The Darling Buds of May (TV series)

Synopsis

The Larkin family lives on a farm in rural England, in the county of Kent. Sidney ("Pop") and his partner Florence ("Ma") have six children, eldest daughter Mariette, followed by their only son Montgomery, and other daughters Primrose, twins Zinnia and Petunia, and Victoria. Ma is a housewife while Pop supplements his farm income with various other not entirely legitimate enterprises. Tax collector Cedric ("Charlie") visits to audit Pop, but falls in love with Mariette and quits his job to live the rural life. As Ma and Pop raise their other children, Charlie attempts to provide for his now wife Mariette. Ma and Pop soon have a seventh child, Oscar, followed around a year later by Charlie and Mariette's first baby, John Blenheim.

The first episode is based on the first book, written and set in 1958. However, by the last episode of the 3rd series, when the children are older and the babies have been conceived, born, and grown to toddlerhood, a close-up of a calendar reveals that we are still in 1959. The end of the final episode takes place on 5 November 1959 (Guy Fawkes Night).

Pop and Ma's relationship is depicted as loving and affectionate throughout, although Pop is flirtatious and subject to numerous advances, most of which Ma is aware of and evidently unconcerned by. Proud of all his children, Pop's schemes evidently provide well for the family, enough to fund boarding school for the twins, naval boarding school for Monty, a swimming pool, a fairground, and a holiday to France, although he is just as motivated by doing good and helping others as making a profit. Ma occasionally becomes involved in Pop's schemes, or creates a scheme of her own. Possessing some very close friends, their lifestyle, in particular the fact they have never been married, nonetheless raises eyebrows in the stuffy environs of the local village.

Mariette and Charlie's relationship is more torrid, in part due to his insecurity over her attractiveness, and his varying success in providing financially, with their newly acquired hop farm struggling. Mariette's business skills eventual come to bore as they purchase a local brewery. Primrose is depicted as a frustrated romantic, and tries to seduce both Charley and the village minister, before moving to France to live with a boy her own age. Monty meanwhile contends with bullying, both at home and at naval boarding school. The increasingly mischievous twins gradually grow apart from their younger sibling Victoria, who delights in teasing and embarrassing all her siblings, especially Primrose.

Main cast members

Of the four main cast members, Jason and Ferris appeared in all twenty episodes, while Zeta-Jones and Franks appeared in eighteen, their only absences being in the third series double episode "Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine" (3.3 & 3.4).

Recurring cast - Larkin family

The actors playing the other Larkin children and grandchild were as below (listed in descending character age). All the children except those yet to be born appeared in the first episode. After appearing in the first six episodes, the actor playing Primrose was replaced, the second appearing from the seventh episode (the first Christmas special) onwards. The actors playing the roles of Oscar and John Blenheim first appear in episodes 1.5 and 2.1 respectively. Although a male character, John Blenheim was played by Daisy-May Bates, granddaughter of the author of the books.

Recurring cast - others

Various other actors appeared in more than one story-line, i.e. in more than one double-episode.

Conception and development

Having been sold to MGM films in 1959, it wasn't until 1989 that Richard Bates, son of the author of the original books H.E Bates, was able to purchase the rights to the novels. At the same time, Yorkshire Television were looking for a new project for David Jason, having starred for them in A Bit of a Do. Richard Bates went on to Executive Produce the show, alongside Vernon Lawrence of Yorkshire Television.

Casting

Bates had originally considered Bob Hoskins as ideal for the role of Pop, but Lawrence was of the view his increasing fame as a film actor would create problems. Jason was cast first, followed by Ferris and Franks. Finding an actor to fit with the novel's description of Mariette as a black-haired and olive skinned beauty proved difficult, with over 300 rejected until Zeta-Jones was cast. With filming due to start, she had been spotted appearing in 42nd Street at the Drury Lane Theatre.

Filming

Each episode took two weeks to film, followed by two months in post production.

Filming locations

Much of the series was filmed in and around the village of Pluckley in Kent; Executive Producer Richard Bates who lived just a few miles away.

The location for "Home Farm", the Larkin residence, was Buss Farm a few miles south of Pluckley, owned by the Holmes family. All four main buildings of the Grade II listed farm were utilised, the farmhouse itself, a square oast house (depicted in the title sequence), a Tudor barn and cart lodge. After being put up for sale by the family in 2012, it was purchased in 2013 by a businessman. Renaming it "Darling Buds Farm", several buildings were converted into guest accommodation themed around the show.

Other locations in Pluckley village itself were used extensively; the Black Horse pub in The Street was renamed the Hare and Hounds and used as the Larkins' local. Church Gate Cottage and Fig Tree Cottage in The Street served as Edith Pilchester's and The Brigadier's homes respectively. Pluckley primary school, also in The Street, served as the village hall. The butcher's shop also featured, and the Post Office (dressed as the grocer's). Church scenes were filmed at St Nicholas Church in the village.

The cricket scenes were filmed at Little Chart Cricket Club, a village north east of Pluckley.

