or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
15 used & new from £5.62
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992]

DVD ~ Felicity Kendal
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
Price: £7.48 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £12.51 (63%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Items for dispatch to UK will be sold by Amazon's Preferred Merchant. (Why?)

14 new from £5.62 1 used from £5.99
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992] + Love In A Cold Climate [DVD] + Cold Comfort Farm [1995] [DVD]
Total RRP: £52.97
Price For All Three: £21.44

Show availability and delivery details

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992]
93% buy the item featured on this page:
The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992] 3.9 out of 5 stars (17)
£7.48
Love In A Cold Climate [DVD]
2% buy
Love In A Cold Climate [DVD] 3.7 out of 5 stars (16)
£6.98
Cold Comfort Farm [1995] [DVD]
2% buy
Cold Comfort Farm [1995] [DVD] 4.7 out of 5 stars (14)
£6.98
Blott On The Landscape [DVD] [1985]
2% buy
Blott On The Landscape [DVD] [1985] 4.4 out of 5 stars (21)
£5.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington, Virginia McKenna, Jennifer Ehle, Tara Fitzgerald
  • Directors: Peter Hall
  • Format: PAL
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: 4dvd
  • DVD Release Date: 19 May 2008
  • Run Time: 264 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00158FK24
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,024 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Adapted from the novel by Mary Wesley, The Camomile Lawn proved one of Channel Four's most successful dramas, telling an intricate story set during World War II and over two days in 1984. In this portrait of the Home Front in Cornwall and London in the Blitz, the titular lawn becomes a symbol for halcyon pre-war days, and also for a lost innocence on a personal level. For this is very much about growing up and sex, including rape and child abuse (both handled tactfully, mainly in dialogue), adulatory, ménage á trois, bisexuality and rampant promiscuity. The attitudes, from the war-damaged, nihilistic Oliver, (a powerfully charismatic Toby Stephens) to the mercenary Calypso (an incendiary Jennifer Ehle), and some individual scenes, shock in their very matter-of-factness. What could be salacious soap is leavened by a comic touch, intensified by tragedy and elevated to intensely moving drama during its final half hour set around a funeral in 1984. Generally excellent production values make the best of the television budget, and there are outstanding performances by a large cast including Felicity Kendal and Paul Eddington (reunited from The Good Life), Tara Fitzgerald in her first starring role, and especially Rebecca Hall as Sophy.

On the DVD: The four episodes are presented on two discs, with a total running time of approximately four hours 22 minutes. There are no special features of any sort. The picture is standard television 4:3, and while marginally better than VHS has a slight softness, with occasional after-images to shots with moving lights betraying that the series was made on video rather than film. Some scenes are rather grainy and there is the occasion brief instance of MPEG artifacting. The sound is stereo and appears to have been remixed from mono, some elements such as the music remaining in mono, while some sound effects are stereo. --Gary S Dalkin

Synopsis

Based on the novel by Mary Wesley, THE CAMOMILE LAWN is set in Cornwall in August 1939, the eve of the Second World War.This series opens at a summer gathering of the sprawling Cuthbertson family in the idyllic countryside, a reunion darkened by the gathering clouds of WWII. At turns dramatic, gossipy, comedic, and tragic, the series follows the young Cuthbertson cousins as their lives are torn asunder by the traumas of the war and also by their sexual experiences.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Love In A Cold Climate [DVD]

Love In A Cold Climate [DVD]

DVD ~ Rosamund Pike
3.7 out of 5 stars (16)  £6.98
Cold Comfort Farm [1995] [DVD]

Cold Comfort Farm [1995] [DVD]

DVD ~ Kate Beckinsale
4.7 out of 5 stars (14)  £6.98
Porterhouse Blue [DVD] [1987]

Porterhouse Blue [DVD] [1987]

DVD ~ David Jason
3.8 out of 5 stars (13)  £7.48
Love On A Branch Line [DVD]

Love On A Branch Line [DVD]

DVD ~ Leslie Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £8.98
The Camomile Lawn

The Camomile Lawn

by Mary Wesley
4.0 out of 5 stars (11)  £6.89
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(4)
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gloriously decadent wartime drama, 27 April 2006
By james-Arundel "james-arundel" (Arundel, West Sussex, U.K.) - See all my reviews
  
