Just so you know, this is your lucky day! (That is, if you love period dramas and are looking for something new and if you have not already seen the one I am about to review. Hmm, that's a lot of provisos...) With all the writing I've been so faithfully doing, I've also been working for you. Previewing period dramas. Extensively. Relentlessly. Tirelessly.
This
is a sacrifice, you know.
I stumbled upon
Berkeley Square between watching
Cranford and
Return to Cranford. I approached warily, of course, because it had not been recommended by anyone and I had no idea what it might contain. There are only 10 episodes, which is a great disappointment. BBC decided not to continue the series so the end result is a lot of loose ends and a definite lead-on to another season.
Alas and alack, that is where one's imagination must kick in!
Here is my blow-by-blow dissertation on the subject. I'll try to be as concise as possible.
The general plot is set in England in 1902 and follows the lives of three young women: Mattie Wickham, Hannah Randall and Lydia Weston.
Mattie is a girl from the East End who has fought her way to a good position as a nanny in the ritzy Berkeley Square neighborhood. She's very straight-laced, sensible and no-nonsense, but opens cautiously to the idea of romance.
Hannah Randall is a ruined girl - having had a baby with the son of her former employer. Her story is the most interesting due to the fact that a baby with no father back then pretty much destroyed your chance at making a life anywhere your reputation could touch you. Many of the plot twists revolve around her because of this.
Lydia Weston is a farm girl, hired to assist the aging nanny in one of the most affluent homes in Berkeley Square. She's very naive, but good-hearted and eager to learn. This often leads her to romantic trouble, as she has no experience with men and starting out with London men is never a good idea.
The homes these three girls are hired into are as interesting as the girls themselves - each one displaying a different sort of dysfunction.
Mattie works for the St. Johns - not members of the titled class. Mr. St. John is a kind and loving man (heartachingly so) whose wife does not love him. She is discontent and often seen in the company of a certain Captain Mason. Mattie cares for the three children, Thomas, Harriet and baby Imogen. Harriet immediately adores her and Imogen is pretty much a prop to be wheeled about in the pram. Thomas, however, is a tougher nut to crack and has incredibly inconsistent loyalties.
Hannah - after several desperate scrambles - is hired by the Hutchinsons, who soon travel overseas, leaving their two children - Bertie and Charlie - in the overstrict and often unscrupulous charge of the head Nanny Simmons (with whom Hannah has severe personality and disciplinary clashes), and pretty much fade out of the series. However, to take the job, Hannah is forced to leave her baby in the care of a woman she briefly lodges with in East London.
Lydia's home is probably the most interesting of the series. Lord Lamson-Scribener lost his first wife (with whom he had a son, Hugh) and has now married an American woman, with whom he as another son, Ivo. (I kid you not, the baby's name is Ivo. And the way Lydia says it is really quite funny.) Constance, the American wife, is typically outspoken and opinionated but she has a good heart and is incredibly sensible and sensitive when it comes to the affairs of her family. Lord George is very funny and kind-hearted.
The plot covers many interesting twists such as Hannah's efforts to hide her child; Mattie's encounters with the new footman, Ned Jones; Lydia's tastes of the city and the pleasant and unpleasant things it has to offer; the raising of children in the early 1900s; society shifts; the drastic differences between the gentry and the servants; the hierarchies of the staff in the home; the outbreaks of disease in the fester of the East End; baby farming (
that was interesting); the repercussions of unwed pregnancies in that age and so forth.
The costumes and sets were excellent and the attention to detail was very evident. I thought it was incredibly well done except that some of the child actors were a little stiff. The upside to that is that there are three incredibly adorable babies. =D
On the whole, I found
Berkeley Square to be entirely absorbing and surprisingly clean. Below is a detailed list of everything I recall that might cause consternation to the viewer.
In the whole 10 episodes there is only a handful of profanity. The 'a' word is used perhaps twice. The 'd' word is trotted out once or twice as well. Two different women are referred to with an unsavory term by the same man. There are perhaps one or two more, but the script tends to shy away from them in general.
There are three bedroom scenes - two between unmarried couples. They are handled very delicately, everyone is covered or clothed and nothing is shown. They are brief and the only thing that happens is conversation.
Hugh Lamson-Scribener attempts to kiss Lydia after barging, uninvited, into the nursery. She rejects his attention decisively and no one condones his behavior. It causes appropriate outrage and Hugh suffers the consequences of his actions.
Two men are briefly seen shirtless during a fistfight.
Captain Mason is a shameless flirt and womanizer. Much like Mr. Wickham in
Pride & Prejudice.
Despite these things, I would highly recommend this series. It's suspenseful, interesting, only a little cliche, as clean as most period dramas, historical, not sickeningly romantic (on the most part), and pretty down-to-earth.
Besides, I would hate to see all my hard work and research go to waste. =D
And, as a bonus, every single episode can be viewed FOR FREE on Youtube. I'll link the first part of the first episode
here.
Happy watching!
Till next time,
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