Thanks for the memories!

A Masterpiece!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a great series. As you watch you get pulled into the lives of the various characters living in a small village. While there is a tendency to romanticize the rural life in many films (and in part here), there is a greater depth than the average show. There is much humor in this series and also much heat break. As much as the viewer yearns for things to go right in the characters lives, things tend to go wrong and the characters must deal with personal loss, death, divorce, and financial ruin. For a show billed as a comedy, it is more drama with an overlay of humor. I am being somewhat vague in this review because this is a series to be dipped into for episodes that are uplifting and heart warming but ultimately overshadowed by reality. If you watch it once you will find find that after the passage of a few years you are longing to revisit Ballykissangel and share in the lives of what almost become real people.

My folks got me hooked on BKA, and I just finished watching the last of the series.The first three seasons are nothing but light, rollicking fun. The most improbable things happen in this quaint Irish town, starting with the welcoming comment from the town atheist to the new parish priest, "Just what we need, another English priest (in Ireland)." The characters are well developed, and you just want to sneak into the bar with them, and get to know them better.Going towards the end of season 4, and the beginning of season 5, the series gets VERY dark, though, and I really didn't enjoy watching. Why did I stick with it? I guess, in hopes that it would turn around. The last season was better, but as the majority of the cast had turned over, it really didn't feel like the same series as much as the same set.Bottom line - the first three seasons were the best, but it's not a complete waste of time to watch the last three, either.

This show is (or was) fantastic!! Definitely worth purchasing. The first 3 series are the best. With the departure of the 2 leads (and the series writer)in the final episode of series 3, the show loses some of it's chemistry. Also, the way that series 3 ended left me unsatisfied. Intellectually, it was excellent work, but the heart wasn't satisfied.The rest of the run(series 4&5) was good and really worth watching but didn't have as much of the spirit established in the first 3. It's a testament to the ability of the remaining original actors that the show continued. Then, in series 5, the original writer/creator returns and just as he starts to get it all working again, the show is canceled!I really feel that this is one TV show that can and should be brought back! It was amazing acting, writing,and scenery.A few of the original actors have,sadly,died and some of the the characters were killed off, but the meat of the show is still there. From the research I've tried to do, it seems a fairly accurate portrayal of rural Ireland as well.

Very-well crafted and acted series. Totally absorbing story-lines and characters.Truly enjoyable,entertaining and original! An Irish soap opera on a grand scale.Nothing detracts from this production. The scenery and locales are great. Excellent casting, direction and acting.The series starts off with a humorous scene and has very deep character development. The trials and tribulations of the village residents is totally entertaining on all levels.Total entertainment.Post-script- I just saw the show where Assumpta accidentally dies. It looks like Dather Clifford is leaving the Priesthood. I don't know if the series can survive without these 2 leading characters. They really made the show and were supported by a strong cast. Alas!