Regency House Party Episode 1 Review

NOTE: If you’d like to read my overall review of the series click here.

As promised, I’m now starting the reviews of the individual episodes of Regency House Party, of which this is the first of the four episodes (although UK viewers saw eight half-hour episodes instead of the four hour-long episodes in the US). And I must mention that the first thirty minutes almost made me stop watching because of the boorish behavior of the men.

There are spoilers below.

UPDATE: I earlier neglected to mention that the name of this episode is “Pride and Prejudice.”

The quick premise is that five men, ranging in age from 29 to 41, and five women, aged 21 to 34, make up a two-month-long summer house party at Kentchurch Court, Herefordshire, recreating a Regency house party during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the first episode, we are introduced to the principles, including the master of the house, Mr. Chris Gorrell Barnes, whom the narrator Richard E. Grant calls “our Mr. Darcy.” As the host and the wealthiest man, he is naturally at the top of the pecking order. You may view the characters’ real biographies here whereas the descriptions in this article are taken from the fiction of the series, although some of the biographies do have parallels with the real lives of the guests.

The other male guests include, in order of precedence, Mr. John Everett, another wealthy gentleman; Navy Capt. Jeremy Glover; Paul Robinson, gentleman soldier; and Mr. Mark Fox-Smith, gentleman cleric and tutor.

The gentlemen arrive at Kentchurch Court ahead of the ladies and the producers of the series do their best to portray them as Regency bucks, the narrator Grant explaining that the copious consumption of alcohol can be attributed to unsafe water and that snuff was consumed because the cigarette hadn’t been invented yet. The men also start betting on their chances with the ladies and when the ladies do arrive, attempt to guess their measurements and quiz the servants about the desirability of the ladies, with appropriately crude remarks that I need not include here.

In fact the men sink so far into their roles as drunken bucks that Mr. Foxsmith awakens with a hangover on the lawn after learning the night before he must share a room with Mr. Robinson (a not uncommon occurrence during a Regency house party; at least he needn’t share a bed).

Mr. Gorrell Barnes, the master of the house, delivers a wonderfully cutting remark to Mr. Foxsmith: “I am sorry my house is too small for you.” And Mr. Gorrell Barnes shows he is no Darcy when he fails to meet the hostess of the party that night owing to his overindulging at lunch and dinner.

The next day he does meet with Mrs. Rogers, who is both hired to be hostess of the party and is also the chaperone to Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Countess Griaznov, who is in fact a real life countess who works in a pub. In a nice touch, the countess must not reveal that she is in fact a penniless aristocrat. Mrs. Rogers job is to run the party for Mr. Gorrell Barnes, make certain that proprieties are observed and promote her charge. I will introduce the chaperones in the next review.

Next in order of precedence are Miss Victoria Hopkins, industrial heiress; Miss Lisa Braund, gentlewoman; Miss Hayley Connick, gentlewoman; and Miss Francesca Martin, a lady’s companion, called the Cinderella of the story.

Fortunately once the men formally meet the women, the gentlemen smarten up. There are still drunken confessions to come, mainly from the men, but the five gentlemen and five women are, by and large, surprisingly friendly and supportive. Most of the antagonism in the series is between the women and their chaperones, or among the chaperones. And as I mentioned in the overall review, it’s hard to know how much of the antagonism is genuine or a ploy by the producers to interest viewers.

The women especially seem close, even showing support for Miss Martin, who as a lady’s companion is essentially an unpaid servant, and is not invited to dinner for the first several days of the party by the hostess. In fact, she is so low in rank she must bathe in water left over from a previous guest. And considering they are limited to a single bath a week …

Except for dinner, the men and women have little opportunity to interact. The men spend their days in manly pursuits: learning to duel, pedestrianism (the art of graceful walking), boxing and athletic competitions. Capt. Glover, the oldest gentleman, especially throws himself into the competitions and even partakes of a hot sweat purge.

The women must content themselves with surreptitiously observing the men and the occasional dance lesson. Not too surprisingly, they are bored, chafe at their inactivity and are ignored by the men. After their first dinner together, the men remain drinking in the dining room for three hours before joining the women in the drawing room (where they presumably were also drinking).

Because of the lack of interaction, little progress is made on the ostensible goal of the party — matrimony — until after a fireworks display, when Mr. Everett attempts to “woo in a big way” Miss Hopkins, who is contemplating leaving the party after a confrontation with Mrs. Rogers. Mr. Foxsmith also seems to have found love, but not with one of the five women but with one of the chaperones. More about that in the next review.

But the first betrothal occurs when Miss Martin consoles Mr. Robinson, who is having a hard time adjusting to his role as a Regency gentleman. Although his real-life biography claims he has upper-class traits despite his working-class origins, he objects to the deportment he must effect as a Regency gentleman. It’s a very Jane Austen pairing where neither party would benefit from the match. And it’s short lived when the next day Miss Martin meets the resident Kentchurch Court hermit. As preposterous as it sounds, many landed gentry hosted hermits on their grounds to add an appropriately rural, pastoral touch. A hermit’s duty was to entertain the host and according to the narrator occasionally jump out from the bushes and frighten the ladies.

Unfortunately for Mr. Robinson, Mr. Zebedeeh Helm does not frighten Miss Martin but enchants her and they spend much time together throughout the series. She returns Mr. Robinson’s proposal and although they both acknowledge the proposal was rushed and ill considered, the episode ends with the departure of Mr. Robinson.

This incident caused my first misgiving about the series. Was Mr. Robinson truly unaware that playing the part of a Regency gentleman would involve acting the part of a Regency gentleman? And was Miss Martin really so fickle as to accept a proposal one day and fall for a hermit the next? One inevitably suspects the producers engineered this drama or Miss Martin became too wrapped up in her part.

But please don’t let my misgivings in any way let you think I did not enjoy Regency House Party. After the men settled down, I greatly enjoyed the episode and found myself looking forward to the next.