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The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [DVD] [1997]
![The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [DVD] [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Q1E6QNQNL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £29.99
Our Price: £32.00 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Lakes brought writer Jimmy McGovern and actor John Simm a great deal of critical praise in 1997. Following a particularly dry period for British TV drama, the show's realistic characterisations and their painfully honest decisions hit audiences hard. Simm is a twentysomething trapped in a life of compulsive gambling, theft and being on the dole in Liverpool. On a whim he heads north to the Lake District. He expects to find the countryside quietude where his hidden poetical leanings might find a home, but instead gets caught up in a community like any other. Lies, temptation and tragedy beset every household just as much as the big city. The focus of Series 1 is Danny's relationship with Emma (Emma Cunniffe) and the consequences of having a child. As time races by, his link to the Lakes becomes an exercise in torment when the eyes of blame fall easily upon him after the accidental deaths of four schoolgirls. Stoking the flames of a series of secondary explosions in waiting are a pair of affairs, one adulterous, the other complicated by religion. In the far longer sequel series that came two years later, these back-stories would come to the fore. Although exploring Danny's tortured soul might have been the obvious continuation, instead an almost Hitchcockian murder scenario occupies far more screen time. But by stretching things out, this second series does not have the same self-contained impact of the original. Additional writers only served to drag out Danny's boy-to-man journey. Ultimately, lessons are learned, including the realistic conclusion that life is without a poetical status quo. Despite the tail-off in overall quality, you'd be hard pressed to identify a better British drama in the years since. On the DVD: The Lakes complete series 1 and 2 box set comes with two separate commentary tracks for the very first episode. In interviews, John Simm fondly recalls how cold the lake water was and director David Blair recalls putting him in it. It's a shame the two weren't recorded together. It's also a shame that's all there is in this package. Even a few cast biographies would have been welcome. Picture is 4:3 and stereo sound is as you'd expect from 1990s UK TV. --Paul Tonks
Superlative drama
Review date: 2010-01-30 Rating: 10 out of 10
I'm only writing this review so that I can award 5 stars - I struggle to believe there are people out there who would give this amazing series any less. I didn't watch the Lakes when it was originally screened on the BBC (I was a bit too young), only watching it on DVD recently, but it was still fresh, shocking and different. Likewise my friends didn't watch it back then either, and there is now a waiting list amongst them to borrow my DVD as we are all raving about it. It is Jimmy McGovern and therefore contains lots of swearing, sex and violence (and is not a true reflection of typical Lake District life!) but this is all fundamental to the story and only bordered on gratuitous in one or two places. If you are easily offended you might want to avoid, but for me the fabulous story, script, characters, scenery and performances make the Lakes one of the best dramas I've ever watched.
ReviewsCompelling TV!Review date: 2009-07-07 Rating: 6 out of 10While I enjoyed it I thought this series had minr flaws.the main character was good but I thought they could have improved more on possibly plot development.I thought series 2 was an improvement too.Are There Two Jimmy McGoverns?Review date: 2009-01-03 Rating: 4 out of 10As anyone who watched the ITV "Cracker" series will be aware, Jimmy McGovern was a writer who could combine hard-edged drama with well fleshed-out and wholly believable characters, in plots which both intrigued and compelled and left the viewer feeling a certain sense of admiration for the whole production.
Well, bad news - either the original Mr. McGovern has changed tack, or someone else is using his name to lure people into to buying this pointless, northern farce!
Admittedly, it is suitably "drab" (as befits it's location), but it's unbelievably condesending to the local communities (who only seem to exist to procreate as widely as possible between themselves) and the "plots" are absolutley the stuff of West End theatre farce! "Oh no, there's a dead body in the boot of my car! I really hope that the Police don't find it. Aargh, what's this? One of them has driven into the back of my car in a freak accident and the boot lid has flown open ...!?".
Believe me, this series is the entertainment equivelant of wallpaper paste in the mouth! Avoid.
Gets 2 stars because it's well shot and the cast do an amazingly good job of treating it all very seriously.Ballsy!Review date: 2008-11-07 Rating: 10 out of 10A decade or so after seeing this series on TV, I was back in the groove in a matter of seconds, thanks to the dramatic scenery and punchy script. At times the atmosphere is as threatening as the big Lakeland skies but the hotel workers' romps provide plenty of light relief.
John Simm is rightly praised for his starring role but Jimmy McGovern's well-crafted characters are done full justice by great casting and performances all round. Chef, Chef's wife, the hotel manageress, the priest, the sister-in-law ... I could go on and on. The humour is black and sardonic, as might be expected from McGovern, but there are opportunities to laugh out loud as various revenge sub-plots unfold.
While series one is the stronger of the two, the second sets a standard that few TV dramas match. Memorable viewing and (with apologies to Chef) ballsy too!One of the worst series everReview date: 2008-10-30 Rating: 2 out of 10WIth my love of the Ullswater area of the Lake District and having seen John Simm do a great job in Life on Mars I was looking forward to The Lakes.
What a disappointment, it was little short of a soft-porn movie set in a beautiful part of the country. It had very weak plots, boringly slow action (espcially series 2).
I am amazed this series ever got made, let alone went in to a second series. The BBC should hang it's head in shame for broadcasting it!
Product Details/SpecificationsActor(s):
Dicken Ashworth
Zienia Merton
Danny McGrath
Marshall Lancaster
Norman Rodway
Creators:
Dicken Ashworth (Primary Contributor)
Zienia Merton (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Second Sight Films Ltd. Manufacturer: Second Sight Films Ltd.EAN: 5028836030591Binding: DVDNumber of items: 4Format: PAL, Release date: 2003-10-06Aspect ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and overRegion code: 2Running time: 612 minutesLanguage: English (Original Language)
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![The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [DVD] [1997]](picts/logo.png){kind=logo}