philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Did anyone watch the first episode on Sunday? I remember the first series some years ago with David Jason. Generally I thought the characters were well cast, but the BBC, in its wish to be all inclusive, had a Pakistani village shopkeeper, an Indian brigadier and a black tax inspector. This was totally out of keeping for the period when the original book was written in the ‘50’s. I’m surprised they didn’t cast Lenny Henry as Pa Larkin! 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,417 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I wonder if the actors feel any sense of being slighted knowing they are there as a token to political correctness? They forgot the only gay in the village... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,466 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Was this new version a remake of the original Larkins series, or a remake of The Darling Buds of May ? Although I never saw it, the original Larkins series started in the 50s with David Kossoff and Peggy Mount. The David Jason series had characters named Larkin, but it wasn't The Larkins (if you see what I mean). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 It is certainly based on Bates’s ‘Darling Buds of May’ but with characters brought up to the PC ideology of the present era. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 32 minutes ago, Brew said: I wonder if the actors feel any sense of being slighted knowing they are there as a token to political correctness? They forgot the only gay in the village... I bet there’s one coming along for a later episode. Maybe the vicar will be outed! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart.C 491 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I remember the original with David Kossoff. (Larkins) And watched the remake with David Jason. (Darling Buds of May) Caught half of last nights and the Darling Buds of May was referenced, so Larkins / Darling Buds of May must go hand in hand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 ‘The Larkins’ with David Kossoff had no connection with the HE Bates novel ‘The Darling Buds of May’. The present ‘Larkins’ is an adaptation from that novel as indeed was the previous one, some thirty years ago, with David Jason, Pam Ferris and Catherine Zeta Jones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,143 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Can I politely ask, on what channel the Larkins was on? I must have missed it. David Jason's version was filmed and the area of Pluckley, Britain's third highest haunted village. Useless information no.3. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 ITV. It's worth a look on catchup. Bradley Walsh is more talented than I realised. No Chinese, Jews or Eskimos in the cast. I thought they were trying to racially inclusive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,305 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 If a black actress can be cast as Anne Boleyn, anything goes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Nobody would dare to black up to play Othello today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,143 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Thank you Phil. Much appreciated. B. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,305 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Larry did a fantastic job as Othello. He rehearsed in black motor cycle leathers, according to Billie Whitelaw, and had great fun with the make up when it came to stage performances. He, apparently, upset Jonathan Miller over the prosthetic proboscis he donned to play Shylock. Good old Larry. He had a voice like no other. We shan't see his like again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,143 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Well, what a palaver ! I've just tried to get the itv hub and it's pushing from one page to another. Up comes Cookie policy, do I agree, then verify my email, then an email for me to answer. Next came a 7 day free trial or £39.95 annually. Then sent to another page. So I thought "Sod it!" and turned the bloody thing off. I'll make do with remembering Jason and Ferris, thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I agree, he was brilliant and could really get into a character. I remember seeing him in ‘The Entertainer’ at Nottingham Theatre Royal back in the ‘60’s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,305 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I would love to have seen him on stage as Richard III but it was way before my time. I have a recording of the film he made later on and he is truly mesmerizing in that role, yet it is said to be a pale imitation of his original stage performance. His later appearance in A Voyage Around My Father is also one of my favourites. In the early 80s, I saw a screening of Olivier's Henry V at the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham. The only occasion when I've seen it on the big screen which is how it really should be seen. I was fine when I went in but I came out with a streaming cold! However, the film was very much worth seeing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart.C 491 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 BeeKay Was The Larkins filmed in Kent? Yes! Given the rural Kent backdrop was just as much a key part of the show as the Larkins themselves, the show could hardly neglect the Southern county. However, the show did not reuse Buss Farm in Pluckley, which was of course the iconic home farm used in the original Darling Buds of May – instead the series was filmed on a different Kent farm, which has not been identified. Production then moved to the surrounding areas of Kent for scenes that were not farm-related, including the villages of Underriver, Eynsford and West Peckham. Filming received quite a bit of attention in Faversham, where the shops in the town’s Market Place were given a retro 1950s makeover, while Walsh was also spotted in costume at Walpole Bay Hotel in Broadstairs. Executive producer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise said: “We wanted it to be in Kent because the novels are set in Kent. We wanted these lovely rolling hills, farms in the background, it’s just gorgeous, we’ve been so lucky. She added: “We did look at other locations options but we just kept coming back to Kent because it has that authenticity of the novels.” Star Bradley Walsh agreed, saying: “The joy of shooting here in Kent is the fact that this is where the books took place, so you get an infinity with it and you get a real feel for it. I think the farm we’re working on has a good couple of hundred, three hundred acres maybe, it’s beautiful. “The interiors are the true inside of the farmhouse, it’s so lovely.” However while filming did mostly take place in Kent, production did also occur in London and Surrey. Film crews spotted at Flanchford Farm in Reigate in April 2021 were widely thought to be for the Darling Buds of May reboot, while filming also took place at a nearby primary school in Betchworth. https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-larkins-filming-locations/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,134 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 We had a school outing to see Henry V at the Gaumont (the one in Theatre Square). I believe Olivier had a big beaky nose in that one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,305 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Olivier, like , Orson Welles, seemed to have a thing about his own nose. In the case of Welles, he just didn't like the nose he was born with and he is rarely seen on screen without a false nose to disguise his own. Olivier, I think, saw the nose as an integral part of whichever character he was playing. He said he always started building the character from the shoes upwards but I suspect the nose had much to do with it, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AfferGorritt 868 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 I remember going with school to see Henry V at the cinema as well. I seem to remember the scene where the French cavalry start at a walk (the jingle of bits and spurs), then into a trot, a canter, and then a split-arsed (pardon my French) gallop. Fantastic. Made my hair stand on end and probably sparked my interest in Shakespeare’s histories. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AfferGorritt 868 Posted October 11, 2021 Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 Sorry. Should have said “histories”! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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