The Durrells In Corfu - General Discussion

[milner]

Margot also wrote several books (I successful).  I wonder why that wasn’t mentioned.  On another note I was surprised how short Larry and Gerald were   

Oops unsuccessful 

[Florinaldo]

I wonder if the GD estate requested this focus on him in any documentary or BTS material before agreeing to let his books be adapted. Whatever the case may be, he did have a much larger media presence than his siblings; I still remember him popping up on TV for his various series or specials (not as numerous as Attenborough though). So there is a lot more material of him to mine for such retrospectives, including all the PR and fundraising work he did for his zoo. He also has that aura of a royal patronage.

By contrast, I do not think Lawrence was seen as often;  aside from archive material, I can remember seeing only one contemporaneous interview of him (not the one that was excerpted last night I believe).

[Ohwell]

They should have named the episode "What The Durrells Did Next--Featuring Gerald Durrell."

[izabella]

I was disappointed at all the Gerry, and not much anyone else.  I didn't really care for Gerry the first two seasons, and didn't really warm up to him much after that.  I would have really liked to know more about Larry's life. 

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, izabella said:

I didn't really care for Gerry the first two seasons, and didn't really warm up to him much after that.  I would have really liked to know more about Larry's life. 

I agree - it's kind of ironic considering that the show is based off of his writings but he is the least interesting character on the show........

[Harvey]

4 hours ago, izabella said:

I was disappointed at all the Gerry, and not much anyone else.  I didn't really care for Gerry the first two seasons, and didn't really warm up to him much after that.  I would have really liked to know more about Larry's life. 

He was so tiring by season 3-4 I often felt the urge to skip his scenes. It was just all animals all the time and when there was growth (the romance with the young greek girl) they went about it in the most cliche unlikeable way possible. The other siblings and Luisa carried the show, Gerry was always just filler for me.

Also his insistence on NOT going to school and NOT learning how to spell correctly was just infuriating.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Harvey

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Really sad to hear the family decided to put Luisa in a nursing home where she died shortly after.(weeks?)  Honestly, why can't families just let loved ones die at home peacefully surrounded by loved ones  instead of passing them off to strangers and a strange surrounding  who don't give a shit about them.  How did families or society ever get to the point where nursing homes were a better place to die than at home???

[Ohwell]

While it would be preferable for a loved one live at home, the family members might have jobs so they aren't around to care for the person, especially if that person needs round the clock care.  Sure, there can be home health care aides who can come in and help, but again, it depends on the needs of the patient whether or not that's a viable alternative. 

Plus, you can always visit the person as frequently as possible.   Each family has different circumstances, it's a very personal family decision, so I wouldn't judge others' decision to place someone in a nursing home. 

[JudyObscure]

Homes don't have bags of blood for the sudden bleeding out that people on Warfarin might have, no IV set ups for those who can no longer eat, no defibrillators for the failing heart, no locked, circular  gardens for the Alzheimer patients to walk in.  In Louisa's day they probably didn't have portable oxygen tanks either. 

We had to put my father in a nursing home for his last six months.  I would have liked for him to stay with me, but he didn't want to because he preferred to be with my brother, so he would start walking from my house to his house every time he got a chance -- brother's house being about 300 miles away was not a deterrent.  He was also having mini-strokes every few weeks, going steeply down hill each time.  As it ended up, he thought the facility was a nice hotel and did well there.  It was in the brother's town so he was happy about that and he died peacefully there with me (not the brother) at his side. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 9:02 PM, Harvey said:

That is because there wasn't much to be said about him. He lead an unremarkable life as an agricultural worker and didn't even have kids.

Idk, they could've talked about him being a painter or about his relationship with their Coriot maid in England, or at least mentioned what he and his wife did in Kenya, even though they weren't successful.  I'd rather have heard a little bit about that and less about Gerry.  Hell, I'd rather have heard more about Larry and Margo after Corfu and less about Gerry.  I know he wrote the book the series was based on, but really, his life wasn't so much more interesting that it deserved the lion's share of time.

Which, on MPT was about 45 minutes.

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 9:37 PM, Florinaldo said:

Where has Sven been hiding for everyone to be so surprised at him showing up for a few wasted seconds and to be so hostile to his very presence?

