The programme itself can be described as being an hour-long commercial for living off the fat of the land. The Larkins live in a sunny garden of Eden where food and drink is generously served-up by Ma and Pop. Here, Pop Larkin has achieved the kind of success as a farmer/entrepreneur that always eluded Del Boy. Although problems do raise their ugly heads (often in the guise of Teddy Boys or Ton-Up Boys on noisy motorbikes) they always overcome them.
The programmes are set in the 1950s when we "never had it so good". Though in reality the 1950s for many people was a rather bleak and ration-riddled period. Today, the recession has certainly made the prospects for many bleaker than a weekend in Mablethorpe. So it is nice to see a period when life was (apparently) full of simple pleasures. Darling Buds shows we don t need to own a Porsche, Filofax or cellular phone to be happy, and it shows the virtues of communal action rather than aggressive competition. Though it does not entirely support the idea of a Welfare State. For example, Pop manages to avoid paying his income taxes. Instead we are given the picture of a self-reliant village community that looks after its own. Nasty people are usually outsiders and any nasty villagers have to be convinced that they should behave differently for the sake of the community.
Actors: Catherine Zeta Jones, David Jason, Julie Davies, Stephanie Ralph, Rachel Bell, Steve Brand, Christina Giles, Abigail Romison, Katherine Giles, Philip Franks, Kika Mirylees, Pam Ferris, Moray Watson, Ian Tucker
Genre: Comedy, Drama
