THE PLOT THUS FAR
An Intimate Guide to Four of Britain’s Most Stunning Historic Houses Includes 5 DVDs plus beautiful hardcover book. Take a spectacular tour of four of Britain’s most beautiful stately homes with this gorgeous DVD and book presentation from PBS. Visit Highclere Castle, famous the world over for both Downton Abbey and its connection with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Marvel at the sprawling expanse of Hampton Court Palace, steeped in British royal history and notable for the lurid lives of King Henry VIII and his six wives. See Althorp, grandiose but welcoming, and both the childhood home and final resting place of Diana, Princess of Wales. Take in the sheer magnificence of Chatsworth, forever associated with Georgiana Cavendish, the scandalous eighteenth-century duchess. And discover the realities of upstairs-downstairs life and what it was like behind the green baize door in Britain s grandest estates with the fifth DVD Secrets of the Manor House.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Secrets of Iconic British Estates” is real estate porn for those that enjoy that part of history. You get to learn about Henry VIII, Princess Diana and the Downton Abbey points of habitable inspiration. If that doesn’t sound entertaining to you, then you’re not a realtor. Well, a realtor in England. Realtors in America probably don’t care about this stuff.
British architecture has been ripe for so many PBS documentaries that there is a bit of overlap. Do you watch “Downton Abbey”? Would you like to learn more about the center piece house? Behold this collection of sixty minute love-letters to the biggest cash cow since PBS learned that England makes television series without commercials. There is a rudimentary history lesson to be learned about England, but it’s in such small doses.
The DVD comes with a fully illustrated hardcover book as its sole special feature. The DVD case is so unique, but it might takes some time to get the DVD and book out of the case for a first time. The transfer is pretty sharp. But, the Dolby track wanes depending on the documentary. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 10/14/2014