It wasn't his presence to which some of the audience was hostile - it was the character he was playing.  From what I know about ancient Greek drama, a satyr would have been portrayed as possessing a large and erect penis.

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 12:01 AM, magdalene said:

A couple of years ago the disgusting Cincinnati zoo in the US chose to kill a precious and endangered gorilla named Harambe  on loan to them under similar circumstances.  Those trigger happy American zoo keepers got their rocks off shooting poor Harambe.

Except the circumstances weren't that similar according to the investigation into the incident.  Harambe was becoming aggressive to the child who'd fallen into the gorilla enclosure; he wasn't protecting him.  Maybe the keepers could've used tranquilizers but those take time to work, and they were afraid they didn't have much time before Harambe hurt the child.  It's a terrible shame, but no one got their rocks off.

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 11:35 AM, Ohwell said:

They should have named the episode "What The Durrells Did Next--Featuring Gerald Durrell."

Or better yet, "What Gerald Durrell Did Next - Featuring His Mother & Two Of His Siblings".

On ‎11‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 10:39 PM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Really sad to hear the family decided to put Luisa in a nursing home where she died shortly after.(weeks?)  Honestly, why can't families just let loved ones die at home peacefully surrounded by loved ones  instead of passing them off to strangers and a strange surrounding  who don't give a shit about them.  How did families or society ever get to the point where nursing homes were a better place to die than at home???

Because those loved ones require care that the family cannot provide, most of the time.  It's easy to say keep them home, but you don't have to do the work or watch them suffer, and while in Louisa's case it was a short time, for many families it's not.  I hope to never have to put my mother in a nursing home should she become unable to live on her own, but I might have to, depending on the kind of care she'd require.

[Ohwell]

11 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Because those loved ones require care that the family cannot provide, most of the time.  It's easy to say keep them home, but you don't have to do the work or watch them suffer, and while in Louisa's case it was a short time, for many families it's not.  I hope to never have to put my mother in a nursing home should she become unable to live on her own, but I might have to, depending on the kind of care she'd require.

Also, not all facilities have uncaring staff.  My mother was in an assisted living facility, we visited her quite frequently, and the staff was very caring.  We could tell that my mother liked them (plus, she really liked the food).  She died peacefully there. 

[seacliffsal]

I was one of the people who searched online about Leslie after his non-appearance in the special.  I guess I'm not the norm as I found his life interesting.  He tried to make a go of things-bought a fishing boat which sank before he used it.  I would also be interested in his reasons for going to Kenya as opposed to other locations.  He did have a scandal as previously mentioned by others regarding his affair with the family's maid.  I guess the producers were only interested in those who wrote books and achieved "fame" during their lifetimes.  It also saddens me that Leslie did kind things for his siblings while growing up yet they couldn't bother going to his funeral.

Overall, I did enjoy the special but felt that the producers should have been more inclusive of the entire family.  I also would like to have found out about those who befriended the family while in Corfu.  I was glad we saw Theodore at Gerry's "This is Your Life" but would have loved to have found out more about what he did during the intervening years.

[bobalina]

Gerry was traveling in Africa. It's not always possible to get out of the bush quickly. Margo had just had major surgery and could not travel. Larry had issues with his citizenship and had to apply ahead of time to enter the UK.  I think they would have been there if they could.

[Zella]

30 minutes ago, bobalina said:

Gerry was traveling in Africa. It's not always possible to get out of the bush quickly. Margo had just had major surgery and could not travel. Larry had issues with his citizenship and had to apply ahead of time to enter the UK.  I think they would have been there if they could.

Thank you! None of the sources I ever found explained any reasons for why his family didn't come to his funeral and made it seem like he had fallen out with them. This makes a lot more sense. 

[Ohwell]

13 hours ago, bobalina said:

Gerry was traveling in Africa. It's not always possible to get out of the bush quickly. Margo had just had major surgery and could not travel. Larry had issues with his citizenship and had to apply ahead of time to enter the UK.  I think they would have been there if they could.

Then one would think that they would have made a brief mention of these details on the episode.

[bobalina]

There seem to be lots of things they didn't mention.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

PBS has been running the series again lately, I've been enjoying it more the second time around since I missed the first season's episode before. Larry never fails to deliver those quippy little lines ,lol! 

