Amazon.com
"Things are different in Ireland." So learns Major Sinclair Yeates, "a fine gentleman from England," who resigns from the military to take a post in rural 1897 Ireland as the Resident Magistrate. Peter Bowles, one of PBS's most valuable players (
Rumpole of the Bailey,
To the Manor Born) stars in the first series of
The Irish R.M., six of
Masterpiece Theatre's finest hours. Based on the book by Somerville and Ross,
The Irish R.M. is a fish-out-of-water comedy. Think
Green Acres and
Northern Exposure, only, you know, much more classy. Bowles is pitch-perfect as the well-meaning, but initially confounded Yeates, who finds himself presiding over "improbable" cases. Together with his incredibly tolerant wife, Philippa (Doran Godwin), Yeates finds himself at home among (and frequently at the mercy of) a gallery of eccentric characters, including his formidable housekeeper, Mrs. Cadogan (Beryl Reid), his Puckish landlord, Flurry (Bryan Murray), and Flurry's indomitable grandmother, Lady Knox (Faith Brook). As one character remarks, "It's all devilishly funny, no doubt."
--Donald Liebenson
Video Description
Peter Bowles (Rumpole of the Bailey, To the Manor Born) stars in this comic drama series about a retired English army officer who becomes a Resident Magistrate in turn-of-the-century West Ireland. Living in a ramshackle country house surrounded by the communitys eccentric inhabitants, Major Sinclair Yeates struggles to apply judicial logic in a country where, in the words of a former Lord Chief Justice, "the inevitable never happens but the improbable frequently does."
This classic PBS Masterpiece Theatre series, shot entirely on location in County Kildare, captures the texture of the lush Irish countryside. Also featuring Beryl Reid (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and Bryan Murray (Perfect Scoundrels).
The Episodes: Great-Uncle McCarthy, Trinkets Colt, A Misdeal, The Boats Share, Occasional Licences, "O Love! O Fire!" DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE a "making of" featurette, stories and recipes from Mrs. Cadogan's kitchen, cast filmographies and a profile of writers Somerville and Ross.