"Mulberry" (1992) TV series 1992-1993

Seasons:

1 | 2

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Mulberry, the cheerful Cockney son of Death and Springtime, starts his "career" as the Grim Reaper's...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Grim Reaper | Butler | Old Age

Cast

Karl Howman	...	Mulberry (13 episodes, 1992-1993)
Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Farnaby (13 episodes, 1992-1993)
Tony Selby	...	Bert (13 episodes, 1992-1993)
John Bennett	...	The Stranger (11 episodes, 1992-1993)
Mary Healey	...	Alice (7 episodes, 1993)
Lill Roughley	...	Alice (6 episodes, 1992)

Runtime:

30 min (13 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Quotes:

Miss Rose Farnaby: Why did I employ you?
Mulberry: Well, I can only put it down to some streak of perversity in your nature.

Rare gem from BBC This one is worth your time

I have recently seen this series on my local PBS and fell in love with it. The premise is deceptively simple but very well thought out. The primary characters, Miss Farnaby (pronounced Farnby) hires a stranger "Mulberry" as her personal servant. Through the course of their time together he encourages Farnaby who has become an shut-in during her declining years, to come alive once more. But there is a hidden plot underneath as Mulberry is actually the son of Death and has been sent by the Dark Angel to take Miss Farnaby on to her ultimate reward or to die. He however grows to love the old woman as a sort of surrogate mother and refuses to "kill her" in his own words. Instead he pleads with his father to give Miss Farnaby three more months of time to begin living.

Miss Farnaby's other two staff members, Alice, the cook and her husband who is the gardener/stable master/grounds keeper are almost as shut-in as their employer. They both resist the re-awakening of the old lady during the course of the series but it is obvious that there is a deep seeded loyalty between the trio that is thinly disguised by proper English manners and traditions. Their interaction with Mulberry often results in some of the series' most humorous moments.

It is a wonderful story that shows that through it all sometimes you can be so close to the end of life and still never have lived at all. He breaths life into Miss Farnaby's existence and brings her back from the brink of destitution. It is a powerful series that often evoked both laughter and tears in each and every episode. If you have any of these episodes especially episode 8 in which the character Mulberry falls over a cliff and supposedly dies, this episode was never aired where I live. I would love to get copies of it since it does not appear to have ever been put into any medium to purchase in the USA or overseas.

If it does come onto PBS or one of your local TV channels it's a very good show and is excellent even for the kids as the show is suitable for general audiences.