[Harvey]

I'm re-watching too. The show just has such a lovely energy. Perfect for summer. And Luisa is a treasure.

[jrzy]

On 10/18/2016 at 11:14 PM, AnnieBeez said:

What you all said + I was put off with the leash around the pelicans neck. I'd rather he study animals in the wild. 

Me too!  a friend recently turned me on to this series and the treatment of the animals is just driving me nuts!  Very typical for the times and Gerry is actually kinder than most would have been but its still hard to watch it with our 2020 sensibilities.

[John Potts]

Fans of the Durrells might like to check out All Creatures Great and Small, set in the same time period and featuring Callum Woodhouse (Lesley Durrell) as Tristran Farnon. It's a similarly bucolic look at the inter war years and featuring lots of nature (the main characters are vets) - though if they follow the books, just like the Durrells, the war will intrude as the James Herriot does go off to fight in the RAF when war breaks out (Spoiler, I guess - war breaks out in 1939!). It also features the last onscreen appearance of Dame Diana Rigg before she died.

It's just finished broadcasting in the UK and it's a co-production with PBS, so it should be available in the US.

ETA: D'Oh! Yes, Leslie not Larry Durrell. What parent gives their children two such similar names?

Edited October 5, 2020 by John Potts

[pasdetrois]

Thank you for posting! I still have the books and I loved the first production in the 70s. I'd never seen a moor until I watched Herriott and all the creatures go striding across them.

[meowmommy]

5 hours ago, John Potts said:

featuring Callum Woodhouse (Larry Durrell) as Tristran Farnon

Just a tiny quibble.  Callum Woodhouse played Leslie, not Larry.

[sambososo]

In what episode does Louisa Durrell wear a bathing suit covered from head to toe????  I want to get one for my girlfriend and can't find anything on Google images. I want to have a seamstress make it for me?!?!??

[HoodlumSheep]

My mom and I have started to rewatch the show (my parents got me the entire series on dvd for Christmas!). Figured it would be a good series to keep the winter gloom away.

It hasn't been too long since the show ended, but i've missed this show so much. Still magical.

Louisa is as great as I remember her, the kids are awful and bratty in the most delightful way and aren't at the point where some of their antics *cough*gerry*cough* annoy the heck out of me.

Margo's awkward as heck crush on max, poor donald, leslie shooting everything, spiros yelling at people, larry's obsession with sex, Lugaretzia being Lugaretzia, theo, SVEN.... :'). It felt like the show was welcoming me back home.

The only thing that's slightly soured is the spiros/louisa thing tbh. Like they directly state he's wearing a wedding ring and has a pic of his fam in his taxi (no other statement about his situation has been made as of yet-2 eps in)...but now that we actually know for a fact that the wife was alive and kickin' and all the drama... :(.

i completely forgot cpt. Creech was in the very first episode and that louisa's and florence's first encounter was a bit...icy.

On 10/4/2020 at 6:05 AM, John Potts said:

Fans of the Durrells might like to check out All Creatures Great and Small, set in the same time period and featuring Callum Woodhouse (Lesley Durrell) as Tristran Farnon. It's a similarly bucolic look at the inter war years and featuring lots of nature (the main characters are vets) - though if they follow the books, just like the Durrells, the war will intrude as the James Herriot does go off to fight in the RAF when war breaks out (Spoiler, I guess - war breaks out in 1939!). It also features the last onscreen appearance of Dame Diana Rigg before she died.

It's just finished broadcasting in the UK and it's a co-production with PBS, so it should be available in the US.

Been looking forward to this for awhile. Can't wait for Sunday!

[ForReal]

I finished the series last night and was so glad to find all the commentary here. I agree with so much of what's been said. Leslie and Margo improved for me, too, over the seasons, and I found Gerry the least compelling, although I didn't dislike him.

