Mr Selfridge Series Four   Starring: Jeremy Piven, Tom Goodman-Hill, Amanda Abbington and Kika Markham Distributor: ITV Studios Global Entertainment RRP: £24.99 Certificate: 12 Release Date: 21 March 2016

Mr Selfridge has had a very successful run as a show and has sensibly decided to bow out at a high point with season four.

Mr Selfridge tells the semi fictionalised story of the American who set up Selfridges in London, a swish store which remains successful today. He brought in new ideas changing the face of shopping in London.

The show does not have to make up much of its story as the real Selfridge was quite a character and the actor Jeremy Piven has captured both Selfridge's enthusiasm for his store and staff but also his underlying recklessness, which could lead to both great success and great failure. Born in America, the real Harry married a number of times, but would spend large sums of money on dancing girls, gambling and dream punts which were never going to go anywhere. In the end he died penniless.

Some of this foreshadowing I found in season four, although luckily the show has decided not to go as far as to show a loved character throw it all away, rather, the show stops at the point where Harry is forced to give over control of his beloved store. This season jumps nearly a decade forward from season three.

The season is presented on a three disc DVD set, containing all ten episodes. The third disc contains a number of extras. The Ladies of Selfridges (3 min, 36 sec), The Making of Mr Selfridge (5 min, 57 sec) and The Rise and Fall of Harry Selfridge (3 min, 38 sec), as you can tell by the lengths, they are nice little pieces with the cast which act more as an advert for the show.

It was the end of a good, if not great show, ending on a bit of a downer, just like Selfridge himself.

7

Charles Packer