Wild at Heart The Complete Fourth Series   Starring: Stephen Tompkinson, Lucy-Jo Hudson, Dawn Steele, Juliete Mills and Deon Stewardson Acorn Media UK RRP: £24.99 AV9698 Certificate: PG Available 01 February 2010

Danny Trevalian has moved his family to South Africa and built an animal sanctuary in this family drama set against the beautiful background of Africa. The show stars Stephen Tompkinson, Dawn Steele, Hayley Mills and Olivia Scott-Taylor...

Wild at Heart: The Complete Fourth Series (2009) picks up a year after the close of season three which ended in fire. Family problems continue to plague Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) and he is now fighting for custody of his son Evan. Caroline returns to England to be replaced by her sister Georgina.

I’m never really sure what to make of these shows as the line between soap opera and drama seems to have disappeared. I guess if it reminded me of anything it was an updated Daktari with its combination of family drama and African animal, sad to say there is no cross eyed lion in Wild at Heart.

There are a few extras in the set including a Behind the Scenes feature (30 min, 15 sec) with contributions from the cast, which gives some useful background on the characters. This is helpful if, like me, you’ve never see the series on television. The talking heads are intercut with scenes from the show. The show also has contributions from various crew members giving you an idea how they shoot the show. The disc contains five filmographies, and a picture gallery.

In all, the three disc run to around 487 minutes which isn’t bad for the price. In the end the show is purely down to taste. I didn’t particularly like it, but that had nothing to do with either the acting or location, I just find another show about families and relationships has little to say that hasn’t already been done to death.

6

Charles Packer