The Grand

Of the many extended series from England, I think this is the best conceived & written. 3 dimensional, complex characters, rejection of obvious, feel good, wrap-it-up-neatly plot lines make it the most fascinating of classy soap operas. Flawless acting, direction. Engrossing.

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.

I rented the DVDs and started watching this series with great interest and high expectations, particularly due to the writer, and the presence of Susan Hampshire. Very rapidly I became turned off by the whole thing, and quit half-way through the second episode, I just couldn't take it any more. I found the characters somehow rather repellent, and felt that the writing was just awful, particularly the extremely heavy-handed emphasis on the leering "evil brother and his nefarious deeds"; I wondered why the producers hadn't given him a long mustache to twirl! I don't mind melodrama, but this one pushed the concept over the cliff for me.

I must confess I shop at bargain outlets and the best kept secrets are the DVD sections. Once you weed past the hundreds over produced fitness disks, you may just come upon a little gem marked $3.99. Such was the case with The Grand, Series Two. We were disappointed not to be able to find Series One in the stack, but have made it a quest. The costumes are beautiful and the characters little vignettes of humanity both good and bad. You endear the sweet characters and loathe the ones twisting a black mustache and plotting their next evil move. The Series does not pretend to paint a pretty picture. It promises "Secrets, Betrayal, Romance, Revenge and Danger." It delivers on each of these promises! The twenties were often seen as a wild and fun time, but they were a precursor for political disaster on a worldwide scale and I believe the series captured this well.

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.