Drovers' Gold

The "Radio Times" claimed that an upcoming TV series (Jericho) has been described as "Britain's first Western". Everyone seems to have forgotten this series, which portrayed the adventures of a group of Welsh cattle drovers in the early 19th century. Before cattle began to be transported by rail, they had to be driven across country from the farmlands to livestock markets such as London's Smithfield.

The series was shown during the summer, but I'm surprised that it has attracted so little attention on this site. I don't remember many details of the plot but I know it was a dramatic and exciting story. The experienced Welsh actor Robert Pugh was one of the leads.

Why a bunch of cattle owners would allow a group of completely incompetent and bumbling foos drive their cattle to London I will never understand. These clowns couldn't drive a poodle from the living room to the kitchen. Now admittedly, there's some pretty countryside and even some lovely ladies, but the writing and dialogue cannot be overcome by these trifles. The acting is decent, and you will have to overlook some ridiculous wigs. Honestly, there's one that's really quite distracting it's so obvious and awful. The story is excellent, but sadly there's far too many situations where the characters act in such impossible and unreasonable ways that it derails any authenticity and gets quite tedious midway through the 6 episode running time. They end up being annoying caricatures. All fighting and action sequences are laughable to the extreme. Just too many disconnections from reality for me to offer much enjoyment. Add the plot holes and cliches and you are left with eye rolling nonsense. Too bad. The potential was there, but woeful execution was the downfall of this show. Now, back to those wigs. Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

I loved this series. All the actors were wonderful; there were the several leads, of course, but the ensemble, including some child actors, were outstanding. The cattle are in each segment, and their animal management seems to have been outstanding with little evidence of any harm to animals. I am particurly fond of Geraldine James with her seemingly understated but passionate acting style, but everyone, including the youngest actors, are wonderful.

I don't agree with the reviewer stating it is (just) a "western", much as I like westerns. It is more nuanced than that and all the actors were given significant attention, which I also appreciated.

Wonderful show; all the actors, from the youngest to the eldest are superb and the various plot lines and characters are interesting and engaging