Further afield, in and around Tenterden, Kent, Halden Place in Halden Lane, Cranbrook, served as Mrs Kinthley's hop garden, Wentwood Cottage in Swain Road served as Charley and Mariette's cottage, and the Kent & East Sussex Railway was the location of Charley's arrival in Kent, and the station used by Ma, Charley and Mariette shopping for her wedding dress. Other scenes shot in Kent included the exteriors of "Bristow's Brewery", filmed at Shepherd Neame Brewery in Faversham, and scenes of the Larkin's beach holiday, filmed in Folkestone, including a backdrop of the Leas Lift. Mlle. Dupont is met by the Larkin's at Folkestone Harbour after her channel crossing.

Little filming was done inside the farmhouse, the interiors having been shot in a studio at Yorkshire Television. Scenes shot in the former Wennington School in Yorkshire were included.

To mark the series' 20th anniversary, Kent County Council established a tourist trail featuring the various film locations and other local attractions and Kent food.

Music

The series' music producer Pip Burley wrote the title theme, "Perfick!". He had submitted the piece anonymously, having deemed the submissions received from a shortlist of composers missed the point of the essential romanticism of the show. Although it also featured lyrics, drawn from the words used in the novels, the theme music for the series did not feature them. The song with lyrics was later sung by David Jason for the radio adaptation of the last book in the Larkin series, A Little of What You Fancy.

Future

After the series ended, Ferris wished to film more episodes. Having performed it for radio in 1996, she theorised in 2008 that the reason the fifth book was never adapted for television was because the storyline featured Pop recovering from a heart attack, something the producers likely thought the audience would not want to see.

In 2016, having filmed a cinema adaptation of another classic TV series, Dad's Army, Zeta-Jones responded positively to suggestions that The Darling Buds of May might also be similarly remade, stating "I’d be playing Ma Larkin, but I’m up for it".

Themes

Locally produced food and drink intentionally played a core role in the series. Due to not being ripe at the right time, the strawberries used in the series were imported from Holland. One of the most iconic scenes featuring Pop and Ma eating a meal together while having a bath. With several scenes featuring eating, the fact Ferris was a vegetarian had to be worked around by the production staff. Both Ferris and Jason gained weight due to the amount of food they had to consume, often in multiple times and for multiple scenes at one time, to make the scenes look realistic.

Another theme of the series was the Larkin family's habit of giving their children unusual or themed first and middle names. Mariette was created by combining 'Marie' and 'Antoinette'. Montgomery was named after wartime officer Field Marshall Montgomery. Victoria was named for being born during the plum season (Victoria plum). While Monty and Victoria have no middle names, the other children have multiple instances of them: Primrose Violet Anemone Iris Magnolia Narcissa, twins Petunia June Florence Nightingale and Zinnia June Florence Nightingale, and Oscar Columbus Septimus Dupont, the last one being in tribute to the French hotelleir Mademoiselle Dupont, who features in the series. In comparison, Mariette's wedding ceremony reveals her middle name is simply Jane. Mariette and Charlie continue the family tradition by naming their son John Marlborough Churchill Blenheim.

Broadcast

The first episode was transmitted on the ITV channel at 8pm on a Sunday night.

Home media

When the series was first released on video, it sold £1m worth of copies in the first four days.

DVD releases:

Note: The 2008 and 2011 DVD sets from ITV Studios list that there are 11 episodes; this is due to the fact that all episodes in series 1-3 (not including the specials) contain two parts making them count as a whole.

Soundtrack

A 16 track soundtrack of the series was released by EMI on CD in 1991.

Reception

The series was a ratings success, its "feel-good" factor during economic recession often noted as the reason. While Yorkshire TV classified it as a drama, audiences and critics have generally considered it a comedy/drama.

The first episode broke a British broadcasting record, becoming the first instance of a new series topping the national ratings, beating the soap opera Coronation Street (also an ITV production) on the night. This came as a shock to producers, although they had been hopeful of good ratings, based on the dull weather and the belief people would be looking for something to lift their spirits following the end of the Gulf War.

Jason attributed the series' popularity to the public wanting a more wholesome, inclusive and inoffensive viewing option, at a time when violence on television was increasing. This was one of the main reasons he decided to take the role.

The series generated an upsurge in sales of H.E. Bates' novels.

Awards

Source novels and other adaptations

The series is based on the works of H. E. Bates, who died in 1974. Having moved from the industrialised English Midlands to a granary in Little Chart in Kent in 1930 in search of new inspirations for his work, he was initially frustrated in his efforts to create a novel based on the Kent way of life. His inspiration for the Larkin stories eventually came in 1955 while on a trip to Sittingbourne. Pausing at Faversham, he observed the joyful camaraderie of a large boisterous family as they emerged from a shop and departed in a large blue truck. Combining this with observations of another family on a nearby small-holding, he set about writing about how these families might live. Originally a short story, he expanded it into a novel, followed by a further four books, the titles of the first four of which were used as episode titles for the TV series:

The first novel in the series was originally adapted to the screen in 1959 as The Mating Game, starring Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall as Mariette and Charley.

The fifth novel, A Little of What You Fancy?, was never adapted for television, but it was adapted into a six-part series by Eric Pringle for BBC Radio, with Jason and Ferris reprising their roles, first airing in February 1996.

In May 2011 a stage production of the series was put on at Buss Farm.