3pc Box: Series 1 - a Fine Rom

As the Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields standard goes, this is A Fine Romance, a smart and low-key 1981 British series starring Oscar-winning Judi Dench and her real-life husband, Michael Williams, as a mismatched couple. This three-volume boxed set contains the first nine episodes, in which a comedy of errors keeps linguist Laura (currently translating a German textbook on urinary infections) and struggling landscape gardener Michael from hooking up romantically. It is, to again quote the song, a fine romance with no kisses (at least not until episode 6). Like Glenda Jackson, Dench excels at portraying prickly women of fierce intelligence who possess a quick wit and a sharp tongue, and who do not suffer fools. I don t have any small talk, she complains to her matchmaking sister at a party. Or any medium talk. Williams has a rumpled Dudley Moore quality as sad-sack Michael, the odd single chap for the odd single girl. He is, as one character notes, second division: quiet, nervous, short, and shy. His desperate attempts to find common ground with Laura--witness their ill-fated excursion to an ethnic mask museum exhibit in episode 2--make up much of the humor of these initial episodes. As one observer notes, I like you two, you re odd. It is a pleasure to watch Laura and Michael s mutual apathy blossom into, well, you know the song. --Donald Liebenson

a fine romance - An ardent fan of As Time Goes By I had always felt ",robbed", of the true romantic chemistry lacking in this fantastic and clever series. A Fine Romance is never out of my recorder and DVD player and I now see clearly the amazing chemistry between Michael Williams and his real life wife. To me, although the series with Geoffrey Palmer is more sophisticated, this unlikely couple give an honest portrayal of very awkward people thrust together in later life. I treasure this collection above all others and only wish they had made more

Not As Time Goes By, but nice to watch - A previous reviewer had noted that it was too hard to believe that Judi Dench s character would fall for Michael Williams character. This might be helped along by the fact that the two were very happily married in real life for many years until he passed away last year.I really enjoy this series, but feel that many people came upon it looking for something more after loving the As Time Goes By series. The dialog and plot lines don t compare, but it does share the sweetness and simplicity. It is a bit slow-moving, even for its genre. Still, it will provide a supplement for those deprived of Judi Dench s wonderful acting now that As Time Goes By has completed its final season.

Casting - I love watching Judi Dench. Almost anything she does is enjoyable. I have seen all the As Time Goes By episodes and thoroughly enjoyed them. I am very late seeing A Fine Romance. The trouble is I can t believe the story, That her character would care so much for a poor, rude, down and out person is unbelievable.

Simply Delightful! - Those who are familiar with As Time Goes By will already be familiar with the writing of Bob Larbey, who also wrote A Fine Romance, and those who ve enjoyed As Time Goes By will almost certainly enjoy 1980 s A Fine Romance. Though not so well known, this light romantic comedy about two mismatched 40-something lonely hearts bears all the hallmarks of Larbey s classic and engaging style of writing.Briefly, Dame Judi Dench (As Time Goes By s Jean Pargetter) stars as Laura Dalton, a highly competent albeit somewhat shy, nervous and highly-strung translator with a tall, pretty, charming and very happily married younger sister named Helen, who only wants to see Laura as happy as she is. Helen and her husband Phil decide to team Laura up with Phil s friend Mike Selway, but it s a match made more out of desperation than a belief that the pair would be suitable companions. Mike (the late Michael Williams, Dame Judi s real-life husband of 30 years who died of cancer in 2001), is a shy, laid-back but very nervous, unkempt, disorganised, and socially-inept landscape gardener. He also has very little in common with Laura with respect to their likes and dislikes. The humour in the series is gentle, and it gets its ",spark", from the tension engendered by the pairing of this seemingly unlikely couple.This is the first of three series. The boxed set contains three videos, and each video consists of three 25-minute episodes for a total of nine episodes. This is truly a sweet, charming, relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable series. If you ve enjoyed As Time Goes By, I strongly recommend getting this first boxed set. If you enjoy it (and I really do think you will), then go ahead and get sets two and three, for they are just as enjoyable as this one. Personally, although I did have a slight preference for As Time Goes By when I first saw A Fine Romance, I have found that following a second viewing of the latter series, I now enjoy it every bit as much as As Time Goes By. Both are absolutely delightful series that are a joy to curl up watch time and time again.

Top notch human comedy (or nearly) - Recently Acorn Media released the first two seasons of a comedy called ",No, Honestly", with husband-wife team John Alderton and Priscilla Collins. Now we have another Britcom with a husband-wife team of a slightly up-market nature: Michael Williams and Judi Dench. Taped in 1981, this series precedes the more familiar ",As Time Goes By", with Dame Judi and Geoffrey Palmer, seen so often on PBS. ",A Fine Romance", shows a somewhat more comedic Judi as Laura (a translator) and spouse as Mike (a landscape gardener), who meet at a party given by her younger sister Helen (Susan Penhaligon) and her husband Phil (Richard Warwick). There is that instant dislike that leads grudgingly to not only liking but to living together on terms that can best be described as an uneasy truce. You have never seen Judi in quite a role as this: terrified of dentists, prone to hide in closets when all is not well, giving those priceless ",I ll kill you later", looks when Mike does not behave up to her standards. Mike (whom you might recall from ",Educating Rita", and the more recent ",Henry V",) is forever rumpled, unsure of him self, really committed to Laura but never brave enough to take that final step. In fact, the 18th and last episode, the only one with a high degree of seriousness, ends ambiguously with Laura wanting a child and Mike perhaps ready to go all the way. All in all, this is a charming series and much funnier than ",No, Honestly", because the characters are simply more believable. See both series, by all means, and you will see that where Alderton and Collins elicit plenty of belly laughs, Williams and Dench make us see ourselves a bit more clearly and we laugh at what we see. As an added bonus, you can hear Dame Judi herself singing with broad British A s the Kern song from which the title of this series is drawn. Fred and Ginger did it no better on a larger screen.

3pc Box: Series 1 - a Fine Rom