Ladies of Letters (2009– ) User Reviews

A rare Gem

[mid316 · 9/10 · 11 November 2009]

For Irene (Maureen Lipman) and Vera (Anne Reid) a tipsy under-the-table conversation at a wedding sparks a correspondence of exploits and adventures of blissful holidays, delicious recipes and ungrateful children. As the pensioner pen-pals keep their spirits up with sherry and shared recipes, their attempts at long-distance oneupmanship are strained by fractious families, misfiring romance and personal misfortune. In reality they are both lonely and taken for granted by their families.

Its rare in these days of reality TV for something truly unique but this certainly qualifies. The ten part story's is told completely in letters between the two lead characters, in monologues read straight to camera occasionally interspersed with flashback clips showing the events being described. This sounds like it would be boring. but the quality performances from the veteran Actresses and the witty script ensured i was hooked from beginning to end.

More please!

[kellypaul · 9/10 · 14 July 2009]

I haven't heard the radio series but I love the TV series and hope we get another season.

The presentation is so unusual and Anne Reid and Maureen Lipman make a great team.

It feels more like a BBC series - ITV don't seem to be promoting it at all.

I wonder why Patrcia Routledgedidn't do the TV version. I didn't catch it first time around but am half way through the re-showing - The 2 characters are such a lovely contrast. Maureen automatically cleaning up her cell in prison! Congratulations to the writers. I hope there are enough viewers to merit more. Please!

Glorious.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 4 December 2020]

I've watched this series many times over, it doesn't diminish with subsequent viewings, the humour is shall, cutting and delivered with absolute perfection.

Reid and Lipman are just glorious in their respective parts, the momentum switches between the two, with each taking chunks out of the other at will.

I preferred the first series, the earlier episodes in particular, but the second series is also very good.

It's so sad that people don't handwrite letters to one another anymore, this series proves how much fun you can have on paper.

Wonderful series, 9/10.

Love this series!

[dkmarkham · 10/10 · 10 July 2011]

I absolutely love these ladies and their sharp wit. They are pen-pals in the beginning and appear so prim and proper, but they are full of "vinegar".

The series takes you through the trials and tribulations of growing older, flaky kids who are "grown" and changes we all go through that we may not want to make, but must. They take it all with a grain of salt and muddle their way through.

All the while, they do their best to keep some kind of normalcy at the forefront! Impossible task, but they try.

I watched a few episodes of this series on PBS and just couldn't get enough. Wish it would be released here in the US in DVD form.

If you liked "Absolutely Fabulous" you will love these ladies!

Laugh out loud, Shakespearean themes,

[mtcarroll45 · 9/10 · 11 November 2018]

Sucks you in more each episode. Probably need to be over 35 to get nuances Season 2 ep 6 was best for me, then each episode after got better. Sooooo enjoyable. Watch it.

Hilarious as you go along - and you can learn tons of Brit slang (some dated!)

[jpsartre-74463 · 10/10 · 25 November 2020]

I gave up after two minutes of ep 1 but then returned. The payoff was enormous as the show is hilarious. I've had to stop several times to translate random slang. My favorite was "Bronco". I won't say in what context it was used but I finally learned it was a toilet paper brand no longer made but that older people would know. I guess the Bronco is like "Kleenex" when we refer to a tissue.

It gets a bit absurd as the seasons go, but Season 1 is a true delight with both actresses divine.

I absolutely and completely LOVED this series. It's a must see for women "of a certain age".

[rhijulbec · 10/10 · 20 September 2022]

I laughed til I cried. I cried til I laughed. This is decidedly my favourite British female led comedy. These women are brilliant. Their long careers were a testament to their abilities. I've binge-watched it three times and will again. I just adore the entire concept. You aren't ever quite sure if their "friendship" is really THAT contentious. I'm Vera. A past real and for true hippie. Love a vodka tonic (mostly vodka, of course). Irene reminds me of a lot of women friends and it's glorious! I'm old(ish) and I see them portraying life as old(ish) women who long for a past that didn't really exist~except in their memories.

Forgot to say: Most Uplifting Show

[jpsartre-74463 · 10/10 · 26 November 2020]

I forgot to mention the best part of the show if you forge through later seasons. No matter what happens, the ladies maintain a positive attitude towards their live in general - something perhaps we all need at times. Is it the proverbial British stiff upper lip of the ladies and earlier generations? I don't know, but I do know that their attitudes are most uplifting.

Oh, this is sooooooo good

[ritakc-46893 · 9/10 · 17 April 2021]

What a relief to find this series. I am an American woman in my 70s and I love good detective series (Vera, Wallander, Foyle's War, Frost, Endeavour, etc) especially in light of the trash on American television written & only used to promote a Democratic Socialist workd-view. Good stories from Great Britain & European TV are copied and rewritten to be dumbed-down for the Anerican public. We no longer have cable and instead use Prime, Brit Box, Acorn, Walter, etc., for our entertainment. However, most of what we find well-done are the detective dramas and, though the writing & acting is excellent, they are becoming very graphic and I needed a break. I was thrilled to find this series and very sad there are no more than 2 seasons! I haven't finished it yet (on S2 E6) but already wishing there were more episodes. It's not vapid and childish, or relying on slapstick for humor, like way too many comedies on TV and cable. It's really engaging and funny with enough reality to bring just the right amount of tension. I'm already dreading the end.

