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DVD Description
Alan Bennett is one of Britain’s most popular and prolific authors and playwrights. He initially wrote for the stage, but found that with his observant eye for the absurdities of modern life and sharp ear for dialogue, his work transferred easily and effectively to the small screen.
This collection brings together many of Alan Bennett’s previously unreleased BBC productions dating from 1972 through to 1994. It includes his first television play, A Day Out; autobiographical pieces such as Dinner at Noon and Portrait or Bust and celebrated plays such as A Woman of No Importance, An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution.
The plays, each with a specially recorded introduction by Alan Bennett, feature a number of great British actors including Daniel Day Lewis, Alan Bates, Patricia Routledge, Janet McTeer, James Fox and Prunella Scales and number Richard Eyre, Stephen Frears and John Schlesinger among the directors.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Box Set, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Multi-DVD Set, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Alan Bennett is one of Britain's most popular and prolific authors and playwrights. He initially wrote for the stage, but found that with his observant eye for the absurdities of modern life and sharp ear for dialogue, his work transferred easily and effectively to the small screen. This collection brings together many of Alan Bennett's previously unreleased BBC productions dating from 1972 through to 1994. It includes his first television play, A Day Out; autobiographical pieces such as Dinner at Noon and Portrait or Bust and celebrated plays such as A Woman of No Importance, An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution. The plays, each with a specially recorded introduction by Alan Bennett, feature a number of great British actors including Daniel Day Lewis, Alan Bates, Patricia Routledge, Janet McTeer, James Fox and Prunella Scales and number Richard Eyre, Stephen Frears and John Schlesinger among the directors. List of Productions: 102 Boulevard Haussmann (1990) A Day Out (1972) A Question of Attribution (1991) A Visit from Miss Protheroe (1978) A Woman of No Importance (1982) An Englishman Abroad (1983) The Insurance Man (1986) Our Winnie (1982) Sunset Across the Bay (1975) Dinner at Noon (1988) Portrait or Bust (1994) SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, ...Alan Bennett at the BBC - 4-DVD Box Set ( 102 Boulevard Haussmann / A Day Out / A Question of Attribution / A Visit from Miss Protheroe / A Woman of No Importance / An Englishman Abroad / The Insurance Man / Our Winnie / Sunset Across the B
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
90 of 90 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
These television films reveal not only what a versatile writer Alan Bennett is but what a loss he is to the medium, since he has written little for it since 1991. His northern roots are well in evidence in the early A Day Out (1972)(about a Halifax cycling club before and after the First World War) and Sunset Across The Bay (1975)(about a Leeds couple whose retirement to Morecambe proves far from being what they hoped). Both films have a rare, understated poignancy. The later, more sophisticated and worldly Bennett is exemplified by his two plays about the Cambridge spies : An Englishman Abroad (1983) and A Question of Attribution (1991), the latter surely being unique in having the Queen herself as a sympathetically-portrayed character. More uncharacteristic in style is the strange and disturbing Kafka-inspired The Insurance Man (1986). There are one or two weaker pieces but overall this is a splendid collection, distinguished by memorable performances by, among others, Patricia Routledge, James Fox, Alan Bates and (as 'HMQ') Prunella Scales.
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A Visit from Miss Prothero , Sunset Across the Bay, A Day Out, A Woman of No Importance, Our Winnie, An Englishman Abroad, Dinner at Noon, The Insurance Man, 102 Blvd Haussman, A Question of Attribution and Portrait or Bust...
Sorry, not so much a review as a listing, but I'm assuming that if you're reading this it's because you're already a Bennett fan and - like me - you were frustrated because the BBC appears to have been a little coy about listing the contents of the set. If you're a Bennett beginner head straight for A Woman of No Importance and Our Winnie.
Sorry, not so much a review as a listing, but I'm assuming that if you're reading this it's because you're already a Bennett fan and - like me - you were frustrated because the BBC appears to have been a little coy about listing the contents of the set. If you're a Bennett beginner head straight for A Woman of No Importance and Our Winnie.
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Alan Bennett is our Living Cultural Treasure: beware of pretenders to the title!
If you're a Bennett fan, you'd be mad not to have this set of his works for television - and if you like good telly, telly that uses the medium as it was meant to be used, you'd be equally mad not to have this.
