5/5 Waiting for Season 1 and 3
  by Cynthia M. Garland (MD. USA)
This is a wonderful show. It is silly that season 2 was released first. You can watch season 1 on hulu dot com free of charge. I am hoping season 3 will be released soon so I can see the guest appearance of Colin Baker (Doctor Who) in episode two.

5/5 Sheer Delight
  by D. Staley (Seattle, WA United States)
Stephen Fry is a genius, pure and simple. And while he didn't write this series, or at least isn't credited , his very presence in the show anchors the series, allowing it to swing from the touching to the ridiculous in sure even measures.

Fry plays Simon Kingdom, a lawyer in a picturesque village on the Cornish coast. What the English would call a confirmed bachelor, Simon is the iconic country lawyer, rumpled, wrinkled, and un-coifed. Without playing the spoiler, he is bedeviled by deep family problems--a wayward brother, a depressed sister--all the while being the dependable accessible lawyer for what it seems like is the whole village. Assisted by an able secretary and Lyle, a young legal assistant working toward his final legal certification, Simon deals not only with the mundane day to issues that plague his town, as when the local cricket team contracts a sponsorship with the local sexual toy store, but also with the continuance of his British countryside lifestyle, threatened by local development and often tangled town histories.

While the series could fall over the edge to schmaltzy excess, Fry and his cohorts have kept a firm hand on it through the two season that I have seen. (Season one is only available in the US on-line--this boxed set is Season Two--it is enough of a soap opera that you should see season one before watching season two.) Touching yes, but never does it succumb to temptation and fall into pure trickle. The comedy is sharp, character driven, and occasionally bizarre; classic Stephen Fry. Watch for Fry's reaction shots--his most compelling acting is most often when he's not speaking. At these moments you can see Simon soaking up information, either as a lawyer or as a family member, in each allowing the moment to impact his character and his actions. I don't mean to suggest that this is a one man show however. This is an excellent ensemble work. The entire cast is filled with dependable, solid actors, many familiar from other British series. Part of the joy, for the anglophile, is recognize the actors from their past shows. Part of the sorrow is to understand that America can't produce such fine character actors.

Go now, and start watching the first season. Halfway through you should order the second season so that it will get to you by the time you end the first season. You will go through withdrawal when you are done--- Season three is just now finishing up in the UK. Enough of us buy season two, and we in the US might get a chance to see season three sooner.


5/5 Kingdoms Rules!
  by G. Fisher (Kansas City, MO)
I was slightly confused until I discovered this was Series Two, not series one, but the on-going stories draw you in without knowing too much of the backgrounds of the characters. Stephen Fry was wonderful as Peter Kingdom and the mix of odd villagers and interesting situations kept me glued to my DVD player. It was light and frothy and smile inducing comedy played by some of the best English actors - Phyllida Law! and if you like quirky English comedies this is the show for you. Now all we need is Series One, which, hopefully explains the whole bit about Peter's brother, Simon.

5/5 Excellent series, but where is Series (Season) One?
  by Carl (California)
I, like probably everyone else, was surprised to discover this was Series Two (noted in fine print on the back of the case, just above the pictures). I checked the Amazon UK site to see if that was how it was initially released in the UK, but discovered they have Series One in release (as of this review), but not Series Two, of course these are two different regions. Who puts out a DVD starting with the second season? There will be a lot of questions if you haven't seen the first season. Amazon.com needs to stipulate that this is Series (Season) Two. Question to BFS Entertainment - Where is Series One???

Other than that, my actual review is on this excellent dramedy. I have waited for "Kingdom" to be released since I first saw it on PBS. Stephen Fry is excellent as always, and, new to this side of the ocean, Karl Davies is OUTSTANDING as his assistant Lyle in a light comedic performance. The rest of the supporting cast is superb. It is just to bad there aren't any DVD extra's. I hope they will film more of the series in the UK, and that Series (Season) One will be released on Region 1 DVD shortly.

I do have this one question - Why are DVD's of all British series so expensive? I have never understood why they always cost so much more than the U.S. series, especially when there are less episodes.