The Barchester Chronicles

Bumped it up in my Alan Rickman Netflix Queue after I suddenly got assigned the Editorship of this show on TV.com after making a few corrections to the sparse data I found here (was correcting some Rickman info errors). It had been near the bottom of the list.

It just didn't sound really interesting and had listed Alan as a supporting character. Holy Understatement, Batman. Without the presence of Alan Rickman and Nigel Hawthorne, this seven-part mini-series is full of weakly drawn, predictably-to-badly portrayed British-mini characters. I am not familiar with the works of Anthony Trollope, but I can't believe his popularity came from writing about such lame people with such muddy motivations or about such caricatured types who perpetually sing the same note.

The ONLY reasons I give it anything above a 3 are the rich characterizations drawn by Alan Rickman and Nigel Hawthorne, and both are such a devilish delight, they more than doubled the score this production would have gotten from me otherwise. Unfortunately, Rickman's Rev Slope doesn't even show up till episode 3.

As show Editor, I've written episode summaries and detailed recaps and provided one show quote per episode; more specific criticism and praise can be found in the words and phrases I chose to describe each installment, and I offer my personal opinions and impressions in the reviews: if you disagree, write a review yourself. TV.com encourages it.

This is relatively early Rickman, but he is already so clearly superior and complicated in his work, it seems a shame that he hasn't enjoyed greater success and note in America. I feel he is frequently under-used, but such is the nature of the increasingly "fast-food" mentality permeating "the arts." I may now look up some more of Nigel Hawthorne's work as well. Seriously, the performances of these two in The Barchester Chronicles are worth the tedium of the rest of it.moreless

The Barchester Chronicles blew past my expectations. At first, I had expected same old same old plot development but twist after turn of excitement and action just way exceeded my expectations. Mind you, there were some problems (most discontinuity issues) that I don't have the time to mention but all in all, a solid 9.