I have not enjoyed a mini series or anything (come to think of it) as well as I have enjoyed this. Thoroughly addictive, with absorbing characters and compelling plot, I could not stop watching it. Our hero was one to make women of his era swoon, and his honourable behaviour was obviously too much for some viewers to comprehend. His wife, charming, manipulative and adorable, was so beautiful and so naughty that it was impossible to take one's eyes off her. The young would-be mistress was a joy. The other characters are too numerous to name, but there was not a weak link in the whole production. (For those who found accents hard to understand: try harder. We have listened to accents with difficulty from all over the American states, but without subtitles. You really must get out more.) the language was perfect for the era, as opposed to certain other series where it has been dumbed down and modernised for today's viewers. This is the authentic stuff, and is lovely and ... I could go on for hours. Loved every second.

The news that Mr. and Mrs. Benedict Cumberbatch have named their son Christopher made me automatically think "Yay! They named him after Chrissy Tietjens!" Which they probably didn't. But Chrissy is a worthy namesake, a modest, virtuous and capable man who represents everything that the English aristocracy is supposed to stand for-- which is why his fellow aristocrats, especially his sleazy wife Sylvia, resent him with such insane violence. It's also one of Benedict's best screen roles--the quintessential Cumberbatchian eccentric genius, you could say, though really there's no such thing, Benedict being one of those actors who creates a new character each time rather than just doing the same thing in part after part (which he's been accused of doing by people who saw him in "Sherlock" or "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" and just don't see what all the fuss is about.)I've seen this series twice now, once when it was new and again after reading Ford Madox Ford's "Parade's End" cycle of novels, and I think that the only thing that prevented this TV adaptation from being successful was the decision to basically falsify Ford's original conception of Sylvia, changing her from the sadistic personality-disordered monster she is in the novels (among other things, she beats a dog to death, terrorizes her child, and tries to trample her ex-husband's pregnant wife with a horse) to just a poor little rich girl who's sulky and irritable because she doesn't have enough to do. That's how Rebecca Hall plays her, and though her performance is one of the few things people liked about this series, it irritates me so much that I mostly fast-forwarded through her bits the second time through. A friend of mine who loves "Downton Abbey" felt personally insulted by Benedict for a comment he made about "Parade's End" being more serious than that. Well, I avoided "Downton" for the reason that it just looked like more landed gentry porn to me (I didn't tell my friend this) and I like this series because it's so intelligent and authentic and non-pandering (aside from the ponification of Sylvia.)

Let my begin with a little disclaimer: I haven't read the book, so my review will be from this perspective. Maybe this show is just too intelligent for me, but I found it to be a mix of equal parts boring (the war!), uptight and frustrating. I guess the last bit is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of art but it sure made it all a tedious experience to watch.Benedict Cumberbatch is an amazing actor and so is Rebecca Hall. They have great chemistry, while Adeleide Clemens' character comes off incredibly flat, but I cannot say it that's because of writing or she doesn't do it justice. Sylvia Tietjens is probably supposed to be the bad guy in this series, but she is actually the only multidimensional, understandable and believable character in the show. She does marry Christopher to save herself from ruin, but that's not something he doesn't know. He on the other hand marries her because of his strong moral values, and allegedly forgives her, but "without mercy" as she explains beautifully in the best scene of the whole show. He doesn't try to understand her, he treats her coldly - but honorably. He probably never even loved her, while she's clearly in love with him. She does cheat on him - to provoke a reaction! She's desperate for his love but doesn't find a way back to him, not by cheating on him nor by being faithful despite his abhorrent coolness, not by being nice nor by being a bi**h, because she probably never was in his heart. Every bad thing she does, she does to get his attention (if not love). It's a f***ed up relationship, but at least it has some ground and chemistry between characters. So, for me, the story is about her and not about Christopher and Valentine.Now onto what we should probably believe to be the main love story, Christopher and Valentine. It is so damn unmotivated! Or is it? Am I supposed to root for a bored, uptight middle-aged man who falls for the first angel-faced teenage girl who shows some interest in him? Yes, they have a connection - she's more of a nerd than Sylvia which makes her more like Christopher, but surely that's no ground for a five (or more?) year long platonic love? Maybe their story would be more believable if the show focused less on stupid boring WWI and social events and more on developing a) Valentine's character that is absolutely cardboard, dull and "manic pixie girl from the beginning of the 20th century", b) on events that constitute their love story, if there even were any more than what we saw. So from my point of view the encounter on the stairs in the last episode is very disturbing, unmotivated and makes me even more unsympathetic towards the couple I should probably be rooting for.

An outstanding series for the director and all actors. Having read the four books by Ford Maddox Ford, I was disappointed so much good material was not included in the script. Considerable history of Christopher's family, for which he was so fiercely devoted, was not included. Christopher's personality would be more understandable to an audience if they knew more about him. Young Valentine was not developed as a character nearly as fully as I would have hoped. I wanted more, I tell you, far more....this wonderful novel deserved 10 episodes to do it justice.The acting, photography, costumes and sets are superb. Rebecca Hall was perfect. Americans like myself will struggle with the sound and the actor's words now and then. However, that provides an excuse to watch the series repeatedly until satisfied. Thank you for this wonderful production.