Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111611 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-10
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 270 minutes

From the Back Cover
A legacy of love, hate, betrayal and revenge that spans three generations and nearly half a century: "A Dinner of Herbs," the epic novel by Catherine Cookson, one of the world's best loved authors, is brought to the big screen in this sweeping miniseries.

Growing up in a 19th-century, working-class English town, Roddy, Hal and Mary Ellen are the closest of friends. The unspeakable hardships they have each suffered as children--including the murders of Roddy's and Hal's fathers at the hands of the same man--have sealed their bond of friendship.

The unshakeable friendship of childhood will be severely tested in the years to come. Mary Ellen secretly yearns for Roddy, who spurns her before leaving town--and leaving her pregnant. She thinks she has found a loving partner in Hal and believes their marriage will heal the chaos of their early lives. Years later, events reach an explosive conclusion, when an American visitor begins to court their young daughter--and Hal uncovers the real identity of her mysterious suitor.

Filmed on location in the north of England, "A Dinner of Herbs" in an unforgettable mix of murder, passion and revenge!

Customer Reviews

A Good One
This minseries had likeable people and a story that moved along and kept me interested. It is my own opinion that they should have kept the original actors from chapters 1-4 and aged them for the last two chapters. The change was too jarring and not believable. The actors looked and most importantly, acted thier roles too differently. it really did not mesh...still, a good story and the all imortant happy ending

A Dinner of Herbs Movie Review
The first two tapes of the epic were great but the later part of the story told on the third tape didn't seem to fit with the first two. I felt as if i watched two different movies. Overall I enjoyed the film but think that a more fitting actress should have could have been chosen to play the role of the Mary Ellen in her later years!

Good first half, second half weak.
Dinner of Herbs is the story of a group of childhood friends Roddy, Hal and Mary Ellen. They become friends after Roddy's dad is mysteriously killed. As they grow older, friendship turns to love and Mary Ellen falls hard for Roddy. She seduces him and becomes pregnant leading her to lose her job and to be scorned by the villagers.

I found the first dvd interesting. The second dvd, the last 2 episodes they changed actors and actresses and fast-forwarded 20 years to when Mary Ellen and Roddy's girl Kate is older. Different actors and actresses and kind of silly plot device involving Kate's two fiancee's rather bored me. Kate seemed to be overly favored by her parents and I felt a bit sorry for the other children. The actor who played her second fiancee wasn't a good fit. He had zero emotional range and I expected him to be a villain. He hardly ever smiles and seems very dour. The fight scene between him and Kate's dad was terrible.

This was worth a view, especially for the first 4 episodes but the last 2 were not my favorite.