VHS : The Duchess Of Duke Street - Series 2 - Part 1

Rating: - life at the bentinck.
It's true, as the other reviewer on this page said, series 2 is better than series 1, I think because it had all got into it's stride by now, as is often perfectly natural. In the first episode, Louisa rashly invites her family to stay at the Bentinck, and thus ends up having her mother (June Brown, better known these days as Dot Cotton in "EastEnders") queening it over her staff, and her snarling brother Arfur (Martin Shaw, excellent as always) upsetting everyone in sight. The second episode has the sublime Freddie Jones playing the lovesick swain, as an Oxford academic, who finds himself the victim of a practical joke, in which two of his students have concoted love letters to Louisa claiming to be from him. Worth watching alone for the Cafe Royal dinner between him and Louisa, in which he confesses that Louisa has "cast a spell" over him. The third story is perhaps the most predictable, with a good-natured chaffeur being left a fortune by his elderly employer, much to the chagrin of her feckless nephew, and so having to be taught the ways of the nobs. This is quality vintage BBC costume drama, and Gemma Jones does a superb job as the formidable hotel-keeper.

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Rating: - A brilliant batch of blindin' episodes at the Bendinck.
For me, series 2 is much better than series 1 and this particular video proves it for me. Louisa is visited by her parents and brother, who prove to be too much to handle for the staff. She then finds herself the recipient of love letters and love poetry only to find it is all a prank, but seeks revenge on the culprits. Finally, Louisa helps turn a servant into a gentleman when he is left £30,000 by the lady who employed him. A splendid turn of events in what is a fantastic series.