Armadillo

Does anyone know where i can get a copy of this TV series or a copy of the soundtrack i'm desperately looking for a friend. This is an excellent series. I have looked every where to get a copy and need to find it. Has anyone got any suggestions as to where i could purchase it or download it even. Any information about its availability would be appreciated. I know its not a real review but if you haven't seen it i recommend you do. Then give it to me to see again lol. Thanks I cant think of anymore to add but i need 10 lines apparently so sorry for waffling on. Cheeky i know but i am getting desperate and i don't know where else to post this request.

I have already posted my glowing comments on this unique and very special tele-film...but, I have to add a few more. I was blessed by having the opportunity to see "Armadillo" as it premiered on BBC1. Oh...what a treat it was! If you liked A&E's *very* edited version of this entralling drama, try and get the *uncut* BBC1 version...then, you'll absolutely love it. It is 10 times better, with lots of fabulous, funny, and emotionally touching moments...plus extremely important character development and plot enlightening scenes. A&E cut over 20 minutes from how it was meant to be presented...all in favor of those big-bucks commercials. I know they have to have their commercials, and sell their soap and bug spray, and make that moola. But, it **really** hurt to see how they butchered this wonderful piece of drama. I just don't understand why they would do that. I mean, they were one of the producers. It seems to me they would have wanted this gem to be seen in all of it's amazing glory. It was still very good...*but* it could have been sooo much better. Damn! Still, I'm proud that America got to see the ever lovely and talented Mr James Frain in a role tailor made for him...and Rea, Bonneville, and McCormack were wonderous as well.

Character-driven with a carefully-constructed plot, Howard Davies'

tautly-directed "Armadillo" is top quality television, more satisfying

than any theatrical movie in recent months, including "Road to

Perdition." William Boyd's script, about an insurance adjuster who

is not what he seems while he tries to puzzle out a claim that is

something other than what it purports to be, draws in the viewer

from the moment the film opens with James Frain walking

through the charred structure he's investigating. Frain is perfect for

the role--vulnerable, expressive, sympathetic. His developing

romance with Catherine McCormick is fully realized. Hugh

Bonneville somehow empathetically portrays one of the most vile

characters in memory, and Stephen Rea amuses with his over-the-top characterization of the insurance adjuster's enigmatic

and bombastic boss. Beautifully photographed, the camera

follows the adjuster as he pries into the mysteries of the claim

he's investigating and captures the tension between the two

lovers. At three hours it's a bit long, but I watched it twice. And I'll

probably take another look.

Hey gang, let's put on a show. All about an insurance adjuster! Or loss adjuster. Or forensic beancounter. Or whatever. I suppose it's possible. But it didn't work this time. 90 minutes would have been plenty but this drones on for three hours. The plot is confusing at first. But thats okay because when you finally understand it, you realize it's also horribly cliched and trite. For those who get off on artsey dartsey cinematography, the tedium may be relieved from time to time. I endured it, expecting some sort of a smash surprise ending. Uh Uh. I've seen Shirley Temple movies that were more clever.

"Armadillo" is one of those rarities in which the screen version of an excellent novel actually lives up to the original text. This is no doubt due to the fact that William Boyd adapted the script from his own novel of the same name and that Boyd is also no stranger to script writing, having penned "Chaplin", "A Good Man in Africa" and "The Trench".

The cast is first class, a who's who of film and television, with standout performances from James Frain, Stephen Rea and Trevor Peacock (also excellent in another great TV show "The Underworld"). The plot, far from being cliched or contrived, is actually quite complex, with a mix of dodgy geezers including shady loss adjusters, even shadier insurance companies, cowboy builders, Romanian gipsies and a half-mad juggler who's convinced his wife is cheating on him.

The photography is impressive with some good shots of London which appears dark and intimidating but also sparkling with affluence.

"Armadillo" shows just how good British television can be with the right material and a good cast - in other words someone showing a bit of imagination and ambition rather than pitching yet another boring hospital or detective series.