The Shillingbury Tales

The scenes are well handled by director Val Guest, and purely original writing by author Francis Essex, who wrote the entire series, and a joyful theme by Ed Welch.

Shillingbury Tales is a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Raise The Titanic, and I recommend this series very highly indeed.


Shillinbury Tales   April 17, 2007
Kibbie 1968 (Brighton, England)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

It was with great excitement that I orderd this DVD, thinking back to my youth , watching this series with my parents on a sunday night. Ive had the book for many years, and have read it over and over, still remembering bits of it on the TV screan.

It was like jumping back into my childhood watching these, and it brought back so many happy memouries, when the world was so innocent, and the 70/80s outfits ! My mother even cringed at some of the dresses and remembers trying to style her hair like Dianes.

If you want something easy going for a wet and cold winters night, this dvd is perfect, just have a huge mug of tea, curl up on the sofa and forget the cold outside, as the warm glow of an innocent time will warm you to the bone. It does get a bit slushy at times, but you just know that they are in love and nothing can divide them.


Nice, but with serious faults   June 22, 2006
Czech film fan (Czech Republic)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

What a nice series it is! It's nicer than a cake-baking granny whose just been appointed executive director for niceness in Nice International plc. Unfortunately all this niceness does come at a price, as the storylines are very weak and often enough the characters are a bit two-dimensional (especially the Jack Douglas "grumpy farmer with a heart of gold" character). This series is really about wallowing in gooey, sweet, yummy nostalgia, which is no bad thing, although they sometimes lay it on a bit thick. So one star knocked off for that.
I also knocked a star off for picture quality. A couple of years ago, I would have accepted the kind of quality on these DVDs, but in a way Network DVD has made a rod for its own back by doing such a good job of remastering some programmes. I've seen the remastered Sweeney and Sykes DVDs, and they are absolutely tremendous. Unfortunately, this series looks quite washed out or muddy in places. Colour balance is also awful in a few scenes, which look as if they were shot with a green or yellow filter on the lens. Editing is quite amateurish, and in one episode you even get a "COMMERCIAL BREAK" sign flashed up for no apparent reason. But at least the series was shot on film and not videotape, so it does have the look of a classy (and expensive) production. It's just a shame they couldn't have put a bit of that money into writing better scripts.
All in all, not perfect but very good value for money.



A nice gentle series of country folk 'Ohh Arrrr' !   August 7, 2006
NEO (orpington kent)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

I am old enough to remember this series first airing way back in 1980, which makes me feel very old indeed. Anyway it starred Robin Nedwell who was a big 1970's star in such series as 'The Doctors' (not the new BBC SHOW). And the lovely Diane Keen again a big 70's star who was in everything from 'The Sweeney' to various sit-coms of the era. And there is Jack douglas as the grupmy farmer who likes to stir trouble in the village. This is a dated series about country life with not a lot going on. Its much in the same vain as the nebulous 'Where the heart is ' & the dull 'Heartbeat'. But this series is better helped by the brilliant acting of the main cast. My main memory of the series is of Diane Keen and Jack douglas driving a green 'Talbot matra Rancho'.Which I guess says it all for this series as it makes little impact then and now. The Dvd quality is poor with a washed out image and the sound is scratchy. This is a good buy all the same, as it's pure nostalgia of a life so far removed from reality !.