The Norman Conquests (1977) User Reviews

a weekend in the country goes wrong

[louiseculmer · 9/10 · 23 March 2015]

A wonderful TV adaptation of Alan Ayckbourne's set of three plays set over a summer weekend in the country. the plays are interlinked, each one: Table manners, living Together, and Round and Round the Garden, has a different set but covers roughly the same time period as the other two, so that you need to watch all three in order to understand fully what has happened over the weekend.

Annie (Penelope Wilton) has a dull life looking after her invalid mother, but is planning a dirty weekend away with her sister's husband Norman(Tom Conti) who seduced her the previous Christmas. her brother Reg (Richard Briers) and his wife Sarah (Penelope Keith) are supposed to be looking after mother while Annie goes away (they don't know who she is going with). naturally, nothing goes to plan.

All the actors in this version are superb, and it is mostly very funny, though perhaps not very realistic (it hardly seems likely that Norman's wife would not be that upset about her husband seducing her sister). But i don't really want fiction to be realistic, so I don't mind.

Clever

[justinghaynes · 9/10 · 3 September 2020]

I'm quite surprised to see a couple of negative reviews.

You need to watch them in order then you'll find the penny drops. It's rather clever the way it's done, and quite amusing. Maybe the humour isn't to everyone's taste. This tv adaptation is very well cast. You have to decide for yourself who steals the show, which at times would be a difficult decision.

It's the type of production where you may not pick everything up on the first viewing.

One of my favourite television plays

[sinaasappelsapisdebomb · 10/10 · 9 December 2020]

The Norman Conquests, though at the surface a light-hearted comedy, requires you to think before you quite understand what's going on. The more you try to make sense of what happens when (on- and off-screen), the more enjoyable it'll be. There's a certain fun in piecing together all the bits and pieces you pick up during the three parts, all while enjoying a well-written and -acted television play.

I absolutely love this series. The idea for the screenplay is genius (in my opinion). My first time watching I couldn't wait to see all three parts to figure out how an (in itself) complete story could have two more additions. And how wrong I was! Though each part seems to be a complete story on its own, they're a far from. To make sense of the entire goings-on during the weekend, you'll have to watch all three.

The casting is great. At least, I love the cast! Tom Conti as Norman is quite hilarious in my opinion, especially when you first see his appearance on screen; Penelope Wilton is perfectly suited as Annie, in both an innocence and temperament; Penelope Keith is a perfect Sarah - the fact that she towers over most of the cast (especially her husband) only adds to this; and Richard Briers is the perfect Reg, his timing fits the character superbly! Both Fiona Walker and David Troughton fit their roles very well, too, though I'd say the first four really stand out to me.

Personally I'd recommend watching the plays in the same order they were broadcast, but of course any order works!

House And Garden

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 11 April 2015]

Thames TV stepped in quickly, filming the three linked Alan Ayckbourne plays months after they opened in the West End with only Penelope Keith retaining her stage role of Sarah. The stage version, of course, contained of the four leads of The Good Life in Keith plus Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal with the fourth member, Richard Briers, appearing in this TV adaptation. Alas, Tom Conti is no Tom Courtenay but makes a half decent fist of Norman whilst Penelope Keith nailed Sarah on stage and merely replicates her performance on screen. David Troughton does what he can as Tom, the world-class dork, a role played to perfection on stage by Michael Gambon and given that anyone would be an improvement on Felicity Tate & Lyle Kendal it's fair to say that Penelope Wilton is a decent Annie, and in a touch of the old nepotism Herbert Wise casts his wife Fiona Walker as Ruth, who has, as it were, the last lay; anything Bryan Forbes can do ... Like Saturday theatregoers in 1977 the NFT yesterday gave filmgoers a chance to see all three plays, Table Manners, Round and Round The Garden, and Living Together, in one marathon viewing and on the whole Ayckbourne's observations of life in the Shires stand up well albeit Wise is no Alain Resnais.

SO BORING IT'S HARDLY BEARABLE

[jplatt01 · 2/10 · 23 September 2018]

Perfect example of typical British TV from the 1970s. Overwritten, overacted, under produced and under-directed. Several annoying 'regular' Brits talking and talking and talking, all of whom seem to think the goings on are much more shocking and funny than any modern audience would. Basically a videotaped play, with competent actors, and poor, regional theater level production values. If you like that sort of thing, enjoy.