If you talk about classic British television for almost any amount of time, Brideshead Revisited is certain to be brought up. The series, which originally aired on ITV in 1981, is the quintessential British drama. It stars Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as the Oxford student (and later soldier) Charles Ryder, who meets the charismatic Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews), a hard-partying aristocrat with whom he becomes fast friends.
The show is tinged bittersweet from the outset, which shows Ryder living a dejected life as an aging soldier who returns to Brideshead, a manor that had been a large part of his life twenty years before. The older Ryder is humorless, stating early on that all the joy seems to have vanished from his life. It's in flashbacks that we see a happy Ryder, an aspiring painter on a whirlwind friendship with the strange Sebastian.
'Whirlwind' is typically a word used to describe romances, and the show thinly toes the line between having Charles and Sebastian be great platonic friends or having their relationship be sexual. The ambiguity is certainly intentional, and it seems to be left to the viewer to determine the extent of their relationship.
The eleven-episode series veers strangely into the theological in its second half, though the change doesn't feel unnatural -- just slightly unexpected. In all, the series is absolutely great, with entirely believable performances by both lead actors and a solid supporting cast that includes Sir Laurence Olivier (who won an Emmy for his role in the series).
Brideshead Revisited: 30th Anniversary Collection hit shelves on DVD and Blu-ray November 1. The four-disc set is positively loaded with special features. There's an insightful 48-minute documentary titled Revisiting Brideshead, which originally aired in 2006 and features interviews with most of the stars and the director. There's a commentary for that documentary by its director, as well as commentaries for four of the episodes. Funnily enough, there's also a ten minute blooper reel included on the set.
Fans of British dramas will absolutely love Brideshead Revisited, and fans who already love the series will be delighted by the set, which is also the first time the show has been released on Blu-ray in the U.S. Brideshead Revisited is a classic, and if you haven't already seen it, you should.
