The Duchess of Duke Street

This show was one of the best British series ever imported to the States. I watched every episode and was the most entertained by the story, the relationships, the detail to clothing, the acting, and especially as I was a working chef at the time, the food. Seeing Gemma Jones make her character so real from her very humble beginnings at the bottom of the kitchen staff to become a renowned chef and hotel owner was probably a fantasy of mine in the 20th century. I absolutely loved this show and wish I could get it on DVD. I wish we had more good TV like this today. To me even Upstairs Downstairs which I also loved was not as good because the story was more long winded and drawn out. Would someone please bring back good drama to TV.

This extraordinary series, so greatly loved by Britons, deserves a new generation to view and be mesmerized by the wonderful acting, writing, direction, and costumes. It is still compelling 25 years after it was made and still ranks as one of the most superb examples of what truly grand television can be. Most of the show feels as if you are sitting front-row in a theatre with the actors within inches of your seat but occasionally the production ventures outside when, perhaps, it starts waxing a tad towards "drawing room soap opera." Still, trust me, this series, and its stalwartly resilient characters, will become forever etched in your heart, as they have in mine.

When you are finished with this series, it is truly like losing a good friend. You are more than sad to see it go and lament the loss of anything else to watch. (Yes, there's always "Upstairs, Downstairs," but, for my money, the Duchess has more beauty, comedy and heartwrenching drama than the "Upstairs" gang could even contemplate!)

Gemma Jones carries this incredible piece of work on her more than capable shoulders. She truly IS Louisa Trotter and is totally believable as the indefatigable Victorian/Edwardian independent woman who becomes the "best cook in England". The concept and the writing is superb and the supporting cast are just about perfect. How this never made Gemma a major star on both sides of the Atlantic is a mystery to me. Maybe it was because she was so good, she was never seen as anyone else. She seems to have worked consistently but with never the vehicle to propel her higher up the ladder. Check out John Welsh as Merriman and John Cater as Starr. If anything this series outdoes Upstairs Downstairs in this particular genre, as great as UD was. A special mention for Christopher Cazenove who was never better as he is as Charlie Tyrell.

To a veteran Masterpiece Theatre viewer the caption borders on heresy but I'm afraid its true. I really can't improve on the comments the other reviewers have offered. If you have seen Upstairs Downstairs and liked it, then you owe it to yourself to see this series.

I taped my copy ten years ago from Bravo's 'BBC Showcase'. It is formatted as a series of distinct one-hour episodes as opposed to 'blending' three episodes into one. Without having seen the 'blended' versions, I would think that having the episodes presented seperately is better if for no other reason than that is the way we all saw them originally back in the old days. Let's face it, nostalgia has a part to play in all of this. While I am on the subject of nostalgia, when those who have the rights to this series get around to producing a DVD, it would be good if they could find a way to include Alistair Cooke's appearances as well.

The first recommendation I get is undoubtedly Pride and Prejudice(Collin Firth version),when talking about British TV series, the second probably would be Brideshead Revisited or Fawlty Towers, yet no one recommends The Duchess of Duke Street to me before. It is by sheer luck that I come across this series-and what enjoyment it gives me! how many times it sets me think like I have never thought before! and what a treasure it is!

The first two or three episodes are quite plain, and indeed, dull, I would say; as the story unfolds itself, however, I become quite captivated-I never knew before any female characters from any TV series can be such as Louisa Trotter: she's pretty(quite common among all TV series), but damn headstrong as a bull, and she says 'bloody' as often as a man does, never cares very much about deportment and carriage herself;what strikes me as rarer and harder to find among women is her force-she has passion for cooking, and on no occasion allows any one or anything whatsoever to hinder her from realizing her dream of being the best cook in England. Such a woman is uncommon even in today's world. For how many times have we been dragged away from the path to our true dream by this or that seemingly reasonable excuse! How many people have been regretting in their winter season of life-oh, if only I did! In short, this is quite a thought-provoking series, can be even better than Pride and Prejudice and Brideshead Revisited in a way. A pity to be sure, that The Duchess of Duke Street is not well-known now, well, in America at least.

However I am a bit disappointed that in the later parts of the series, too much is focused on Louisa's relationships-I don't like such a good topic to evolve into a kind of romantic soap opera, there's already too many of them stuffed in the American TV markets-the focus of which really disappoints me, since I do consider the middle of the series very promising. Well, that's the only flaw I find with this series, and that's why I give a 9 star instead of a perfect 10.