Recommended Posts

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!

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

 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...

Link to post
Share on other sites

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).

Link to post
Share on other sites
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!

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

‘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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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/

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...