Victoria and Albert – Starring Colin Firth’s younger brother Jonathan and co-starring Battlestar Galactica’s James Callis, this A&E miniseries tells one of the most enduring love stories in English history. The Emmy award winning film features Victoria Hamilton as Victoria and supporting roles by such acting luminaries as Diana Rigg and Peter Ustinov.
Nicholas Nickleby - The Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby is a lavish and beautifully rendered production. Nine hours with the wonderful Roger Rees in the title role and a cast of 39, it is a true classic.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge – These two Thomas Hardy novels are brought to life in these A&E miniseries. Justine Waddell stars as Tess in a production that hasn’t quite the passion of Roman Polanski’s adaptation, but remains faithful to the text of the late 19th century Hardy novel. Mayor of Casterbridge stars Ciarán Hinds as the tragic hero Henchard. James Purefoy (Rome) also stars in this lavish adaptation.
The Flame Trees of Thika -The Flame Trees of Thika is based on a novel by Elspeth Huxley and stars Haley Mills. The A&E/BBC production tells the story of an Edwardian English family in turn of the century Africa. Adapted for the BBC by the creator of Upstairs Downstairs, this critically acclaimed miniseries is beautifully shot and acted.
The Great Gatsby - Starring Paul Rudd, Mira Sorvino, Toby Stephens and Martin Donovan, this A&E version of is considered by some to be the best film adaptation F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of Jazz Age America. The miniseries remains true to the text and language of the original in a way that the Robert Redford version did not.
The Romance Classics Collection is an essential library of literature on film, sure to please any fan of world literature, history, British film or just plain old romantic drama! The set is available from the A&E store.
Article comments
1 - hl_lover
I see on the A&E site that you can get two 14-disc sets of the same DVDs for a lower price than the one mega-set, $170 vs $400.
I suppose you could argue endlessly which adaptation of a certain novel is the best, but it would be hard to beat this collection.
Thanks for your excellent review, Barbara!