| | |  | ENGLAND | Home » » To the Manor Born: The Complete Collection (Silver Anniversary Edition) | | | | | | | Description: | | This popular 1979-81 British comedy series starred Penelope Keith as widowed Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, the former lady of Grantleigh Manor, who is forced by financial straits to sell her ancestral home to millionaire businessman Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles), while she moves into a caretaker's cottage on the estate. <> Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; documentary; featurette; 1979 Christmas special; four radio episodes. 21 episodes on 4 discs. 10 hrs. | | | Features: | |
• As beneficiary of Grantleigh Manor, the snobbish Lady fforbes-Hamilton becomes a happy widower upon the death of her husband. But in the face of her late husband's creditors, bank, and the government, she can no longer afford to maintain the family's hold on the estate. Reluctantly, she sees it auctioned to Richard De Vere (formerly Bedrich Polouvicka), a millionaire bachelor of Czechoslovakian ex
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Penelope Keith | | Format:
| Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 5 | | Studio:
| BBC Worldwide | | Run Time:
| 650 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| September 09, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 36 reviews |
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- Mint | | | $71.42+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $71.42+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $71.99+ $4.92 *Shipping | New | | | $72.50+ $8.43 *Shipping | New | | | $79.80+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $79.98+ $4.99 *Shipping | Collectible
- Mint | | | $98.55+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $98.55+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $165.97+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | |
| New | |
| $57.79+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $57.83 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | New | | | $59.55+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $59.99+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $61.04+ $4.42 *Shipping | New | | | $61.07+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $61.07+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $61.11+ $4.92 *Shipping | New | | | $62.16+ $3.99 *Shipping | New | | | $63.52+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $64.27+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $64.86+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $66.99+ $2.93 *Shipping | New | | | $71.42+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $71.99+ $4.92 *Shipping | New | | | $72.50+ $8.43 *Shipping | New | | | $79.80+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $98.55+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $165.97+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | |
| Used | |
| $48.95+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- VeryGood | | | $50.99+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- VeryGood | | | $51.94 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | Used
- Mint | | | $71.41+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $71.42+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $98.55+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | |
| Collectible | |
| $79.98+ $4.99 *Shipping | Collectible
- Mint | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 36 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
115 of 118 found the following review helpful:
 Re-release of great seriesJul 02, 2008
By Eric Pregosin
This very witty BBC series of the 70s stars Penelope Keith (formerly of The Good Life aka Good Neighbors) and Peter Bowles (many many supporting dramatic roles). When rich from birth Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton (Keith) loses her husband, she learns that he left her completely penniless and is forced to auction off the family manor. The estate gets bought Richard Devere (Bowles) an eccentric millionaire in the food business. Moving into a small cottage on the estate, Audrey with help from her friend Marjorie and her butler spends the next few years doing everything her power to get her ancestral home and place in society back including falling in love with the new "Lord of the Manor". This newly released set includes a newly released "silver anniversary" reunion disc which is also available separately for those of you who (like me) own the earlier released set. Chances are the earlier (blue) set will eventually get discontinued, so like series (plural) like Vicar of Dibley and others that have released revised box sets (years after previous releases of the "complete series"), the deal is this: if you have the old set like me, order the separate copy of the silver anniversary disc, if you don't, then order this set (currently a better price than the older set alone) and you'll get all the discs together.
42 of 43 found the following review helpful:
One of the Best Britcoms Gets an Anniversary SpecialJul 27, 2008
By Movie Mania
"DVD Collector"
To the Manor Born is the second best Britcom behind Butterflies. Twenty five years has passed since Audrey and Richard finally tied the knot. This rerelease is the fantastic orignal series plus the new 25th Anniversary Christmas special (which has not been shown in the US!!)
This dvd set contains all 21 episodes from the original 3 series plus the 25th Anniversary hourlong special.
Audrey fforbes-Hamilton's (Penolope Keith) husband has passed away (but she is really not mourning it). He has left her virtually penniless and she must save her family home (which she is mourning). The manor is sold to a self made foreign millionaire, Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles). While Audrey despises everything Richard stands for but there is definite sexual tension between them. With help of best friend Marjorie (Angela Thorne) and Richard's mother, Mrs. Poo (Daphhe Heard), Richard and Audrey will find happiness. The series finale ends with two happy endings (I won't spoil it but it will not surprise you.)
Jump 25 years later, it's the Dever's 25th Wedding Anniversary and Audrey is going to celebrate it in style but it is going to take everyone's effort to save the day and the town.
This is one of the best comedy series ever (British or American). It has witty writing, razor sharp direction and a perfect cast. Penelope Keith has proven to be one of Britan's great comic geniouses (she has had over half a dozen hit comedies.)
Just buy this set and just plan and laugh alot.
25 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Excellent SetSep 30, 2008
By History Buff
If you're a fan of the show then you must have this dvd set. The transfer quality is excellent. I have one suggestion though...for some reason they put the Christmas special at the end of the dvd set and it really should be watched after the first dvd so it is in sequence with the series.
