Toby
05-28-2005, 12:17 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/postcards/images/elliott_lge.jpg
Whilst corresponding with the DVD company Acorn Media about various matters, I was pleased to hear that Acorn intend to continue with their DVD release of THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT - IMO, a rather underrated series.
Created by Eileen Atkins and Jean Marsh who were previously responsible for UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS, THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT was a tale of sisters doing it for themselves in 1920's England, matching domestic drama with glamorous gowns and business intrigues.
Left penniless after their philandering father dies, the Elliot sisters, Beatrice (Stella Gonet) and Evangeline (Louise Lombard) work to establish their own fashion house, the eponymous House Of Elliot, slowly rising to respectability amongst 1920's high society. As well as disagreements between the conservative Bea and the youthful Evie over the direction of the business and various crises affecting their latest "collection", the series took time to explore the sisters' personal lives, particularly Bea's troubled relationship with boyfriend Jack (Aden Gillett), who had a promising career ahead of him in "moving pictures". The series also explored the lives of the seamstresses in the Elliots' employ, notably Madge (Judy Flynn), Tilly (Cathy Murphy) and Agnes (Victoria Alcock - later banged up in BAD GIRLS as Julie Saunders, one half of the comic relief, "The Julies", in the prison series).
Interestingly, this 1920's period drama was at once infused with a 1990's sensibility showcasing its two thoroughly modern heroines as genuinely progressive entrepreneurs in the world of high fashion and big business. In a storyline mirroring the regular tabloid exposure of sleaze MPs (e.g. David Mellor) in the early 1990's, Evie had an affair with a rising politician that brought scandal to the business and conflict between the two sisters.
Another interesting point about THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT was that the series was one of the last original period dramas made by the BBC. The 1980's were generally a dry patch for this particular brand of period drama, as the genre was perceived to be out of date for audience tastes. THE HOUSE OF ELIOTT proved to be a pleasing diversion from the growing amount of police-medical dramas that were beginning to dominate the TV landscape before reaching saturation point later in the decade. From the mid-1990's onwards, "Period" drama became by and large made up of adaptations of classic novels rather than original series, spearheaded by 1994's MIDDLEMARCH and 1995's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Rather unfairly dismissed as a shallow, glossy romp by critics, it was nevertheless impossible to really take THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT seriously after it was mercilessly parodied by FRENCH AND SAUNDERS in one of their satirical sketches, entitled "The House Of Idiot". Fortunately, lead actors Louise Lombard and Stella Gonet saw the joke and appeared in the sketch playing the "real" Bea and Evie.
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov1.jpg
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov34.jpg
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov33.jpg
Whilst corresponding with the DVD company Acorn Media about various matters, I was pleased to hear that Acorn intend to continue with their DVD release of THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT - IMO, a rather underrated series.
Created by Eileen Atkins and Jean Marsh who were previously responsible for UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS, THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT was a tale of sisters doing it for themselves in 1920's England, matching domestic drama with glamorous gowns and business intrigues.
Left penniless after their philandering father dies, the Elliot sisters, Beatrice (Stella Gonet) and Evangeline (Louise Lombard) work to establish their own fashion house, the eponymous House Of Elliot, slowly rising to respectability amongst 1920's high society. As well as disagreements between the conservative Bea and the youthful Evie over the direction of the business and various crises affecting their latest "collection", the series took time to explore the sisters' personal lives, particularly Bea's troubled relationship with boyfriend Jack (Aden Gillett), who had a promising career ahead of him in "moving pictures". The series also explored the lives of the seamstresses in the Elliots' employ, notably Madge (Judy Flynn), Tilly (Cathy Murphy) and Agnes (Victoria Alcock - later banged up in BAD GIRLS as Julie Saunders, one half of the comic relief, "The Julies", in the prison series).
Interestingly, this 1920's period drama was at once infused with a 1990's sensibility showcasing its two thoroughly modern heroines as genuinely progressive entrepreneurs in the world of high fashion and big business. In a storyline mirroring the regular tabloid exposure of sleaze MPs (e.g. David Mellor) in the early 1990's, Evie had an affair with a rising politician that brought scandal to the business and conflict between the two sisters.
Another interesting point about THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT was that the series was one of the last original period dramas made by the BBC. The 1980's were generally a dry patch for this particular brand of period drama, as the genre was perceived to be out of date for audience tastes. THE HOUSE OF ELIOTT proved to be a pleasing diversion from the growing amount of police-medical dramas that were beginning to dominate the TV landscape before reaching saturation point later in the decade. From the mid-1990's onwards, "Period" drama became by and large made up of adaptations of classic novels rather than original series, spearheaded by 1994's MIDDLEMARCH and 1995's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Rather unfairly dismissed as a shallow, glossy romp by critics, it was nevertheless impossible to really take THE HOUSE OF ELLIOT seriously after it was mercilessly parodied by FRENCH AND SAUNDERS in one of their satirical sketches, entitled "The House Of Idiot". Fortunately, lead actors Louise Lombard and Stella Gonet saw the joke and appeared in the sketch playing the "real" Bea and Evie.
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov1.jpg
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov34.jpg
http://fsmonsoon.tripod.com/images/screenshots/Movies/mov33.jpg