Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons Box Set   Starring: Michael York, Senta Berger, Frank Finlay, Juliet Mills, Natalia Worner and Paula Kalenberg Acorn Media UK RRP: £29.99 AV9929 Certificate: 12 Available 23 August 2010

Having originally released Four Seasons as two separate DVD sets, fans now have the chance to get the whole show in a single box set.

Endellion should be an idyll nestled in the Cornish countryside, as home to the Combes it should provide all the comfort and security which money and power afford. But the return of the family's eldest son, Stephen, sparks off a chain of events which threatens to tear the family apart and certainly changes their lives forever...

Rosamunde Pilcher’s Four Seasons is a tale of a family set against the seasons of their lives. The show was directed by Giles Foster with a screenplay by Matthew Thomas and T.R. Bowen. Pilcher is a well known author of mainly romantic novels having started her writing career producing novels for Mills & Boon.

The DVD box set is spread across four DVDs each one with a running time of approximately one and a half hours. The show does boast some of the finest British actors in the form of Michael York, Tom Conti, Frank Finlay, Perdita Weeks, and Juliet Mills.

I’m not sure that I can add to the previous reviews of Summer, Autumn and Winter, Spring. On rewatching I find the secret which lies at the heart of the story even more unbelievable than I did the first time. Pilcher seems to live in a world of hyper reality where anything is possible, which is a good thing, but not when it tops your characters asking fundamental questions about their reality.

The presentation and extras remain the same as the individual discs, so if you bought those there is no need to fork out any extra money for the box set.

In the end this is melodrama, and fans of this genre will find much in the set to enjoy. The cinematography ranges from TV quality to absolutely stunning, the actors do what they can with a plot that would make no real sense in reality, but most are able to bring a sense of commitment to their characters.

In the end fans of Pilcher will buy this anyway and care little for my opinion, but personally it felt like a chocolate box, looks great, but the mawkish contents might make you feel a little queasy.

5

Charles Packer