birthday DVDs!

I got Sense and Sensibility and The Barchester Chronicles.

Sense and Sensibility I'm going to assume you've all already seen. The special features weren't much. The commentary by Emma Thompson was good but she repeats a lot of the anecdotes from the book about the film, which I already have. And there are only two deleted scenes, very short and neither has Alan. I got the impression they actually filmed the part where he goes to find his ward, Eliza Beth, in London. But that wasn't one of the deleted scenes. I knew they never filmed the duel (between Brandon and Wiloughby, which was actually alluded to in the book). That would've been awesome.

It was funny when I was watching it (with the commentary) at home: it was up to the part where they've just moved into Barton cottage and my mum says "they haven't said anything about Snape yet," and I said he wasn't in it yet but he would be soon.

Anyway. Barchester Chronicles. Awesome. And very funny. I didn't expect that. Two more pleasant surprises were Nigel Hawthorne, my number one favorite character from Yes, Minister, and Geraldine McEwan, this time without all the witch makeup though still having many great scenes with Alan.

It takes place in the 19th century village of Barchester and it's about all the politics in the local church establishment. Alan plays a very Snape-like character, the ambitious young chaplain to the new bishop of Barchester (it doesn't hurt that he wears a lovely, long, black frock coat in most of his scenes). Geraldine is the bishop's wife and starts out as Alan's patron but they end up opposing each other.

So I recommend that to everybody and it's available on region 1 DVD.