This review is from: The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992] (DVD)
The Camomile Lawn is a production bursting with delicious characters superbly portrayed by a quality cast. The "action" is split between the early years of World War 2 and the "present": 1980's/1990, telling a number of individual but interlinked stories that are by turns touching, shocking and humorous. The lovely Jennifer Ehle as the promiscuous and self seeking Calypso, Tara Fitzgerald as Polly and Felicity Kendall as Helena all bring glamour to their excellent performances as the three leading ladies in the earlier period. Rebecca Hall shines as the naive but worldly child Sophie, trying to make sense of the adult world around her. There are also some cleverly observed turns from the male cast, including the irrascible Richard (Paul Eddington), Oliver (Toby Stephens), and some lovely supporting roles, especially that of no-nonsense, heart of gold Aunt Sarah played marvellously by Polly Adams (Aunt Helen, A Dark Adapted Eye).
Kendal reprises her role in the "present" with grey wig and heavy makeup, while Calypso and Polly are played by Rosemary Harris (Ehle's own real life mother) and Virginia Mckenna respectively, giving a convincing likeness to aid continuity whilst showing that time has most definitely moved on. Claire Bloom seamlessly takes the role of the older Sophie after a gap of forty years, giving a new perspective on the events she witnessed as a child.

The plot and characters are perhaps slightly frivolous against the backdrop of war, but nevertheless capture the essence of the time. The character of Calypso, a woman who most definitely "had a good war" is a very likeable but recogniseable stereotype.

The Camomile Lawn certainly contains some potentially shocking material, both in terms of language and sex, but it is a highly enjoyable and entertaining story of a family's survival and thirst for life under the shadow of World War 2, and their recognition in peacetime forty years later that some things were less complicated then than now.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How The War Really Was?, 28 Oct 2004
By Ms. S. D. Bonner "Formula 1 Girl" (Eastleigh, Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Camomile Lawn [DVD] [1992] (DVD)
This film is set in two time scales: now and during WW2. The characters are played by the same actors in both, just aged in the "now" time frame. The story revolves around a group of teenage cousins who spend summer at their aunt (Felicity Kendal) and uncles (Paul Eddington) house in Cornwall, where there is the Camomile Lawn. Then war breaks out and they all go their own ways leading their own (fascinating) lives. This really is a whole lot of individual WW2 experiences which intermingle. As far as I can tell they portray the desparation of war very well, the whole "live for today, because you don't know if there will be a tomorrow" attitude. Each character is very strong and played by actors who have gone on to greater things. It tackles some rather "touchy" subjects very well. You really will not be able to stop watching it when you start!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Honorary Auvergnat, 6 Oct 2008
By Honorary Auvergnat (central France) - See all my reviews
I enjoyed this DVD of Mary Wesley's Camomile Lawn very much more than the book, presumably greatly to the credit of its Director Peter Hall but also to the strong cast. All are good but of particular note are Felicity Kendall who gives a tremendous performance, the eye-pleasing Jennifer Ehle whether clothed or not, her sensible counterpart Tara Fitzgerald, similarly eye-pleasing but in a quieter way, and Rebecca Hall as the juvenile star. And of course there is the coast of Cornwall - contrasting with scenes of London in the blitz with a memorable scene of Tara and Rebecca on the phone to Cornwall from under a table while near-hit bombs (and the ceiling) were falling. Its the sort of film that lives with you for days after the viewing and which you want to go back to and relish.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Viewing
I am always very worried about watching screen adaptations of my favourite books - this is absolutely spot on. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Mrs. L. Watson

5.0 out of 5 stars Something to watch over again
This is one great classic and i never tire of watching it nothing worth watching on the telly out it comes a realy good story.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. M. Tidbury

3.0 out of 5 stars WHO THREW THAT CHAIR ON THE SET?
I watched this when it came out, and have returned to it years later.

And how different it seems in retrospect. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr Pineapples

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Viewing
For all those film buffs that enjoy a movie that is not only well done but has an open window to the past then The Camomile Lawn is a superb example. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Murray Kennett

5.0 out of 5 stars Camomile Lawn Review
I purchased this DVD to replace an old video which had got chewed up.
I first saw this series on Channel 4, and loved it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sparkhouse

5.0 out of 5 stars The Camomile Lawn
A really lovely story, which links the generations of the family within it, a must to see how the life intermingles with the cousins, funny, sad, and dramatic.
Published 8 months ago by M. T. Foster

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Cast! Beautifully Filmed! Pointless Story.....
I have not read the book so cannot tell whether or not this drama was faithful to the original material but whilst the cast is magnificent - Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Scots Lass

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb TV adaptation of Mary Wesley's most famous work
I thoroughly enjoyed this adaptation and it stays faithful to the book. Only towards the end do you find a few omissions or minor changes, however nothing instrumental to the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. L. Oliver

1.0 out of 5 stars Posh tosh
The Camomile Lawn has to be one of the worst DVDs I've ever watched. And I was really surprised and disappointed that this was the case. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. C. Jones

1.0 out of 5 stars Posh tosh - I must be missing something.
The Camomile Lawn has to be one of the worst DVDs I've ever watched. And I was really surprised and disappointed that this was the case. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. C. Jones

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.