First things first: in this handsome boxed set of four DVDs is AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD - at long last!!! Devotees have been waiting a very long time, and anyone who knows and loves this delicious play will give a sigh of relief and finally lay to rest that worn and torn VHS. The play's companion-piece A QUESTION OF ATTRIBUTION is also here - with Prunella Scales's delicious and thoroughly human portrayal of the Queen in conversation with the traitor Anthony Blunt - her Master of Pictures, superbly played by James Fox. These two plays alone are well worth the asking price, but there is so much more.
Here in ALAN BENNETT AT THE BBC is a wide selection of the writer and commentator at his very best. There are shining examples of his work spanning his whole association with BBC television, everything from A DAY OUT - a black and white piece of nostalgia about a cycling club pedalling to Fountains Abbey in 1911, beautifully acted and observed, and beautifully shot - to the more recent and charming documentary about the everyday life of a hotel in Harrogate.
The great plus is that Bennett introduces each work in person in that beautifully understated, rather lugubrious way of his (remember him reading THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS on radio ?). These introductions are extremely amusing in places, and - like Bennett's writing - also very touching.
To quote the title of a Bennett stage play:
ENJOY!
You will.
If you're a Bennett fan, you'd be mad not to have this set of his works for television - and if you like good telly, telly that uses the medium as it was meant to be used, you'd be equally mad not to have this.
First things first: in this handsome boxed set of four DVDs is AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD - at long last!!! Devotees have been waiting a very long time, and anyone who knows and loves this delicious play will give a sigh of relief and finally lay to rest that worn and torn VHS. The play's companion-piece A QUESTION OF ATTRIBUTION is also here - with Prunella Scales's delicious and thoroughly human portrayal of the Queen in conversation with the traitor Anthony Blunt - her Master of Pictures, superbly played by James Fox. These two plays alone are well worth the asking price, but there is so much more.
Here in ALAN BENNETT AT THE BBC is a wide selection of the writer and commentator at his very best. There are shining examples of his work spanning his whole association with BBC television, everything from A DAY OUT - a black and white piece of nostalgia about a cycling club pedalling to Fountains Abbey in 1911, beautifully acted and observed, and beautifully shot - to the more recent and charming documentary about the everyday life of a hotel in Harrogate.
The great plus is that Bennett introduces each work in person in that beautifully understated, rather lugubrious way of his (remember him reading THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS on radio ?). These introductions are extremely amusing in places, and - like Bennett's writing - also very touching.
To quote the title of a Bennett stage play:
ENJOY!
You will.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thank heaven these plays are available
We actually haven't completely finished watching all the plays on these four discs, but those we have watched are incomparable. Alan Bennett brings worlds to life before your eyes. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Priscilla
A little magic
I bought this set mostly for 'A day Out', about a Cyclists Touring Club ride near Halifax just before WW1, and the interactions between the various characters, ranging from posh to... Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. Gray
Great DVD - Quality enhancement lacking
As a great admirer of Alan Bennett, I was delighted when this DVD came out. However, my delight was tinged with disappointment that the BBC had not use this opportunity to enhance... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Oliver
Alan Bennett is amazing
I first saw Alan Bennett in the 60's in Beyond the Fringe when they performed in New York. He was a delight then and is a marvel now. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Frank Dudgeon
Mr Bennett dvd
Some hidden gems here from Mr Bennetts past work with the BBC I especially liked the bicycle film and the one about the retirees. Read more
Published 12 months ago by lenny barratt
Exceptional
This is a life changing collection, all of which have stood the test of time and continue to surpass the entire output of the BBC today, and over the last 30 years, in terms of... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ms L. Ware
Alan Bennett At the BBC
The item arrived well packaged, a little later than usual due to Christmas. So far excellent though not watched all of it yet.
Published 16 months ago by Mary
Enormously literate and entertaining.
A wealth of entertainment. Do not miss an Englishman Abroad with Alan Bates who, by the way, I think was miscast. Read more
Published 22 months ago by David Brandes
Bennett's the best!
Alan Bennett is a superb writer (and quite a good actor too)! This series is full of the special touches that make anything he does well worth watching!
Published 23 months ago by M. Riley
A review of 'A Question of Attribution' from disc four - with spoilers
'I don't think one wants to be captured, does one?'
A consultant radiologist carefully examines Sir Anthony Blunt for traces of disease, the first of three... Read more
A consultant radiologist carefully examines Sir Anthony Blunt for traces of disease, the first of three... Read more
Published on 5 May 2010 by Anthony Abdool
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