The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994]

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Lakes brought writer Jimmy McGovern and actor John Simm a great deal of critical praise in 1997. Following a particularly dry period for British TV drama, the show's realistic characterisations and their painfully honest decisions hit audiences hard. Simm is a twentysomething trapped in a life of compulsive gambling, theft and being on the dole in Liverpool. On a whim he heads north to the Lake District. He expects to find the countryside quietude where his hidden poetical leanings might find a home, but instead gets caught up in a community like any other. Lies, temptation and tragedy beset every household just as much as the big city.

The focus of Series 1 is Danny's relationship with Emma (Emma Cunniffe) and the consequences of having a child. As time races by, his link to the Lakes becomes an exercise in torment when the eyes of blame fall easily upon him after the accidental deaths of four schoolgirls. Stoking the flames of a series of secondary explosions in waiting are a pair of affairs, one adulterous, the other complicated by religion.

In the far longer sequel series that came two years later, these back-stories would come to the fore. Although exploring Danny's tortured soul might have been the obvious continuation, instead an almost Hitchcockian murder scenario occupies far more screen time. But by stretching things out, this second series does not have the same self-contained impact of the original. Additional writers only served to drag out Danny's boy-to-man journey. Ultimately, lessons are learned, including the realistic conclusion that life is without a poetical status quo. Despite the tail-off in overall quality, you'd be hard pressed to identify a better British drama in the years since.

On the DVD: The Lakes complete series 1 and 2 box set comes with two separate commentary tracks for the very first episode. In interviews, John Simm fondly recalls how cold the lake water was and director David Blair recalls putting him in it. It's a shame the two weren't recorded together. It's also a shame that's all there is in this package. Even a few cast biographies would have been welcome. Picture is 4:3 and stereo sound is as you'd expect from 1990s UK TV. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

One of the greatest TV dramas in the last 30 years.......2007-04-02

You can read enough about the plot in the other reviews, just to say there are moments in Series 1 when I was poised on the edge of my seat, totally immersed in what was happening, feeling the tension, which is not something I've had Tv make me do in years. Series 1 will stand the test of time as great drama. Series 2 feels like a distant releative of series 1. Still great, and parts of it are great fun, but the tension of series 1 isn't there. Still better than pretty much everything else on Tv these days though.

Great British drama.......2007-03-20

I enjoyed The Lakes, I thought it was an exceptionally good bit of drama, and as usual, John Simm stands out in the cast.

However. There were a couple of niggles which is why I gave it four stars rather than five. The actress who plays Lucy Archer, who is supposed to be 17, was 24 when the first series was filmed, and unfortunately it shows. It's very jarring, and even more so in the second series two years later. She is very good in the role, but the fact that she looks so much older required a constant readjustment on my part as the viewer in remembering that she's still supposed to be in the lower 6th.

The other niggle is regarding the second series. The first series was, although shorter, significantly better. The second threatened to drop into melodramatic Eastenders-style writing, with affairs, murder, kidnap, lesbians (come on...that Doctor and her girlfriend plot was *so* unrequired!)...very well acted, but a little OTT. It would have been better, IMHO, if they had trimmed the plots to a more believeable level, and let the characters take them.

All that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and watched both series over a weekend, having planned for it to last a fortnight. So definitely worth a watch.

Groundbraking drama-Breathtaking scenery!.......2006-03-16

This excellent drama is now 9 years old (1997), and it's still as good seen many times as the first. The acting is first class, and it's all set in the best part of England, the Lake District. The only problem I could see when it first went out on air, was that people who have never been to the English lakes may think that life's like that! Nothing could be further from the truth.

This will change your TV habits for good!.......2006-03-03

At the risk of being seen just to pour out more superlatives on this series, I challenge you to begin watching this box set - and see if your original plans to watch one episode a night don't quickly come unstuck.

I remember when this was first on telly - the exquisite agony of having to wait a whole week for my next fix. Don't punish yourself any longer - Here's my prescription...

Get this box set and put aside one week of tawdry soaps and "You Are What You.... What Not to Wear - Celebrity Specials" and all the tired, bland & unconvincing posturing of Spooks et al.

Watch this series and I guarantee - Yes, GUARANTEE! - that you will never waste your life watching such below par filler ever again! That's a cheap price to pay for getting your own life back. Just do it!

Blinding!! 5*.......2004-09-05

The Lakes is quite simply the best British drama ever. Period. Don't even try thinking of anything comparable - it doesn't exist.

The quality of the acting is top drawer, and it's impossible not to be drawn into supporting Danny as he does what he thinks is right, without ever thinking. The multitude of plots and sub-plots keeps you enthralled but never confuses. It's sexy, it's smutty, it's gritty, it's painful, but it's always real.

Amazon.co.uk Review

On the DVD: The Lakes Series 1 comes with two separate commentary tracks for the very first episode. In interviews, John Simm fondly recalls how cold the lake water was and director David Blair recalls putting him in it. It's a shame the two weren't recorded together. It's also a shame that's all there is in this package. Even a few cast biographies would have been welcome. Picture is 4:3 and stereo sound is as you'd expect from 1990s UK TV. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

UK Drama at its very best.......2004-06-26

John Simm was an unknown when he took the lead role as Danny BBC1'S he lakes back in 1997 now of course he's appeared in Clocking Off, State of play and the Canterbury Tales. The Lakes is as my title says - UK Drama at it's best. 6 fast paced episodes each one as gripping and intreeging as the last. Its fantastic stuff and one of the most memorable series of the 90's

Superb.......2000-07-26

This was what I orignally thought to be a very 'odd' birthday present from my brother. However I was hooked in minutes and watched the whole thing over a weekend and ordered the second series the next day!

UK DVD:

UK DVD List

UK DVD