The Louisa and Spiros romance...I wasn't offended by it, in fact I quite liked them together. I think the show did a good job of showing the conundrum of marriage and love and life. I was struck by Leslie's privilege in telling Daphne they shouldn't get married if they aren't in love, seemingly oblivious to the reality she was facing, and yet it turned out to be the right move, if not for the right reasons, or maybe it was the right reason. Spiros kind of paralleled Leslie -- he mentioned that he had had lots of girlfriends when he was young and that his wife was pregnant before they got married, so he theoretically did the "right" thing, but their marriage wasn't happy. I read a lot of blame in the comments toward Louisa and Spiros for having an emotional affair that broke up his marriage, but I thought the story showed Spiros and his wife as two people for whom familiarity bred contempt and they were unhappy before the Durrells came along. I think Louisa just happened to be the right sort of person for Spiros who came along at a certain point in his life to show him life could be better. That said, I am glad he stayed in Greece. 

I really enjoyed this show, especially the funny lines and most of all the heartfelt lines that were slipped in. I think one that will stay with me was when Larry was moving out for the first time. I thought Louisa was being a little bit too mother hen about it all, but when she told him, "It will be like being widowed all over again. I will turn to say something and you won't be there." So much heart in this show.

[HoodlumSheep]

Finished rewatching season two and about halfway thru season 3.

Season 2 still holds up just as well as season 1. Fantastic.

I feel like i appreciated hugh a lot more the second time around. After sven i feel like the writers really went out of their way to have louisa's new beau be very much the opposite of sven. Inverted vs extroverted, but he had his own charming qualities about him.

Hugh failed to see the biggest obstacle in his and louisa's relationship though:

It was never him vs spiros.

It was him vs Corfu. 

At the end of season 2, imo, louisa wasn't quite romantically interested in Spiros yet (even though there were more and more characters making lil comments here and there). If anything season 2 reaffirmed that the true otp of this series will forever be Louisa x Corfu. 

Tbh I almost feel like they didn't get the closure they deserved. Sure they got to have a convo, but then Hugh gets stabbed and the last thing we hear about him is that he's been whisked away to a hospital and that he'll pull thru and that's the end of that. *shrugs*

I forgot how annoying zoltan was when he was first introduced. Dang, they did a good job of turning him into a very enjoyable character down the road. 

Gerry is still tolerable by this season. Season 3 is where his character takes a big nose dive for me.

Season 3:

I said it once and i'll say it again, the beginning of this season was very much 'kick louisa while she's down.'

Daphne's character worsens knowing what happens. 

Sven and the countess appearing less and less over the course of season 2 and 3 is highly noticable. Makes me sad. I know louisa's and sven's relationship and storyline were wrapped up, but i still wish he could have shown up a bit more even though him *not* showing up fits his reclusiveness and situation.

Lastly, i picked up on the hints alluding to the spiros and wife situation a lot more than when i first watched it when it was airing.

Edited May 9, 2021 by HoodlumSheep

[ForReal]

On 5/7/2021 at 7:38 PM, HoodlumSheep said:

I feel like i appreciated hugh a lot more the second time around. After sven i feel like the writers really went out of their way to have louisa's new beau be very much the opposite of sven. Inverted vs extroverted, but he had his own charming qualities about him.

Hugh failed to see the biggest obstacle in his and louisa's relationship though:

It was never him vs spiros.

It was him vs Corfu. 

I tend to agree. You are much kinder towards Hugh than I am, though. I felt like he and Louisa got together by default, because they were both English and educated, not because they were attracted to each other. Even when Hugh was good with the kids, it didn't seem sincere to me. I much preferred Spiros watching Louisa make mistakes and standing by to help her out, rather than trying to control her. Their mutual appreciation and respect seemed more genuine.

It kind of bugged me after spending so much time there on Corfu, Hugh couldn't understand why Louisa wasn't ready to leave just because he was.

[magdalene]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:45 AM, proserpina65 said:

Except the circumstances weren't that similar according to the investigation into the incident.  Harambe was becoming aggressive to the child who'd fallen into the gorilla enclosure; he wasn't protecting him.  Maybe the keepers could've used tranquilizers but those take time to work, and they were afraid they didn't have much time before Harambe hurt the child.  It's a terrible shame, but no one got their rocks off.

