Our Zoo

Lee Ingleby plays George Mottershead, a wounded ex First World War soldier left with post traumatic stress. He has a loving family and loves animals.

Helped by money from his parents he purchases a manor in the early 1930s and turns it to Chester Zoo but has to deal with some opposition from prominent locals and officialdom.

Of course despite the hardship George endures, we realise that he will eventually triumph as Chester Zoo is still going strong and this is inspired by true events. However as with the feature film 'We bought a Zoo' the series is more about the journey, triumphing over adversity and being together as a family. The series also has the feel good factor of exotic animals being introduced to the grim north of the 1930s and allowing the makers to have dimly lit interiors and some two dimensional villains who think George is having a delusional flight of fancy.

George might be an idealist and you do find yourself rooting for him there is something rather derivative about Our Zoo. Maybe it wants to channel the success of Call the Midwife but got nowhere near reaching the levels of All Creatures Great and Small and not helped by its grim colours and gloomy mood. A drama about a zoo should had been bright and colourful.

The show never quite took off in the ratings and ended up being cancelled after one series by the BBC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series from start to finish. The plot, storyline and portrayal of the characters was excellent. The fact that this dramatization was based on a true story made it all the more remarkable and unique. The setting was beautiful and the animals were believable for the out start of a zoo for that time period. The wardrobe and costumes were also exquisite especially at the Charity Ball. The characters themselves were likable and you could connect with each of the family members and their supportive friends. The actors were so well chosen and represented their roles perfectly. The script was well written and enhanced the storyline so well. My admiration goes to the writers and producers for putting together such a brilliant adaptation of this true story. I'm disappointed that the series has ended and feel there must be more to the on going story or tales of the zoo after it was officially opened.

OUR ZOO tells the story of George Mottershead (Lee Ingleby) and his family, who founded Chester Zoo in the early Thirties in the face of considerable pressure from the local people of Upton as well as the Ministry of Health. The story is a familiar one common to British movies (remember PASSPORT TO PIMLICO (1949), or THE TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT (1953)) of the underdog triumphing against apparently impossible odds.

Directed by Andy de Emmony, Robert McKillop, and Saul Metzstein, this six-part drama series emphasizes the importance of family values as a way of resisting bureaucracies. Despite occasional differences of opinion - especially in the last episode, as George prepares to fight the court case - George, his wife Lizzie (Liz White), and their two children (Honor Kneafsey, Amelia Clarkson) stay together through thick and thin, even if they have to endure several difficult times in the process. The move from their cramped little shop to the newly- purchased stately home and gardens (the location for the zoo) is a traumatic one, especially for Muriel (who wants to continue her relationship with Christopher (Perry Glasspool). They experience continual problems of making financial ends meet, and subsequently have to endure the villagers' almost unanimous opposition to the project. The fact that they emerge triumphant in the end offers a comment on today's society; despite the preoccupation with individualism (a by-product of capitalist values), community loyalty often provides the surest means of achieving one's ends.

George's parents (Anne Reid, Peter Wight) clearly understand the importance of this dictum, as they act unselfishly in their son's interests, rather than continuing their humdrum lives as co-owners of a greengrocer's shop. Both actors offer portrayals of stable, level-headed personalities, the kind of people that keep George's feet on the ground as he tries to fulfill his dream.

Stylistically speaking, OUR ZOO is shot in a series of dimly-lit interior sequences, reflecting the realities of life during the Thirties. The program's location-work is particularly convincing, especially in the opening episode, where the Mottishead's life in a cramped back-to-back terraced development proves constricting, both physically and mentally. Sometimes Matt Charman and Adam Kemp's script incorporates some linguistic anachronisms that wouldn't have been uttered by people living in early Thirties Britain, but its emphasis on so-called "old-fashioned" values such as the strength of the family is both touching and heart-warming. OUR ZOO is definitely a series worth spending time with.

Think4Yourself thinks... (6 stars). This was a delightful and inspiring story that was hurt by inconsistent writing that made the characters act in strange ways just to create drama and conflict. If they would have stuck to the main story this deserving show could have earned more than one season. It filled a niche that is under-represented on TV, a light, friendly story that revolves around science and nature and ambition. The cast was entertaining and Lee Ingleby did a fine job as the lead.

Scant few scenes of wildlife interacting with humans interwoven with old timey British melodrama. If your kids don't have an iPad maybe they'll enjoy. Pretty boring.