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The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [1997]


RRP: £29.99
Our Price: £10.89 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The Lakes brought writer Jimmy McGovern and actor John Simm a great deal of critical praise in 1997. Following a particularly dry period for British TV drama, the show's realistic characterisations and their painfully honest decisions hit audiences hard. Simm is a twentysomething trapped in a life of compulsive gambling, theft and being on the dole in Liverpool. On a whim he heads north to the Lake District. He expects to find the countryside quietude where his hidden poetical leanings might find a home, but instead gets caught up in a community like any other. Lies, temptation and tragedy beset every household just as much as the big city.

The focus of Series 1 is Danny's relationship with Emma (Emma Cunniffe) and the consequences of having a child. As time races by, his link to the Lakes becomes an exercise in torment when the eyes of blame fall easily upon him after the accidental deaths of four schoolgirls. Stoking the flames of a series of secondary explosions in waiting are a pair of affairs, one adulterous, the other complicated by religion.

In the far longer sequel series that came two years later, these back-stories would come to the fore. Although exploring Danny's tortured soul might have been the obvious continuation, instead an almost Hitchcockian murder scenario occupies far more screen time. But by stretching things out, this second series does not have the same self-contained impact of the original. Additional writers only served to drag out Danny's boy-to-man journey. Ultimately, lessons are learned, including the realistic conclusion that life is without a poetical status quo. Despite the tail-off in overall quality, you'd be hard pressed to identify a better British drama in the years since.

On the DVD: The Lakes complete series 1 and 2 box set comes with two separate commentary tracks for the very first episode. In interviews, John Simm fondly recalls how cold the lake water was and director David Blair recalls putting him in it. It's a shame the two weren't recorded together. It's also a shame that's all there is in this package. Even a few cast biographies would have been welcome. Picture is 4:3 and stereo sound is as you'd expect from 1990s UK TV. --Paul Tonks

Editorial
Synopsis

Acknowledged as one of the best drama series of the Nineties', THE LAKES is the dark, bitter-sweet tale of Danny Kavanagh (JOHN SIMM) a typical inner-city wide-boy who leaves the grime and crime of Liverpool for the a (hopefully) better life in the Lake District. However, his attempts to fit in do not go down will with the locals, leading to tragic consequences.

I want more!
Review date: 2008-04-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

I have just finished watching both discs of The Lakes having missed it on its original run. The first series is the best but the second is still good viewing and the cast are great together. I watched the episodes back to back, a first for me and all I can say is I am missing not having any more to watch & even though everything was tied up in the end, I wish there was more to see. Brilliant.

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Reviews


One of the greatest TV dramas in the last 30 years
Review date: 2007-04-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

You can read enough about the plot in the other reviews, just to say there are moments in Series 1 when I was poised on the edge of my seat, totally immersed in what was happening, feeling the tension, which is not something I've had Tv make me do in years. Series 1 will stand the test of time as great drama. Series 2 feels like a distant releative of series 1. Still great, and parts of it are great fun, but the tension of series 1 isn't there. Still better than pretty much everything else on Tv these days though.

Great British drama
Review date: 2007-03-20 Rating: 8 out of 10

I enjoyed The Lakes, I thought it was an exceptionally good bit of drama, and as usual, John Simm stands out in the cast.

However. There were a couple of niggles which is why I gave it four stars rather than five. The actress who plays Lucy Archer, who is supposed to be 17, was 24 when the first series was filmed, and unfortunately it shows. It's very jarring, and even more so in the second series two years later. She is very good in the role, but the fact that she looks so much older required a constant readjustment on my part as the viewer in remembering that she's still supposed to be in the lower 6th.

The other niggle is regarding the second series. The first series was, although shorter, significantly better. The second threatened to drop into melodramatic Eastenders-style writing, with affairs, murder, kidnap, lesbians (come on...that Doctor and her girlfriend plot was *so* unrequired!)...very well acted, but a little OTT. It would have been better, IMHO, if they had trimmed the plots to a more believeable level, and let the characters take them.

All that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and watched both series over a weekend, having planned for it to last a fortnight. So definitely worth a watch.

Groundbraking drama-Breathtaking scenery!
Review date: 2006-03-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

This excellent drama is now 9 years old (1997), and it's still as good seen many times as the first. The acting is first class, and it's all set in the best part of England, the Lake District. The only problem I could see when it first went out on air, was that people who have never been to the English lakes may think that life's like that! Nothing could be further from the truth.

This will change your TV habits for good!
Review date: 2006-03-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

At the risk of being seen just to pour out more superlatives on this series, I challenge you to begin watching this box set - and see if your original plans to watch one episode a night don't quickly come unstuck.

I remember when this was first on telly - the exquisite agony of having to wait a whole week for my next fix. Don't punish yourself any longer - Here's my prescription...

Get this box set and put aside one week of tawdry soaps and "You Are What You.... What Not to Wear - Celebrity Specials" and all the tired, bland & unconvincing posturing of Spooks et al.

Watch this series and I guarantee - Yes, GUARANTEE! - that you will never waste your life watching such below par filler ever again! That's a cheap price to pay for getting your own life back. Just do it!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Marshall Lancaster
Norman Rodway
Dicken Ashworth
Zienia Merton
Danny McGrath

Creators:
Dicken Ashworth (Primary Contributor)
Zienia Merton (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Second Sight Films Ltd.
Manufacturer: Second Sight Films Ltd.
EAN: 5028836030591
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-10-06
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 612 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1994
Language: English (Original Language)

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