The investigation aka the cover-up as I would call it.  The gorilla was in his own enclosure and this child should have never been allowed into the enclosure. What were the parents doing and why were there no charges against them?.  Sorry, but it infuriates me to this day. Such a precious life lost with no consequences for anybody but the gorilla. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by magdalene

[proserpina65]

On 6/19/2021 at 1:11 AM, magdalene said:

The investigation aka the cover-up as I would call it.  The gorilla was in his own enclosure and this child should have never been allowed into the enclosure. What were the parents doing and why were there no charges against them?.  Sorry, but it infuriates me to this day. Such a precious life lost with no consequences for anybody but the gorilla. 

It wasn't a cover up.  Yes, it's tragic that Harambe was killed, and I agree there should've been some repercussions for the mother who wasn't watching her child, but ultimately the keepers had to put the safety of the child as top priority since the gorilla was becoming aggressive towards him.

 

On 3/7/2021 at 11:15 AM, ForReal said:

he Louisa and Spiros romance...I wasn't offended by it, in fact I quite liked them together. I think the show did a good job of showing the conundrum of marriage and love and life. I was struck by Leslie's privilege in telling Daphne they shouldn't get married if they aren't in love, seemingly oblivious to the reality she was facing, and yet it turned out to be the right move, if not for the right reasons, or maybe it was the right reason. Spiros kind of paralleled Leslie -- he mentioned that he had had lots of girlfriends when he was young and that his wife was pregnant before they got married, so he theoretically did the "right" thing, but their marriage wasn't happy. I read a lot of blame in the comments toward Louisa and Spiros for having an emotional affair that broke up his marriage, but I thought the story showed Spiros and his wife as two people for whom familiarity bred contempt and they were unhappy before the Durrells came along. I think Louisa just happened to be the right sort of person for Spiros who came along at a certain point in his life to show him life could be better. That said, I am glad he stayed in Greece. 

I agree, as much as I loved Spiros, there simply would not have been a place for him in England.

[HoodlumSheep]

Almost a year later and we finally finished rewatching season 3! To be fair though, we kinda paused the rewatch once summer hit and then we had other pbs shows to watch.

Overall S3 rewatch thoughts:

Most of my previous opinions still hold up. Lol.

3x04 (I think) with the Italian? Family is where the show fumbles for the first time (though not too bad) mainly bc of the Spiro's vs Louisa drama with money lending thing etc. 

Then it's followed by 3x05 (Gerry's bday), which turns out to be the worst episodes in the season (and possibly the series) imo. But, I gotta say my opinion of the episode improved just a tad upon rewatch. The adults totally shrugging off Gerry's tantrum and continuing to party manages to save the episode.

Margo and Zoltan breaking up: :'( there goodbye scene was so sweet and sad

Leslie and Daphne breaking up: it was for the best.

The circus finale was delightful but I still find the ending...framed (?) A little awkwardly. You get this dramatic kinda pseudo break-up/parting of ways between Spiros and Louisa...only to literally round the corner of the house to find a crowd of people standing around ready for a stay in Corfu. 

Basically to sum up my cons of s3:

Gerry in general (esp ep 5 Gerry)

Louisa's make-up (yeah kind of petty): she looked a lil too orange thru out the season paired with brighter lipstick colors...wasn't a fan.

The shift in Louisa's and Spiros' relationship was a lil forced in parts imo. Some of their scenes didn't feel as natural as in seasons past but that's probably bc they were moving toward a more serious relationship.

 

[HoodlumSheep]

My mom and I finally FINALLY finished our season 4 rewatch.

Binged the back half of the season tonight and I gotta say I think I enjoyed it more than the initial viewing?

Like, binging helped in some aspects. I don't remember having too many issues with season 4, but the ones I did have while viewing weekly were a little more tolerable in binging format. Less time to dwell on them I think.

The finale: basically when Gerry and Theo started letting the animals go...that's when the water works started. Again. Lol.

I still find it a very solid finale. Fav bit of the episode is still the same as it was during the initial viewing: I love when the pre storm-like weather moves in to kick in the sombre atmosphere. 

[ForReal]

On 4/22/2022 at 7:12 PM, HoodlumSheep said:

My mom and I finally FINALLY finished our season 4 rewatch.

I really should rewatch this show, thank you for reminding me about it. I sometimes think about dropping in to watch an episode here or there, but it's hard to pick one without considering what went on before and then after. A complete rewatch is the answer.