Born and Bred

For 20 years, this series stuck with me as being a fave, but I must have a selective memory as when it was finally able to rewatch, I was surprised by all slapstick (which I hate) and implied sex (no good for autistic relative in household). However, the beautiful, touching moments and the all age-cast mean it is great for re-watching at different stages in life as I'll never grow out of it, like many other shows. I think they handled the cast changes well, and actually prefer the later episodes, but sadly Born and Bred lost one million viewers every season, so never came back for a fifth. I think there would be more appetite for this feel good comedy-drama in these tricky times today.

After not seeing this programme for a while I am watching it again on True Entertainment and finding it just as enjoyable a watch as it was when first on. The setting, the writing and the acting were perfect Sunday night stuff as was Heartbeat and so on. What strikes you about it is how the young actors Ross Little and Polly Thompson really grew into their parts. Currently series 4 is on and in the one I saw last night 14 year old Michael was experiencing his first true romance and the young doctor gave him a fathers type talk and even mentioned movement down below in the rectory. Just good clean fun mixing the sad and silly perfectly.

Like Heartbeat, this wonderful bit of nostalgia is certain to entertain those who don't require gun play, gratuitous sex and overacting to keep them enthralled. This is truly a warm cup of cocoa on a quiet evening.

While one of the others who criticized this show suggests it took viewers from Heartbeat, I disagree. All the people I know who love Born and Bred also would not miss an Heartbeat episode for the world. He also sought to offer a comparison to the show "24", which is hardly fitting. Born and Bred is what it is and 24 is what it is and the existence of either one does not take away the enjoyment of the other. The difference is that both my son and daughter feel warm and positive at the conclusion of such shows as Born and Bred and Heartbeat, a far cry from their reaction to the constant intensity of other action oriented (read reliant on fast camera moves, two dimensional characters and flashbacks) offerings.

While I don't suggest you ignore your action fix or your dose of the cult of personality presented by other genres, I certainly recommend this warm cup of tea.

If you can stand great acting by all concerned and not having every move explained to you as if you are slow witted, then this warm and meaningful show is for you.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

A desperately contrived attempt by the BBC to recapture the Sunday Evening family audience it once dominated with shows like 'All Creatures Great and Small' and 'Miss Marple'. Take a picturesque northern country village, populate it with a bunch of good character actors, build in a few rivalries and mild generational conflict based around a crusty doctor and his more progressive son and back-date the whole thing to a Never-Never-Land 1950's and hey presto! Ten million viewers are drafted almost wholesale from rival ITV's 'Heartbeat' (Set in a picturesque Northern Village in the 1960's but now rather tired and stale and lacking most of the original cast.)The thing is professionally made and generally well-acted but the first series suffered from some appalling scripts. The storylines and plot twists can usually be fully worked out from the first few minutes of each episode (if not the pre-credit sequence) and most shows centre round the illnesses of villagers whom we have mysteriously never seen before and will assuredly never see again, played by this week's special guest star. The plots are retreads of family shows of yore, such as 'All Creatures...' and 'Doctor Finlay's Casebook' and the whole show has the calming soporific qualities of a warm cup of cocoa.It was a bit unnerving to watch this closely followed by a weekly dose of '24'!The series is mainly shot on location in the beautiful village of Downham in East Lancashire but there is a real problem with this. The village is tiny-a church, a pub and a few houses and is clearly far too small to support a busy cottage hospital as it does in the show let alone the railway station, factory etc. which crop up in various episodes. Coming soon to a PBS or Hallmark network near you.

If anything, I just wish Born and Bred lasted longer. It was so lovely and relaxing to watch, and another thing I loved was that although it had its comedy, it also dealt with serious issues in an intelligent way. Born and Bred was exquisitely filmed, both the scenery and photography are breathtaking. The locations may be small, but I liked it that they kept it simple. The music was very soothing and memorable, the direction was solid, the writing was delightful and all the characters were engaging. Plus the story-lines were always well constructed and interesting, and the acting was excellent- Jenna Russell, Clive Swift, Maggie Steed, Michael French and James Bolam, you couldn't have had a more perfect cast. Overall, just a lovely comedy drama, I wish it lasted longer though, it was a real gem. 9/10 Bethany Cox