Regency House Party

“Twelve footmen, 17 maids, 32 chamber pots, 10,000 candles, and one house party.” No, it's not another Jane Austen adaptation, but Regency House Party, the latest “reality history” offering from PBS, in which ten 21st-century singles look for love, 19th-century style. Many of the participants were chosen because they already fit upper-crust Regency roles--a genuine countess, a titled lady chaperone, and a real-life industrial heiress--but since this is reality, not fiction, two eligible bachelors end up pursuing the rich girl, while another bachelor falls for one of the chaperones, disrupting the matchmaking numbers. Aside from the math, the 21st-century singles who take up residence in an English country estate for nine weeks here are used to “speed dating” and not only grow bored with the prospects before them, but ultimately find the concept of making a suitable match (the goal of Regency courtship) to be amorously restrictive. Running some six hours in length, the series offers a revealing look at the realities of 19th-century life (including the misery of old-time menstruation--period periods, as it were), examining the era's strict gender roles/rules and the rigidities of the class system (unwelcome surprises to the young women here in particular). Oddly, the servants' viewpoint is rarely presented, which is strange considering the producers' magnificent coverage of the same in Manor House (VL-9/03). The conclusion is also a bit flat compared with the “back to the future” endings of Manor House and 1900 House (VL-9/00), in which the participants return to their contemporary lives and reflect on their remarkable experience. Still, Regency House Party is superb eye candy, great “living history,” and immensely entertaining thanks to human foibles (which are ageless). Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)