Love For Lydia (British Mini-series)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: B-

 

 

The British TV Mini-series dramas tend to hold up very well and have a style and feel of their own unequaled or like anything that American, Australian, or Canadian TV managed to produce.  Growing up, I noticed this, but was always bored with the look and length of these productions for the most part, then the New Romantics of Music Video gloriously hijacked their look and the rest is history.  Because of its semi-successful attempt at a sprawling love story, Love for Lydia (1977) made me think of such things.

 

Lydia (Mel Martin) is a somewhat wild jazz flapper gal in the late 1920s, but instead of staying a free spirit, she suddenly gets the attention of Richardson (Christopher Blake), who starts falling in love with her.  If they did not, we would not have a mini-series.  There are the usual ups and downs, then an eventual resolution, if you can call it that.  Fans of “quality art TV” will say that this is the way top do this kind of story, but it could be argued that melodrama is dragged out until it is supposedly unrecognizable due to acting and a literate teleplay.  That does not ruin the show, but probably thins out the point like many a British feature film.

 

However, what also makes such shows work is the attention to detail, interaction, and a feel of authenticity.  Though there is some stretching out to speak of, all 13 installments of Love for Lydia add up to a good coherent narrative.  I would still have a drawn-out narrative than something that forgets what a narrative is and wastes my time, which this show did not.  Peter Davidson (Doctor Who, At Home With The Braithwaites) and Jeremy Irons add to a very well rounded cast of the kinds of British actors you know are good and have seen before, but most Americans can never seem to name.  They are among the many who have cast filmographies on DVD 1, along with a stills gallery and biography on author H.E. Bates, on whose book this series is based.

 

The 1.33 X 1 full frame image is of the diffused PAL format type just discussed, but the British managed to make an art out of the limits of their analog TV signal.  Color is also slightly faded, but still a bit better than if this were produced in the NTSC analog video format The United States is so well known for.  This look creates its own world, which the British had dominated for years.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also good, but shows its age a bit, but the voices were well recorded enough.  It helped me believe the romance enough and is recommended for those who like this type of storytelling, all 650 minutes of it.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo