The Grand

British period soap opera in the `Duchess of Duke Street' tradition set in a high-class Manchester hotel in the nineteen-twenties. A remarkably well preserved Susan Hampshire plays an aging courtesan to the gentry, Tim Healey is excellent as Jacob, the all-seeing Hall Porter with principles and Mark McGann is perfect casting as devious, supercilious hotel proprietor Marcus Bannerman.

However, a couple of cast changes to major characters cause confusion and some of the storylines, especially the surrogate baby issue, become extremely far-fetched.

Watch out for spunky little chambermaid Kate. She's played by Rebecca Callard, daughter of Beverley who was the lovely Liz Macdonald in the legendary `Coronation Street'. A soap dynasty in the making?

Typical English attention to production values by way of sets & costumes makes this undemanding entertainment.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed The Grand. The other review on this page is accurate in all of it's particulars but does not capture the feeling of opulence and grandeur that the series brings to the small screen. Contrary to the other comments, one does care about the characters from the original Bannerman's to the quintessential bad guy, Marcus. The writing, though smattered with some convenient dramatic plot devices, is terrific. The single best episode, when Clive goes home to see his father, is a masterpiece of writing, with compassion for someone "different", the ultimate outsider among so many others in this cast of characters. The unexpected turn at the end is marvelous. We are watching "Duchess of Duke Street" concomitantly with "TG" and the acting is so much better and deeper, the characters so much more filled out and the story lines so much better, that there is no comparison. We highly recommend that you stick with it. You will be rewarded. Incidentally, we got this out of our public library on VHS, so look for it there.

I thoroughly enjoyed season one. I became so engrossed I actually imagined they were real people. I felt for them. I was there. The scenes were amazing: 1) the son kissing/sobbing his love who admitted her true nature; 2) the wife and the brother looking at each other while the symphony played in the last episode of season one. It was spellbinding, another world, a dream. I was jolted, rather violently out of this dream during season two. The people were replaced with characters of themselves, who talked differently, interacted differently, and in some cases looked different. Actors/Actresses who were amazing were switched for horrible versions the second season. It would have been better to have gotten rid of them in this case. The script seemed forced and the characters who you grew to know and understand were acting grossly unlike themselves. I honestly could only get through two episodes of the second season. So sad. I will tell anyone, watch the 1st Season of the Grand...and that's it.

There are two DVD box sets to the collection -- the first features eight episodes that introduce you to THE GRAND, the hotel and the owners, brothers John and Marcus Bannerman, and the hard-working staff. The second series features 10 episodes on three DVDs.

This is engaging and entertaining fare, and some of the storyline is repetitive and derivative, but the acting is very good and the sets and costumes are wonderful and convincing. There are some notable episodes that really stand out. One is on the second series and centers on Clive and his experience as deputy.

For the second series, the characters of Ruth and Stephen have been replaced with different actors who give slightly different edges to the characters (Ruth is more unstable rather than cold and stoic, and Stephen is more immature, albeit just as emotional).

There seems to be a consistent message present and that is that sheer luck can take you out of your social stratsophere, and no matter how well meaning or how hard you work, it's not bloody likely that you'll be able to successfully live in the world of another class.

Man, I haven't seen so many cat fights since General Hospital, Days of our Lives, or as the World Turns hit the mid-afternoon time slots and infested American television way back when.

"The Grand" is a series heralding from the mid 90s about the trials and tribulations of a family owned and run hotel in Manchester England circa the first World War. It's a period piece, and full of vibrant female characters and interpersonal conflicts that should appease the most ardent of female viewer-ship. Ostensibly we're looking the social schism of English mid upper society and their servants, and the intrigues that culminate from that rift and intermingling.

Blue bloods and working girls looking for survival, life and love, all the while internecine fighting takes place with the occasional slap, punch, scratch or hair pull after a verbal confrontation conflagrates.

As a guy who, to be honest, welcomes a break from the usual guns and spaceship fare I'm so often exposed to, I do have to admit to getting a little weary of a recycling of themes here. But, when you're aiming for the classic Jane Austen like set (perhaps fast forward 50 or so years), you're going to get a little repetition in the story and thematic departments.

Still, it is a visually attractive, well written, and exceptionally well acted piece of televised theatre. Exceptionally well shot for a TV production (not to mention very well lit, and I rarely say that about any TV show), this is a show to see, if only once.

The themes are adult in nature, so parents with pre-teen girls (or even boys if they're so inclined) might want to screen or caution their young ones as they watch.

Enjoy.