Country Matters (1972)
Adapted from tales by A.E Coppard and H.E. Bates – two of the great masters of the short story – Country Matters unarguably remains a high point for television drama, winning the award for Best Drama at the 1973 BAFTAs. An anthology series of plays about English country life and rural romance at the turn of the twentieth century, it presents unsentimental stories of human relationships and raw emotions – heartfelt passions, crippling frustrations, unspoken love and destructive jealousy all feature unsparingly in one of the 1970s' most memorable drama series. Available on DVD for the first time, Country Matters includes memorable performances from Ian McKellen, Rosalind Ayres, Peter Firth, Penelope Wilton, Pauline Collins, Gareth Thomas, Bryan Marshall, Barbara Ewing, Prunella Scales, Zena Walker, Michael Kitchen and Jeremy Brett, among others.
Country: GB
Language: En
Runtime: 60
Season 2:
Tom Richards an illiterate farmer advertises for a housekeeper. Edna Johnson takes the post and they seem destined for happiness until they encounter the distructive forces of jealousy.
The Hon. Gerald Laughlin finds himself locked in a power struggle between Nathaniel Crabbe's daughter, Orianda, and Crabbe's mistress Lizzie, under the roof of his inn the Black Dog.
Harvey Whitlow's mother cannot understand why Harvey has chosen to stand by his long time sweetheart Sophy Daws and reject the advances of well-to-do Mary. Filmed on location on the Snake Pass in Derbyshire and the village of Sheldon.
Stella Bartholomew is disillusioned with her husband's weekend obsession with the "simple life" at their country retreat, until Roger comes to help around the house.
Summer in Dover 1919: Christine's mother runs a boarding house, in which Christine feels like the dull aspidistras which clutter the rooms, until Captain Blaine arrives to find rooms for his rich aunt. Christine falls in love for the first time, and under goes a violent change from innocent young girl into a woman brought to the very edge of corruption.
As young Pickard listens to the revelations of Kitty, the girl in the hotel bar, about her dream life, he realises that at last he has found a sympathetic friend who might help him discover the secret behind his father's death - and help him find his own happiness. The experience of a strange dream has started George on his quest, and has led him to the northern country town where Kitty helps her sister manage the station hotel. Set in the 1930's, and filmed entirely on location in Todmorden, Yorkshire, and Marple, Cheshire.
Henry Batley, a bored young journalist in a small town is attracted to both Christie Davenport and her sister Sophie, whilst younger sister Tina is determined to make him hers.
