Unsurprisingly, the approach taken in this five-episode British series covering "stately homes of England" is immensely dignified and magisterial, featuring slow, wide-angle camerawork and accompanying classical music. Host Selina Scott takes viewers on a tour of five surviving sprawling U.K. country manor-houses (many of the aristocrats—dukes, earls, and viscounts—who built private palaces went broke for their vanity, and less fortunate mansions were demolished). The preserved estates here—Burghley House, Chatsworth, Blenheim Palace, Holkham Hall, and Boughton House—are treated by the National Trust as cultural treasures, filled with artful arrangements of fabrics, paintings, tableware, weapons, carvings, and murals (Burghley has a ground-floor representation of hell, with an upstairs rendered as heaven). Current occupants, whether descendants of the original families or not, live in literal museums of art and history with priceless heritage collections. Anglophiles, as well as architecture and fine arts aficionados will appreciate this series. Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a viewer's guide booklet. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Treasure Houses of Britain
(2012) 2 discs. 231 min. DVD: $49.99. Athena (avail. from most distributors). August 27, 2012
Treasure Houses of Britain
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