The Worst Film Ever

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I must admit I was not an admirer of 'Fresh Fields' when it first aired on I.T.V. in the mid-Eighties. In fact my nickname for the show then was 'Stale Meadows'! The main problem for me was that it went out at a time when alternative comedy shows such as 'The Young Ones' and 'Saturday Live' were considered the in-things to watch for young people ( which I was then ). Now that I'm middle-aged myself, I can watch and laugh and not feel guilty for doing so. I still dislike the theme tune and opening credits though. The show was about a happily married couple: accountant 'William Fields' ( the late Anton Rodgers ) and 'Hester' ( Julia McKenzie ). He is a pleasant, easy-going chap while she is facing a mid-life crisis and taking up one new hobby after one another, often with disastrous results. When she went to a gym in one episode, for instance, she was so worn out by the experience she had to be helped out of the building by friends. Other episodes had her taking part in a stage musical, cookery contests, art classes, and so on. Rodgers had an undeniable flair for comedy ( he stood in for Peter Sellers in the film 'Rotten To The Core' in 1965 ) that was put to good use here, while McKenzie had experience of sitcoms with 'Maggie & Her' and 'That Beryl Marsden'. The pair gelled perfectly in 'Fresh Fields'. The show bore a strong resemblance to the B.B.C.'s 'Happy Ever After ( later adapted into 'Terry & June' ) which starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield and was partly written by John Chapman, the creator of 'French Fields'. The main difference was that here the woman was the over-enthusiastic one. Supporting characters included 'Nancy Penrose' ( Fanny Rowe ) who lived in a granny flat close to her daughter, her estranged husband 'Guy' ( the wonderful Ballard Berkeley ), and the Fields' dippy neighbour 'Sonia' ( the lovely Ann Beach ), who had a habit of barging into their kitchen at inopportune moments. The Fields' daughter was 'Emma' ( Debby Cumming ), whom never appeared on screen and was heard only talking to her mother on the phone. Plots usually revolved around Hester's latest hobby or William's problems at work. It was cosy, middle-of-the-road stuff, and that led to it being savaged in some quarters, most notably from critic Nina 'Queen Of The Box' Myskow, who said it was 'so middle-of-the-road as to be a load of old bollards!'. Nevertheless, it notched up four seasons from 1984 - 86 and earned Anton Rodgers a T.V. Times Award ( which they do not give out any more ) for 'Funniest Man On Television'! In 1989, the Fields moved to France and the show continued ( minus Guy and Nancy - Rowe and Berkeley both died in 1988 - and Sonia ) under the title 'French Fields'.

I never got this show. It has a tinny quality to it, and seemed to belong to the previous decade, fitting in better with such Britcoms as Father Dear Father and The Many Wives of Patrick, than with 80's fare like The Young Ones And the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Perhaps this was because the subject matter and main characters seemed so out of place for the time.Fresh Fields was about rather conventional forty-somethings at a time when the lives of the young and unconventional were being portrayed. At about this time there were, had been, enough Britcoms about the older generation (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Butterflies, A Fine Romance) but they always had a very unique spin to them. Hester Fields was a cookie-cutter kooky housewife, with a long-suffering husband and a scolding child or two, and the episode plots were variations on the kind found in old and middling American sitcoms.Boring.

I just want to say that I agree with the previous viewers where I clicked "yes" to what they said. We never seem to get good old BBC comedies on Aussie TV anymore and there's a large audience of 70 and 80 year old who love them. Anyway at least more and more are appearing on DVD - hope I can live long enough to see them all. From the 1960s to the 1980s was the best for British comedy as far as I'm concerned. Loved Anton in May to December - it was a very touching show. First saw Julia McKenzie in Blott on the Landscape and have watched her in everything that's come our way. Cheers from "downunder" Jessie in Sydney, Australia

From the first moment I watched this, I knew it would be another classic British comedy. What a joy it must be to watch British TV. Even if you have to pay to have a telly!It is the story of an older couple, Hester and William Fields, who are still very much in love with one another. Hester is always out to prove that she isn't old enough to sit in a rocker. She is out jogging, running, taking classes, working as a cook, anything that tickles her fancy. William is a man who works hard to make a good life for the both of them and their future. Their crazy neighbor Sonja is always barging into their home("It's only Sonja!") at the most inopportune moments. Not helping matters is Hester's whining mother Nancy("It's not my place to say anything BUT....) who lives in the garage apartment in their backyard.It is cute and funny, especially if you are in a relationship because you can relate to what goes on. Even when they moved the show to France (calling it French Fields) it was still humorous. If you get a chance to watch it, please do. You won't be disappointed!