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World Hotels - The Duchess of Duke Street - Series 2
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List Price: $79.99
Our Price: $71.99
Your Save: $ 8.00 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
Directed By: Gerry Mill
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0054961845897
Format: Box set
Label: Acorn Media
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
Number Of Items: 5
Publisher: Acorn Media
Region Code: 0
Release Date: 2006-08-15
Running Time: 829
Studio: Acorn Media
Theatrical Release Date: 1979-12-16
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Editorial Reviews:
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Mrs. Trotter, born Louisa Leyton, has already proven that she can take whatever life dishes out and remain in a class all her own. Having made her reputation as the best cook in London and proprietress of the city’s most elegant and discreet hotel, Louisa now faces even bigger challenges. When World War I breaks out, she opens the Bentinck’s doors to soldiers but never cashes their checks. Driven almost to ruin and facing unbearable loss, she survives to usher in the giddy post-war age. Based on the true story of Rosa Lewis, a culinary genius and owner of London’s venerable Cavendish Hotel, this acclaimed BBC series dramatizes the life of an indomitable woman in stories full of humor and heart. Created by John Hawkesworth (Upstairs, Downstairs) and starring Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Sense and Sensibility) as Louisa, and Christopher Cazenove (A Knight’s Tale, TV’s Dynasty) as Charlie, the dashing love of her life. As seen on Masterpiece Theatre.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Delightful
Comment:
I refuse to find anything bad about this series. I'm enjoying every minute of it. The entire Edwardian World seems to show up in her lobby. I'm also enjoying getting to know the many roles of Gemma Jones. I kept thinking how familiar she seemed... Madam Pomphrey! Had to drag out Harry Potter just to see her.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: "Charlie"
Comment: This was always my favorite Masterpiece Theatre series. I just saw Christopher Casenove as Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady this afternoon at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California. He was terrific. I can't wait to order the 10-disk DVD's from Amazon when it is available in August. This was the best series ever from Masterpiece.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A wonderful follow-up to Season 1, but with much darker overtones.
Comment: Having been only recently introduced to the wonderful Duchess of Duke Street, I was thrilled to find that there was a second season. The follow-up season does not disappoint, though viewers need to be aware that the second season is much darker than Season 1.
Season 2 continues where season 1 left off - Louisa Trotter [the magnificent Gemma Jones, who may be more familiar to some as Mrs Dashwood in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility] has established herself as the proprietress of the Bentinck Hotel in London. There are many interesting developments in this second season - Louisa's great love, Charlie aka Lord Haslemere finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage, Louisa finally meets her daughter Lottie, given up for adoption in Season 1, Mary Phillips the Welsh maid falls in love, and there are plenty of plot twists. Also, WW I looms at the beginning of this season, and Charlie goes off to war. Louisa's hotel gets bombed, and she even goes off briefly to run a canteen for soldiers with Mary and Mrs Cochran, the cook at the Bentinck.
There are many tragedies, and a number of deaths in this season, and indeed the second season seems to be a lot more subdued and somber than Season 1, but it makes for riveting viewing. I would recommend new viewers watch Season 1 first, as the series is choronological, and many key characters are introduced in the first season. All in all, Season 2 makes for a satisfying follow-up to Season 1, and I only wish there had been a Season 3!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Continuing Louisa's story
Comment: As a totally devoted fan of series 1, I was thrilled to find that series 2 has just the same high standards of excellence. The period is just after WW1 and entering the flapper age of the twenties. Louisa uses the Bentinck as a convalescent home for wounded officers but, because she refuses to cash their cheques, is soon on the brink of financial ruin, with the staff distraught at the prospect of being thrown out on to the streets. Relief comes in the form of a large legacy from Charlie, Lord Hazelmere, which enables her to refurbish the now shabby hotel and to put Lottie, Louisa and Charlie's daughter through finishing school. As the century progresses through the twenties, Louisa is forced to recognize that the old standards of Edwardian times have given way to a more lax set of rules for Society, forcing her to realize that her plans for Lottie will come to nothing. Again, in this series, the costuming is utterly superb, second to none seen either on the TV screen or in major movies, and the dressing of the rooms is absolutely spot on. It is a magnificent series, and one which I'm loath to finish.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!
Comment: Oh what a delight!! I was so thrilled to continue my journey with the tough-as-nails Kouisa Trotter, proprietress of the Bentnick Hotel in post Edwardian London. This set of DVDs takes us through WWI as Louisa continues to rule with an iron fist. She is pit against her own brother who tries to undermine her authority with her staff, readies herself for a world war, and finds out the ruth about Charlies marriage to Margaret, and faces growing financial difficulties.
This entire series is a must have for anyone who loves period pieces. It is truly magnificent, and places you right into the action of 19th and 20th century London. I could watch it (and recommend it) again and again.
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