Product Description

One of the most widely acclaimed drama series television has ever produced, these adaptations of short stories by A.E. Coppard and H.E. Bates present provocative and heartwarming tales set against the vast English countryside during the post-World War I period. Featuring stunning locations and star-studded casts that include Ian McKellen, Peter Firth, Pauline Collins, Rosalind Ayres and Prunella Scales, these eight lavish dramas reveal the timeless and constant qualities of the British landscape and its people.

2 DVD set includes:
Craven Arms - The Mill - The Sullens Sisters - The Watercress Girl
The Little Farm - The Black Dog - The Higgler - The Ring of Truth

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29341 in DVD
• Brand: Koch International
• Released on: 2008-04-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 411 minutes

Amazon.com
Based on short stories by A.E. Coppard and H.E. Bates, this Country Matters collection includes eight of the 50-minute episodes that helped form Masterpiece Theater's hybrid theater/television identity as go-to programming for understanding Great Britain. Country Matters portrays mostly tragic romance, set in rural England just after the first World War. Each episode provides accurate and fascinating costume and set design to illustrate the class differences, living habits, and manners of Brits in various regions, giving viewers a deeper knowledge of the culture clash that has occurred within this tradition-bound society. "Craven Arms" stars Ian McKellen as David, a figure-drawing teacher in love with three of his beauteous students, Kate, Nancy, and Julia. Suffering from what he calls his lack of "constancy," David's inability to commit takes him nowhere except on a lonely journey. Alice in "The Mill," a 17-year-old ditched by her parents to earn her keep on a nearby farm, also suffers through lonely sexual exploration. The first disc, also including "The Sullen Sisters" about two sisters, Lindy and Rachel, feuding over Tommy, an extremely young boy, offers little in the way of cheerful love.

"The Little Farm" on disc two provides the first glimpse of short-term romantic success, as Edna Johnson (Barbara Ewing) moves onto Tom Richards' (Brian Marshall) farm, transforming his veritable pigsty with her woman's touch. "The Higgler" also hints at fleeting emotional uplift as higgler, Harvey (Keith Krinkel) is invited to befriend an educated lady, Mary (Sheila Rusgrove). Each story unravels slowly, quietly, and in dark rooms oft lit by lantern to show what life's pace used to be. While some episodes are more riveting than others, slight action is well compensated for by meticulous script and acting. Like the best in British drama, these short story adaptations rely on dialogue to enliven characters rather than showy special effects or bawdy sex. Country Matters certainly opens a window into the past, which feels like respite from today's cinematic overload. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Thomas Hardy-esque
Despite the term "heartwarming" in the descriptive copy on the back of the "Country Matters" DVD case, most of the episodes are reminiscent of Thomas Hardy. They are slow, brooding, and mostly focus on rural life as it really was for the poorer classes: Isolated locations; dark, dirty cottages; bare economic survival; few acquaintances; poor verbal communication; and extremely limited options in life. In most episodes, the central character is offered one chance at a better life, usually economic improvement and/or love and/or escape from a bad family. And usually, fails to get it due to either poor choices or bad luck, and then is made to realize how dreary things will be for the rest of his or her life. It's a good series, but don't watch more than one or two episodes in an evening if you want cheerful dreams.

The rural locations are beautiful, the costumes are pretty good, the acting is excellent, in short the production values of this series are high. Except--and it's a big except--for the music. British folk music would have accented the series extremely well. Instead, the music for every single episode consists of a little-varied, much-repeated, rinky-dinky, incongruously upbeat, rather electronic tune which, if memory serves, is also the theme for the BBC "Lovejoy" detective series. If BBC couldn't shell out enough for decent music at the time the series was filmed, they ought to have done it before issuing this DVD.

"Anthology presented on Masterpiece Theatre ... Country Matters (1972) ... Koch Vision (2008)"
Koch Vision and BBC presents "COUNTRY MATTERS" (1972) (411 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- Country Matters was an anthology of H. E Bates and A. E. Coppard adaptations that aired on Masterpiece Theatre throughout the '70s, and the dramatizations are of the Masterpiece cliché, including starched acting, longing glances, endless rain --- The DVD collects eight randomly selected episodes from both seasons --- Stories are so sparse that sometimes a single sentence can give away the entire hour, but they all boil down to the same plot --- Boy meets girl, romance ensues, things end badly but this was BBC television at its finest in the early '70s.

Under the production staff of:
Donald McWhinnie - Director
Barry Davis - Director
John McKenzie - Director
Richard Martin - Director
Silvio Narizzano - Director
Derek Granger - Producer
A.E. Coppoard - Writer
H.E. Bates - Writer
Hugh Leonard - Adapted
James Saunders - Adapted
Julian Mitchell - Adapted

"COUNTRY MATTERS" (1972) - Season, Episode and Original Date Aired:
DISC ONE (1)
Season 1, Episode 1: Craven Arms (Original Air Date: 20 August 1972)
Season 1, Episode 2: The Mill (Original Air Date: 27 August 1972)
Season 1, Episode 3: The Sullens Sisters (Original Air Date: 3 September 1972)
Season 1, Episode 5: The Watercress Girl (Original Air Date: 17 September 1972)

DISC TWO (2)
Season 2, Episode 1: The Little Farm (Original Air Date: 28 January 1973)
Season 2, Episode 2: The Black Dog (Original Air Date: 4 February 1973)
Season 2, Episode 3: The Higgler (Original Air Date: 11 February 1973)
Season 2, Episode 6: The Ring of Truth (Original Air Date: 4 March 1973)

the cast includes:
Ian McKellen ... David Masterman
Susan Penhaligon ... Ianthe Forrest
Prunella Ransome ... Katherine Forrest
Rosalind Ayres
Robert Keegan
Peter Firth ... Tommy Adams
Penelope Wilton ... Rachel Sullens
Susan Fleetwood ... Mary McDowall
Gareth Thomas ... Frank Oppidan
Brian Marshall ... Tom Richards
Jane Lapotaire ... Orianda
Stephan Chase ... Gerald
Keith Drinkel ... Harvey Whitlow
Mary Weinbark
Prunella Scales
Nicholas Hoyte

Great job by Koch Vision --- looking forward to more high quality titles from the BBC Collection film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 411 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV-6485 ~ (4/01/2008)

A Common Mistake
Can I please correct the error that several reviews here have made. Country Matters was NOT made by the BBC, but by Granada Television. American viewers often make the mistake of thinking that all Masterpiece Theater presentations come from the BBC. They do not.