The Durrells in Corfu: The Complete Third Season

This British family comedy-drama, based on the autobiographical Corfu Trilogy by respected naturalist, conservationist, and author Gerald Durrell, offers a lovely, lighthearted escape to a sunny paradise while taking significant liberties with the source material. Ostensibly a chronicle of the lives of the Durrell family—widowed mother Louisa Durrell (Keeley Hawes) and her four children—after they move to the Greek island of Corfu in 1935, the series has become more reliant on sitcom situations than biographical events. Middle son Leslie (Callum Woodhouse) juggles three girlfriends at once, eldest son Lawrence (Josh O'Connor) meets Henry Miller (who romances his mother!) during a trip back to England, Gerald (Milo Parker) acquires a growing menagerie on the family property, and in the season finale all are involved with a traveling circus troupe performing on the island. It plays like a riff on the familiar British genre of the outsider navigating the eccentricities of the rural small town, and never questions the arrogance of the British family abroad who (apart from Leslie) never bother to learn the local language and are generally oblivious, self-involved, and offhandedly rude. At the same time, the series is warm, fun, and lovely to look at, with gorgeous hills, sun-dappled beaches, and the colorful island life of Corfu. Compiling all eight episodes from the 2018 third season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)