After Henry - The Complete Series (DVD)

After the death of her husband, Sarah (Prunella Scales) is forced to bring up her teenage daughter by herself and deal with a demanding mother (Joan Sanderson).

Features all 38 episodes from the four series of After Henry.

You can order this DVD from the following online stores...

After Henry - The Complete Fourth Series (DVD)

BAFTA-nominated comedy After Henry follows the comfortable middle-class lives of three women - except that, for one of them, life isn't all that comfortable... Sarah has been left well provided for by her late husband but, unfortunately, she has also been left with a demanding mother and a prickly adolescent daughter who craves independence - just as long as mother is there to clear up the mess...

Contains the complete fourth series.

You can order this DVD from the following online stores...

After Henry - The Complete Third Series (DVD)

After the death of her husband, Sarah (Prunella Scales) is forced to bring up her teenage daughter by herself and deal with a demanding mother (Joan Sanderson). Features all the episodes from the third series.

You can order this DVD from the following online stores...

After Henry - The Complete Second Series (DVD)

BAFTA-nominated comedy After Henry follows the comfortable middle-class lives of three women - except that, for one of them, life isn't all that comfortable... Sarah has been left well provided-for by her late husband but, unfortunately, she has also been left with a demanding mother and a prickly adolescent daughter who craves independence - just as long as mother is there to clear up the mess...

Starring Prunella Scales as the put-upon Sarah and Joan Sanderson as Eleanor, her interfering, waspish mother, After Henry is written by multiple-BAFTA nominee Simon Brett (Rosemary And Thyme) and directed by sitcom legend Peter Frazer-Jones (Man About The House, George And Mildred).

Contains all 13 episodes of series 2 over two discs.

Please note that, at the time of writing, both Amazon and Play.com show incorrect artwork suggesting that there are only 6 episodes in this release.

You can order this DVD from the following online stores...

After Henry - The Complete First Series (DVD)

Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) is the widowed Sarah France. Though her deceased husband has left her well-cared for financially, he has also left her with something rather more of a handful: a demanding, cunning mother and a prickly, adolescent daughter. Joan Sanderson (Please Sir!) is the devious Eleanor, whose lot in life does not include making things easier for Sarah, her daughter. As for the teenage daughter Clare (Janine Wood - Krakatoa: The Last Days), she is desperate to leave and establish her independence, provided that Sarah is there to tidy up the messy aftermath.

Our Review: We'll be honest. After Henry, despite starring Prunella Scales, isn't going to be remembered as one of the greatest sitcoms which Britain has produced. It's not particularly ground-breaking or hugely clever, and there certainly haven't been any boundaries pushed. But it's one of those shows that you just can't help liking.

Gentle and inoffensive "Sunday afternoon" humour, fairly typical of late 80s family-fare comedy, After Henry started life on BBC Radio 4 in 1985, transferring to TV (Thames) in 1988. It stars Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) as Sarah France, a middle-aged woman left financially safe when widowed, but stuck living with an 18 year-old daughter (Janine Wood) and her extremely devious mother, Eleanor (Joan Sanderson - Mrs "it wears the batteries down" Richards in Fawlty Towers). Her daily struggle, stuck between a daughter who doesn't seem to know if she should rebel or not and a mother who is often even more cunning than a fox, is one of multi-level mother/daughter relationships, examined cleverly but subtly throughout each episode.

Unlike other TV adaptations, the show is served perfectly, relying on well-constructed dialogue rather than flashy visuals and impressive sets, thus staying true to its radio roots.

The DVD itself, in typical Network fashion, is a well-polished affair, although some may be put off by the lack of any extras. We feel however, that given the relatively archive nature of the material, this isn't really surprising, nor a big deal. If you're a particular fan of the cutting-edge, challenging and boundary-pushing sitcoms, then you may wish to think twice before purchasing After Henry - The Complete First Series, but for anyone inquisitive about the show, for fans from earlier broadcasts, for comedy geeks like us, and anyone who enjoys good old gentle humour, this is certainly a recommended buy.

You can order this DVD from the following online stores...