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Butterflies: Complete BBC Series Collection (8 Disc Box Set)
RRP: £89.99
Our Price: £39.88 (subject to change)
Good if Imperfect Set...
Review date: 2008-04-04 Rating: 8 out of 10
On the plus side Acorn's set of the "complete" Butterflies is relatively complete (unlike the recent The Good Life collection) and contains a good transfer of the four seasons of this seminal TV show. The transfer of the show (which ran from 1978-1983) looks quite good despite its age. There is also an interesting, informative, if too brief interview with Butterflies creator Carla Lane.
On the downside viewers can access the episodes only via a Play All function. There are no links to specific episodes and this is quite annoying. Additionally, the set does not contain the 13 minute reunion of the cast (save for Michael Ripper) for the Beeb's Children in Need aid programme. It should. This points up once again the far too haphazard aspects of many BBC TV box sets. Compare this with the all but the kitchen sink nature of many American TV show box sets. Come on BBC put some effort into it.
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Reviews
A gentle 1970s comedy - a look back down memory lane.
Review date: 2008-03-08 Rating: 8 out of 10
A very accurate review by "Three Legged Cat"
I only saw a few episodes when it was first shown in the late 1970s, and I remember I seemed to like it. It has apparently been repeated since on the BBC but I missed it.
Having watched the box set now I can add that it is very much a comedy focusing on mid-life crises (of all the three main characters) - perhaps that's why I'm drawn to it as I'm now well into my forties. One, niggling aspect of the writing is that the dialog sometimes slips into a personal Carla Lane rant (animal welfare etc), although, as I have most of Carla Lane's collections it is not totally unexpected.
As an aside, I have just finished watching the 'My Family' boxset, and it seems slightly odd that both series deal with a dysfunctional family consisting of a dentist called Ben and their slightly confused wifes!
A few remarks about the actual DVD production. The video and audio quality are excellent - besides the obvious giveaway of 1970s suburbia they look as if they could have been filmed yesterday. The only fault I can find, and hence the 4 out of 5, is that the attractively simple DVD menus provided do not contain an episode selection, which is a real pain when trying to get back to to next episode. The only way to select an episode is to skip though the whole chapter menu until you find it.
Other than the DVD menu, which is obviously an irritation to me at least, I would highly recommend this series, although I doubt many under forties would find it racy enough, or understand the subtlety of this gentle 1970s comedy. Also as I write, this boxset is at a bargain price from Amazon.
Love is like a Butterfly
Review date: 2008-01-24 Rating: 10 out of 10
Butterflies made in 1978-1983 was written by Carla Lane. It is a bitter sweet comedy about Ria Parkinson (Wendy Craig) a bored housewife, living in Cheltenham with her butterfly collecting dentist husband Ben (Geoffrey Palmer) and two grown sons Russell (Andrew Hall) and Adam (pre - only fools and horses Nicholas Lyndhurst).
Ria although happily married, feels her life is passing her by, locked in her suburban prison, her only occupation being never ending house work. Being taken for granted by both her husband and sons, when Ria meets by chance, the captivating Leonard Dunn (Bruce Montague) in a local café , it's a question of does Ria love Ben enough to remain faithful to him ?
After reading the above you might be mistaken in thinking that butterflies is heavy going, or full of lies and adultery...its neither! Its highly watch able, truly funny and above all, clever (something that seems to be missing from most modern sitcoms!).
Ok I'll be honest it's not your laugh out loud a minute comedy, it's subtle and more real. The characters don't do sitcom acting or reactions, they keep it grounded which adds to the realistic feel of Butterflies. As you watch you are genuinely torn along with Ria, swapping allegiance between Ben and Leonard, and caught up in the everyday stupidity of family life. I thoroughly enjoyed watching butterflies despite being unsure if it was going to be my kind of program. Butterflies deals with the question of being faithful to your spouse. Its not going to be light and fluffy, but a meaty program, which you can get your teeth into and chew over !
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Wendy Craig
Bruce Montague
Nicholas Lyndhurst
Andrew Hall
Geoffrey Palmer
Creators:
Wendy Craig (Primary Contributor)
Geoffrey Palmer (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Acorn Media
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
EAN: 5036193090592
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 8
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-06-13
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 840 minutes
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)