Country Matters

3.3

1972•1h

Adapted from tales by A.E Coppard and H.E. Bates – two of the great masters of the short story – Country Matters unarguably remains a high point for television drama, winning the award for Best Drama at the 1973 BAFTAs. An anthology series of plays about English country life and rural romance at the turn of the twentieth century, it presents unsentimental stories of human relationships and raw emotions – heartfelt passions, crippling frustrations, unspoken love and destructive jealousy all feature unsparingly in one of the 1970s' most memorable drama series. Available on DVD for the first time, Country Matters includes memorable performances from Ian McKellen, Rosalind Ayres, Peter Firth, Penelope Wilton, Pauline Collins, Gareth Thomas, Bryan Marshall, Barbara Ewing, Prunella Scales, Zena Walker, Michael Kitchen and Jeremy Brett, among others.

Seasons

6 Episodes • Premiered 1972

1. Craven Arms

David Masterson is a philandering art teacher who is caught between his relationships with three of his pupils.

2. The Mill

Alice is hired to keep house at an old mill for the Hollands. Mrs. Holland has been bedridden for many years and her husband has been looking after her for several years.

3. The Sullen Sisters

19 year-old Tommy Adams is desperately in love with Rachel Sullens, the local postmistress. His wishes to get married are thwarted by his possessive and suspicious mother.

4. Crippled Bloom

About Ruby and Nan, two sisters who share a house with Ruby's husband Potter-Jones and the bitter triangular relationships which ensues.

5. The Watercress Girl

Play by Hugh Leonard, Mary McDowall stands trial for an attack on a rival in love. But what were the reasons behind her refusal to marry Frank, her lover?