Feb. 7, 2008 - Review: Barchester Chronicles
Who would have thought that the lives of Victorian British clergy could be so full of intrigue, politics, fun, and passion? I’ve been watching Barchester Chronicles during my exercise time and found it a wonderful production. Characters include the guileless curate Harding, his two daughters, various and sundry sons-in-law, a snake-like chaplain, hapless bishop, and more. There is an “Italian lady”. There is even a character by the name of Mr. Quiverful, a country curate with 14 children. I have to wonder if BBC writers caught that joke as they were transforming the original Victorian novel into a screenplay.
Many of the characters also turn out to be very surprising. In the first episode it is easy to judge one as dimwitted, another as a jerk, another as a control-freak, but as the story progresses, things become more complex and first impressions don’t hold. The dimwit proves to be sweet and clever, the jerk is kind hearted but too passionately opinionated for his own good, and the control-freak helps destroy the villain.
In Barchester we have all sorts of goings on. Church politics, church politics that get nasty, scheming, plotting, manipulating, and more. There are deaths and marriages and proposals and rejections, and proposals and rejections accompanied by slaps, and proposals and acceptances (whew!). BBC gets points for making sure there is no illicit bedding shown or implied and not even smooching except for one engagement kiss. Through it all, the main character, the clergyman Harding struggles with all his power to think and behave in a manner fitting a believer in Christ. His Christianity is not hidden, nor is is a ridiculous made-for-TV charachature of Christianity. His faith is simple, and he blatantly states throughout the series that everything he does is for the glory of God, and he constantly struggles to do what he believes is the Godly thing, no matter how much it hurts.
Then there is also the music. Beautiful cello played by Mr. Harding through the series, and the opening and credit music are a boys choir singing psalms. Each episode begins and ends with a hymn of praise to the Lord. Can’t get much better than that for entertainment.