So incredibly funny! Fabulous

[phil-77938 · 10/10 · 30 April 2020]

Well to be very honest with you, I have no idea of the previous reviewer was on about as this is a truly wonderful conversion from the audio CDs, of which I have the entire complete collection, onto DVD and taking it into the visual format.

I disagree that the slight alterations are a bad thing - I think they've been a wonderful breath of fresh air and have been written by the original authors.

Without the original actors in the original roles, it wouldn't I have worked in using exactly the same lines so the original authors have used creative license (that they have every right to use!) and have individualised it ever so slightly and still kept it within the extremely funny premise that we are used to and love from the audio CDs.

Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid have been fantastic in their interpretation of the characters and I say my hat goes off to them both for taking something so wonderful and making it as fantastic as the audio CDs but on a new level.

I completely recommend anyone to watch these series and they stand alongside the audio CDs beautifully.

I could not stop watching. Loved every bit.

[lauraemylee · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

What a great way to escape. Pure entertainment. I found myself totally engrossed and forgot all my worries and anxiaty for the first time in ages. I even watched them all again and picked up on so much more enjoyment the second time around. I love them so much and am so grateful. Must watch!!

Why Deliberately Ruin A Classic?

[eoghanuk · 2/10 · 18 February 2009]

Now I'm a fan of the books, which began the whole Ladies of Letters experience, and an even larger fan of the radio 'plays' performed by Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales which are classic examples of witty British humour.

So to see this on TV I went out of my way to tune in, with the knowledge that even matching the quality of the Radio shows would be a hard task, let alone any chance of surpassing.

To put it short, they've ruined it. I can't wholly blame the performers Maureen Lipman as Irene and Anne Reid as Vera, because so much of the damage has been done by rewriting the scripts- making the 2 ladies more vicious and nasty. This has been done by rewording large passages and making the show less subtle. Now while I'll let other decide if this is needed for the TV transition, personally within five minutes of watching I was asking myself 'Why are these two even writing to each other? They obviously hate each other?' whereas in the confines of Radio & Book, the 2 are friends who fall out. The TV versions are more likely to cross the street and hide if they see the other coming. It may be a small complaint, but it makes the whole set up of the show feel tired before its even begun.

As for Lipman & Reid, they do little to help. Reid is inoffensive as she simply appears to be mimicking Routledge's radio performances, where as Lipman butchers the role. She is so unpleasant as that character that you positively dislike her. Part of the Ladies of Letters charm is based on the fact that you like the 2 characters, but enjoy the miscommunication between the 2. Lipman makes that impossible here.

In short, don't bother. If you know the originals this won't add to them (in fact it runs the risk of damaging them), and if you don't then I suggest you just go to the original source material.

Stellar Acting & Writing

[csdcsdcsd2003 · 8/10 · 26 November 2022]

"Ladies of Letters" vividly displays - humorously and with great acting abilities - how difficult it can be for middle-aged women to make new friends - a rare topic indeed. I, an American, have always enjoyed British entertainment of various sorts so I was glad for this TV series from 2009 which aired on PBS and Acorn in 2022. I haven't as yet read the book but have it on order. ~ Vera and Irene, who live rather solitary lives at some distance from one another in England, first meet at a wedding and begin a lengthy correspondence after one mails a thank you note to the other. The two have much in common - both are widows who live alone in freestanding houses with pet dogs and gardens to tend and no household helpers, and both are mothers with grandchildren on the way - but they also have their differences which are apparent even in the opening credits. ~ Although the storyline is exaggerated for entertainment purposes, there is much truth in this fictional relationship which unfolds over 20 half-hour episodes. I was especially impressed with how active both stars - Anne Reid and Maureen Lipman - are as they flawlessly speak non-stop. Their ever-changing surroundings and wardrobes reveal their personalities. They continually deal with unexpected and sometimes unjust challenges that come their way. ~ I would have rated this a 10 except that it was so difficult for me to keep up with the rapid-fire dialogue that I could only follow the massive flow of words by turning on the closed captioning, and I disliked the sometimes fierce antagonism that erupted between the two women. I myself had continued a longstanding long-distance correspondence with a college friend until time and tide eventually broke the connection so I very much appreciate discovering "Ladies of Letters," a rare find and a unique gem. Bravo!

Terrible

[katie_d1000 · 1/10 · 23 October 2011]

A really terrible show that doesn't engage, charm or entertain. It is so bewilderingly bad you wonder why they bothered.

It has characters you don't like (Irene especially) & don't want to spend time with. It's actually hard to tell that this is supposed to be a comedy. If a "comedy" show is going to have such unappealing characters they need to provide some comic relief, otherwise be a drama! Another reviewer has compared it to Absolutely Fabulous - that show I would argue marries comedy with characters that should be unlikeable, but aren't. Ladies of Letters fails at this.

Maureen Lipman is especially terrible.