Glittering Prizes [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

The Glittering Prizes comes from a golden age of television, when the BBC made British dramas for British audiences rather than overblown costume nonsense for international consumption. This six part serial is television for grownups with realistic characters speaking witty and intelligent dialogue in recognisable situations. The story, or rather stories follow a group of bright young things from their days at Cambridge in the early 1950s to success, failure, or merely resignation in the mid 1970s. Along the way, we get to know them all and perhaps even learn a thing or two about ourselves.

The production is first-rate and the acting uniformly excellent, but the heart and soul of The Glittering Prizes are its scripts, the product of novelist and screenwriter Frederic Raphael. Anyone who has ever seen the films Darling or Two For The Road will immediately recognise his style. Always articulate and revealing, sometimes cynical, occasionally hopeful, quite often so truthful that it hurts - the sort of drama you find yourself thinking about for days or weeks (or even years) afterwards.

Raphael has always said that the main character of Adam Morris, brilliantly played by Tom Conti, is not autobiographical but the facts and similarities suggest otherwise. At first, we expect this entire series to be his story, but soon a fascinating array of characters slink their way onto center stage. In fact, Conti's character only appears at the very end of Part Two and is not in Parts Four and Five at all. This is very much an ensemble piece with each episode a kind of self-contained play, but one that is enriched by what we learn from the others. Some characters are clearly meant to be admired while others are just as obviously intended to be despised. But most are neither one or the other, but a mix of both, just like real people. And each viewer will respond to them in their own way. As I said, all the acting is superb and it is interesting to see some now well-known performers in early roles. Everyone will have their own favourites - one of mine is Angela Down as Joyce, if only for her delicious voice.

With so many highs, it is perhaps to be expected that the series hits an occasional weak point. The most obvious of these is in Part Three when Adam (on behalf of the BBC) goes to interview a notorious British supporter of fascism. While providing the opportunity for a powerhouse performance by Eric Porter, the sequence sits uneasily with the tone of the rest of the series and goes on for far too long. It is uncomfortable to watch (and was probably inteded to be) but adds little to the whole. Raphael dealt with many other issues - race, homosexuality, the media, his own Jewishness - much more effectively and succinctly than this episode. It's a relief (and a delight) for Adam to get back to London and to get involved with the film industry, for whom Raphael's wit is extra sharp. In one of Truffaut's Antoine Doinel films, Antoine's wife tells him that he cannot get revenge on people from his past by making them characters in his books. Raphael seems to have disproved that theory.

It's wonderful to finally have The Glittering Prizes on DVD, even if it is only available on Region 1. It looks only slightly worse for wear (there is an onscreen apology for a particularly bad blip in Part One, fortunately not during a crucial scene). The running time of 80 minutes per episode still seems a bit strange. And the old BBC habit of using film for exterior shots and video for interiors is much more noticeable than it used to be. But at least the series is preserved and available for repeated viewings. I can recommend The Glittering Prizes to anyone who enjoys well-written, beautifully acted, subtly staged drama that never once insults or underestimates the intelligence of its audience.

First watched this when still at school. Loved it then, no less now. Great Easter indulgence: wet afternoon viewing for 6 days.

I have to say I was slightly disappointed by the six episodes of this series. The links to Cambridge are tenuous at times -- it's more like a collection of six individual 'Play for Today's in which some of the same characters reappear.

I just missed the series when it was first shown in 1976, went to Oxbridge myself, then read Raphael's novel, which I now realise had a greater consistency than the TV programmes. (In the accompanying documentary, Raphael seems pompous indeed. He focuses more on philosophy than I expected.)

The BBC make-up department has a tough job depicting Conti and his colleagues as Cambridge students in the early 1950s then middle-aged people in 1976. The dialogue is theatrical rather than realistic.

It's good to see actors that I would later know as Zaphod Beeblebrox (he actually quotes the number 42 in episode 6!) and the Snow Queen from the 1980s BBC production of Narnia.

Sound and picture quality, apart from the glitch in Episode 1, is pretty good. More is done in a studio than would be done today, so the background silence seems unrealistic.

I watched to the end, but I didn't feel I gained much insight into mankind or the Cambridge experience as a result.