The Darling Buds of May (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The strawberries used in the series were imported from Holland because local supplies were unripe.
• Pam Ferris was a vegetarian, which required production staff to work around her diet during eating scenes.
• The title is from the third line of Shakespeare's sonnet 18.

Synopsis

The Larkin family live on a smallholding in rural Kent. Sidney "Pop" Larkin and his common law wife Florence "Ma" have six children: Mariette, Montgomery, Primrose, twins Zinnia and Petunia, and Victoria. Pop supplements his farm income with various not entirely legitimate enterprises. Tax collector Cedric "Charley" Charlton visits to audit Pop but falls in love with Mariette, quits his job, and marries her. Ma and Pop later have a seventh child, Oscar, and Charley and Mariette have a son, John Blenheim. Pop and Ma's relationship is loving and affectionate, though Pop is flirtatious; Ma is aware and unconcerned. Pop's schemes provide well for the family, funding boarding school, a swimming pool, a fairground, and a holiday to France, motivated by doing good as much as profit. Ma occasionally joins in or creates her own schemes. Their lifestyle, including their unmarried status, raises eyebrows in the village. Mariette and Charley's relationship is torrid, with Charley insecure about Mariette's attractiveness and struggling financially with their hop garden; Mariette's business skills later help them buy a brewery. Primrose is a frustrated romantic who moves to France and later attempts to seduce Charley and the vicar. Monty contends with bullying at home and at naval boarding school. The twins grow apart from Victoria, who delights in teasing her siblings.

Period

All episodes are seemingly set during 1958–59, despite the timespan making this a logical impossibility. The first serial is set in 1958, during which Ma finds out she is pregnant. In the second serial, Sidney is accused of indecent assault on 23 August 1958, with the trial on 7 July—a continuity error, as Ma's baby had not yet been born. By the third serial, Ma has given birth to Oscar, and the Larkins holiday in Brittany in late August, coinciding with Charley and Mariette's first anniversary. The fourth serial is at Christmas, with Mariette five months pregnant; she gives birth in the fifth serial, likely spring 1960. In the sixth serial, the twins celebrate their birthday on 15 August 1959, shown on a calendar. The eighth serial coincides with Charles de Gaulle's state visit, dating it to April 1960. Primrose's birthday is in May; she celebrates it in the ninth serial, dating events to May 1960 or 1961. By the eleventh serial, a calendar shows October 1959. In the final episode, Sidney is elected to the Rural District Council on 5 November 1959.

Cast

David Jason and Pam Ferris appeared in all twenty episodes as Sidney "Pop" Larkin and Florence "Ma" Larkin. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Philip Franks appeared in eighteen episodes as Mariette Charlton and Cedric "Charley" Charlton, absent only from the third series double episode "Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine". The other Larkin children were played by Julie Stichbury (Primrose, 1991, six episodes), Abigail Rokison (Primrose, 1991–1993, twelve episodes), Ian Tucker (Montgomery, thirteen episodes), Christina Giles (Petunia, eighteen episodes), Katherine Giles (Zinnia, eighteen episodes), Stephanie Ralph (Victoria, nineteen episodes), Ross Marriott (Oscar, sixteen episodes), and Daisy-May Bates (John Blenheim, eleven episodes). Daisy-May Bates is the granddaughter of author H. E. Bates. Recurring guest actors include Rachel Bell as Edith Pilchester (sixteen episodes), Moray Watson as the Brigadier (eleven episodes), Kika Mirylees as Angela Snow (seven episodes), Martyn Read as Sergeant Wilson (six episodes), Tyler Butterworth as the Reverend John Candy (four episodes), Michael Jayston as Ernest Bristow (four episodes), Carol MacReady as Mrs. Daws (four episodes), Sheila Burrell as Mrs. Kinthley (four episodes), Steven Brand as Tom Sargent (four episodes), Anna Massey as Mademoiselle Antoinette Dupont (three episodes), and Michael Culver as Sir George Bluff-Gore (three episodes).

Production

Richard Bates, son of H. E. Bates, purchased the rights to the novels in 1989 after they had been sold to MGM in 1959. Yorkshire Television was seeking a project for David Jason, who had starred in A Bit of a Do. Richard Bates executive produced alongside Vernon Lawrence. Bob Hoskins was originally considered for Pop but was deemed too busy as a film actor. Jason was cast first, then Pam Ferris and Philip Franks. Catherine Zeta-Jones was cast after over 300 hopefuls were rejected; she was spotted in 42nd Street at Drury Lane theatre. Each one-hour episode took two weeks to film and two months in post-production. Much of the series was filmed in and around Pluckley, Kent. Home Farm was Buss Farm, a Grade II listed property with a farmhouse, oast house, Tudor barn, and cart lodge; it was later renamed Darling Buds Farm and converted into guest accommodation. The Black Horse pub was renamed the Hare and Hounds. Church Gate Cottage and Fig Tree Cottage served as homes for Edith Pilchester and the Brigadier. Pluckley primary school was used as the village hall. Church scenes were filmed at St Nicholas' Church. Cricket scenes were filmed at Little Chart Cricket Club.