The Durrells (2016)
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The Durrells Review
The Durrells is a British dramedy series which premiered in 2016. It is such a wonderful, exceedingly charming and endearing series.
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“Firstly, Margo, I am thrilled that you are thinking of yourself
and highlighting double standards“
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It is based on the novel ‘My Family and Other Animals’ by Gerald Durrell which is autobiographical in nature. Although I most definitely preferred the book, this is still one of the rare instances where a TV adaptation changed almost everything and yet stood on its own as high-quality programming.
Let’s discuss thus character through character and that’s the best way to touch upon the story as well having in mind that the series relies on its set of characters almost exclusively. And that’s a great choice that paid off as we really do get to meet this crazy family and its interesting members so well. They interact wonderfully and just the strong emphasis on family appealed to me a lot.
Louisa is by far the heart and soul and the highlight of the entire show. Keeley Hawes is so amazing. Yes, everyone did a wonderful job as the acting is top-notch in the overall production, but she is definitely the standout as she is such a great actress, immensely talented. The mother is such a human, flawed and complex woman and her interactions with everyone else and her bright personality are wonderful.
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Larry is also very strong and Josh O’Connor of ‘God’s Own Country’ fame also did a wonderful job in this role which easily could have been insufferable, but he made him sympathetic. The relationship between him and Louisa is so well established. Margo is also very well portrayed and actually better than she was in the book. Very likable and probably the most relatable of the bunch.
However, I could not say the same about Gerry as he was entirely underutilized here which is a shame as he was great in the book. And just the emphasis on humans and very little emphasis on the scenery and especially animals is troublesome as thus the show lost some of its wildlife eccentricities and humor from the book. That did bother me a lot.
But Leslie is very good and highly developed, although I did find the overall baby storyline boring and uninspired. Most definitely the third season is the weakest in this show whereas the first two are both so wonderful. Theo is so charming as he was in the book and Sven as this gay male character is the original addition here to make the show modern and it worked as they explored his problems with his sexuality during the 30s quite well. I loved how progressive the entirely Durrell family is. Aunt Hermione is also pretty memorable and her death was impactful. And of course Spiro is such a kind, lovely man and the relationship between him and Louisa is one of the better instances of will they, won’t they that I have seen.
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The Durrells is beautifully shot, simply exquisite is the bright lighting and the scenery, although underutilized at times. The show is exuberant, exceedingly charming in tone and approach while consistently being entertaining. Some episodes are weaker than others, but most of them are appealing and well crafted. The dialogue is also pretty good as is the humor, though weaker than it was in the book admittedly.
Overall, The Durrells is a very strong TV show and a fine, though very different and sometimes problematic adaptation which lacked in the animal department unfortunately. But the family itself is so wonderful, the romantic as well as friendly relationships are all so well explored here and just the interactions and personalities of the characters are worth the watch here.
Worst Episodes: Season 1 Episode 4, Season 2 Episode 4 and Season 3 Episode 5.
Best Episodes: Season 1 Episode 6, Season 2 Episode 2 and Season 3 Episode 7.
