As Time Goes By: Series 3 (1992)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Bob Larbey
Directed by Sydney Lotterby
Starring Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer, Moira Booker, Philip Bretherton and Jenny Funnell

Features:

• Cast Bios
  

After having overcome time and seemingly impossible odds, Lionel Hardcastle (Palmer) and Jean Pargetter (Dench) have rekindled a thirty-year-old-relationship that was almost destroyed by the postal system. You see, those thirty years ago, just before he was shipped off to Korea, they met and fell in love. However, his letters home from the war never made it to her, and she never had an address to respond to. They met back up under the most coincidental of circumstances, and even though their relationship didn't necessarily pick back up exactly where it left off, neither one of them wants to let go of the love that was almost lost. Pargetter is now a widow with a grown daughter. The daughter has been divorced twice and is now living with her again. Meanwhile, Hardcastle is a divorcee. Fate not only put them back together, but it's also trying to make sure they have an interesting time of it this time around.

Series 3 of this ongoing British sitcom continues with the wonderful writing and beautiful character development established in the first two series. The show is actually in its 9th series currently and--even though I haven't any seen of them on BBC America and given only the four series that I've watched thus far--I'm absolutely positive that after nine seasons, this show will not have lost any of its punch. I can't wait to see the rest of them, to be truthful. I will say there is a certain part of me that wants to try to see them in the order in which they originally aired because the character development is so subtle and perfect that it would ruin it to watch them out of series, but I know it doesn't matter. See, I got wrapped up in the story beginning with Series 4 returning to Series 1-3 as a kind of prequel.

Each and every member of the cast is equal to the task at hand. They know where they fit into the story and they all put 125% into performing their roles. At the helm, we have Dench and Palmer who seem to work so well together that, as an audience member, I seem to have a sense of being a bit of a voyeur; I'm looking into the lives of these incredibly wonderful people. The rest of the cast, rounded out by Booker, Bretherton, and Fuller, do nothing but bring this feeling into sharp relief.

The DVD presentation is the same as it is across the rest of the DVDs for this show: minimal to non-existent. All you have are Cast Bios, which, while interesting to read, are not sufficient enough by themselves to serve as the total material for this show. I wish in future DVD presentations of Series 5 through N, they will include some interviews with the cast members or give some insight into the creation and development of the show itself.

So, even though the quantity of the supplemental material for this set is lacking, the quality of the show is such that it should be on the shelf of the serious fan of good storytelling as a permanent addition. I'm going to have a cup of tea and await the announcement of the release date of the DVD for Series 5.