if it were not for the truly human characters Trollope has given us and for the political truths that motivate the framing plots around the Palliser family's own story. I have already commented on many of them in past reviews, but the major one here is as timely as could possibly be. Planty (Philip Latham) is a strong Liberal but all through his career as Prime Minister has not passed one significant bill, being intent only on keeping a shaky coalition between his party and the Conservatives. He is deeply shocked and offended when his son (Anthony Andrews) goes into Parliament as a Conservative. More to the point, the father is put up against a wall of his own making when his son wants to marry not only the girl of his own choice but an American one at that. Suddenly he realizes that all his liberal ideas do not work-- for him! The governing class, he thinks, must work by its own rules. Well, just read the papers to see how that way of thinking works out.

It would also be difficult to miss the similarity between current events and the subplot of how the cad Lopez forces the Prime Minister to do "the right thing," is driven to suicide by high society, and then after his death gains their sympathy, helping to bring down the government.

The artistic direction continues to be just about perfect, as Susan Hampshire points out in one of the three interviews given as a special feature on these DVDs. Even the manners--the simultaneous tipping of men's hats as the ladies appear--seem just right. And there is great humor in the scene in which Planty tries to explain to the Americans how the family of a nobleman are not themselves noble but "commoners"--still, by no means "common."

Now perhaps someone will get that other grand Susan Hampshire series, "The Forsyte Saga," onto a recording. But until then, grab this offering from Acorn Media.

Editorial Review:

The social intrigues and parliamentary maneuverings of the great Palliser family come to a dramatic conclusion with the last nine episodes of this addictive 26-part series. Lady Glencora struggles amidst adversity to hold her family together and retain its social standing.