15 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Some are born great...Sep 21, 2008
By FrKurt Messick
"FrKurt Messick"
'To the Manor Born' is one of the better Brit-coms, witty and intelligent without being over-the-top or inaccessible. It has an oh-so-British tone to it, deliberately so, as it looks with grace and humour at the clash of cultures in modern Britain, the clash between tradition and modernity (finding out that neither is always what it seems), as well as the clash between social classes. All of this is done in such a light-hearted manor, er, manner, that one scarcely realises the biting and insightful satire that runs alongside the comedic situations.
The series begins as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, a straight-backed, upper-crust woman of breeding who revels in her situation, is celebrating the funeral of her husband (yes, celebrating). Meanwhile, Richard Devere, wealthy (read, nouveau riche) financial officer heading a multinational conglomerate of food stores, arrives in the village in search of a classic gentleman's period home in the English countryside. As Audrey's husband was not one to keep up with the bills, she discovers that she is in fact bankrupt, and is forced to sell the manor. Richard Devere buys it at auction; Audrey is a surprising twist retains the estate's hunting lodge down the road, and the stage is set for the tensions between new homeowner and historical lady of the manor.
Supplementing the main characters are Audrey's best friend Marjorie, who variously has designs on Richard Devere, but these are almost always thwarted; Richard's mother, Mrs. Pu (Poluviska, actually, but the name is reduced for ease by Audrey); Ned, the traditional groundskeeper who helps keep the traditions alive with Audrey; and finally, Brabinger, the quintessential English butler, who relocates to the old lodge with his mistress Audrey, and always has a few suprises up his sleeve.
There are twenty-one episodes in all from the original series 25 years ago, filmed and broadcast over a two-year period in 1979-1981. These run from the start of Audrey's losing the manor through to her regaining the manor, along with the hand of Richard in marriage, but not by the means often expected throughout the series. Throughout the episodes, Audrey is constantly introduced to 'ordinary life', from having to rely on the National Health for her doctor rather than private-pay, personal service, to having difficulties in shopping in supermarkets (Devere's, as it turns out) and not being able to entertain as she once did, or go on holiday (this makes for perhaps the best episode of the lot, save for the first and final episodes). Meanwhile, Devere gets lessons in being lord of the manor by the ever-present Audrey, who counsels him on everything from horse-purchasing to community responsbilities. Despite his wealth, Audrey says, 'he is still at the bottom of it all a grocer.' This is a biting commentary -- the upper-class disdain for the working class is an undercurrent here, and the entitled/en-nobled folk in Parliament used to insult both Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher, who were both children of shopkeepers, by using the term 'grocer' to describe them.
From the threadbare carpets to the when-we-were-in-India knick-knacks to the church clock that never worked properly, this is a wonderfully crafted comedy trip through a slice of British culture that is both past and future. These are not 'issues' episodes -- 'To the Manor Born' educates by stealth. One might be completely unaware of having been taught ways of acting and being. Grantley Manor is a perfect backdrop (shot in a town with the very English-sounding name of Cricket St. Thomas), and the actors are perfectly selected. Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton has the kind of mannerisms and deadpan delivery befitting a displaced socialite; Peter Bowles has the blustering presence as a self-assured businessman flustered in his new environment. Old Ned (played by MIchael Bilton) and Brabinger (John Rudling) are perfected cast in both physical type and acting ability. Angela Thorne as Marjorie Frobisher, the life-long friend of Audrey, always in her shadow, is great as the 'straight man' against whom Audrey's humour unfolds.
Much to the delight of fans, many of the regulars reunited to produce a Silver Anniversary special, which shows the progress after a quarter of a century for Audrey and Richard, neighbour Marjorie Frobisher, and even the same befuddled rector.
There is an earlier DVD release that does not contain the Silver Anniversary special. If you have that packaging already, you only really need to get the separate DVD of the special. If, however, you have yet to purchase this gem (or have it on VHS), you would put a real touch of class into your life by getting this series.
This is a perfect show, certain to win the heart of any Anglophile.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Best Birthday present the recipient (who is 51) has ever recievedOct 09, 2008
By Victoria Blake
"Victoria Blake"
My mom has been watching her personally recorded VHS casettes of this show for 20 years. She said that it is amazing the stuff that she missed. First of all, when the episodes aired in America, evidentally they cut off the very beginning and/or end (teasers, if you will) of the show. By the time you combine all of the new footage, it's like a whole new episode. Then there is the famed grandfather clock. She assumed that it was an English antique. WIth the clarity of DVD she was actually able to see for the first time that it is a beautifully intricate Chinese Clock. And don't forget the anniversary show is in this pack, as well. FANTASTIC! If you ever watched this show, this is the gift for you! Don't miss the interviews. Very fun, and interesting.
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