John Helmer

Pros: Beautifully filmed. A visual treat and much appreciated in its HD splendour. Cons: Every character completely miscast. Siegfried is completely lacking warmth and charm. Tristan is entirely unlikeable. Mrs Pumphrey is just a drunken aunt. The people of the Yorkshire Dales are unremarkable with no attempt at recreating the local dialect: they would have sent a dead animal to the "knacker man", not the butcher. I found myself wondering how Helen, while running her deceased parents farm as well as raising her sibling(s)was able to afford a brand-new tractor in depression-era Yorkshire. Just my grumpy thoughts after giving up after 1 1/2 episodes.