South Riding (2010)

Product Description From acclaimed writer Andrew Davies comes the lush series based on Winifred Holtby’s most acclaimed novel. When Sarah Burton returns to her hometown as headmistress she is full of ambition, determined to create a great school and to inspire her girls to take all they can from life. But in the aftermath of the First World War, the country is in depression and ideals are hard won. Lydia Holly, the scholarship girl from the shacks, is the most brilliant student Sarah has ever taught, but when her mother's health fails, her education must be sacrificed - there is nobody else to care for the children. Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall stands for everything Sarah despises: his family has farmed the South Riding for generations, their position uncontested. Yet Sarah cannot help being drawn to this proud, haunted and almost ruined man. South Riding is a rich, panoramic novel, bringing vividly to life a rural community on the brink of change. Amazon.com The BBC miniseries South Riding, a faithful adaptation of Winifred Holtby's novel, will charm fans of British and historical dramas, and of love stories for all ages. South Riding features an idealistic, spunky heroine in the form of Sarah Burton, played by the winsome Anna Maxwell Martin (who starred in director Andrew Davies's earlier spot-on period piece, Bleak House). The time is the early 1930s, when England is still reeling from the awful effects of the Great War, and, like the rest of the world, is struggling years into the Great Depression. South Riding focuses on a small, working-class town in Yorkshire, which just happens to be the hometown of our inspiring young heroine, who returns as headmistress of a local, failing girls' school, full of idealism and opinions. Britain's unforgiving class system is in strict effect as Sarah tilts against windmills to try to give all of South Riding's young women a chance at education and realizing their dreams. Davies's direction is unassuming yet brisk, as the viewer learns the history and lay of the land quickly, with Sarah's pushing back, gently but firmly, on the prejudices and sexism that shaped English society for centuries. With elements of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, To Sir with Love, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Lark Rise to Candleford, South Riding gives viewers a heroine to root for, and a lush historical period to immerse in. The acting is uniformly splendid, including Charlie Clark and Katherine McGolpin as two special young students who start at the school the same time as Miss Burton. And the town's mostly disapproving power brokers, including David Morrissey as Robert Carne, provide a formidable challenge for Sarah's modern ideas. Yet for all her willful independence, Sarah Burton also is drawn to the sparks of romance--which makes South Riding a satisfying journey for anyone who loves a good historical love story. --A.T. Hurley
ASIN: B004NBHVNQ
VSKU: DBV.B004NBHVNQ.G
Condition: Good
Binding: Dvd
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Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!