The House of Eliott Complete Collection

Beatrice (Bea) and her younger sister Evangeline are born into wealth in 1920s London. They must learn to support themselves when their cheap-scape father dies. Neither of the women have any education or training. All they do have is a passion for fashion design and the determination to have the live they want. The women find jobs, love, and scandal at every turn. In the mix of it all is the fashion house they built from scratch, The House of Eliott.

The House of Eliott Complete Collection is from the creators that brought us Upstairs, Downstairs (Jean Marsh, Eileen Atkins) and it lives up to that standard. As does it live up to the standard of movies that Acorn Media brings us here in the US. The DVD collection includes all 34 episodes as well as special features.

Stella Gonet (Nicholas Nickleby) is superb as Beatrice or Bea as she is called by those who are close to her. Bea is the older of the two sisters and the one who bear the brunt of everything. She raised Evie (Evangeline) after their mother died. She battles their father to get Evie an education to no end. She sacrificed her own life for that of her sisters. None with their father dead Bea is more determined than ever not to be held back. Gonet is one of the strongest female actresses I have ever seen. She plays Bea with all that is in her and you find herself falling in love with Bea.

Louise Lombard (CSI, Hidalgo, Chancer) plays Evie (Evangeline.) As the younger of the two sisters Evie grows up within the episodes. She falls in and out of love many times, has an affair with a married man, and generally spends her time being a brat (in my opinion.) Evie is very sweet but as the show progresses I found that i liked her less and less. It is a shame because I think Lombard is a great actress but as much I would have liked her to be more in this she really isn’t.

Aden Gillett (The Winslow Boy, The Borrowers) plays Jack Maddox the man who Evie first falls in love with but who marries Bea. Jack is a photographer who over the course of the series becomes a film producer, writer, then activist. Jack and Bea have a fire and ice sort of relationship but it is always apparent that they love one another. Gillett is wonderful as Jack. You find yourself cheering him on as he attempts to find peace with Bea.

There are so many wonderful actors/actresses in The House of Eliott Complete Collection. In fact there are simply too many to mention but I did want to mention two of my favorite characters. First is Tilly Watkins played by Cathy Murphy (About A Boy, Moll Flanders.) Tilly meets Evie because her family is poorer than poor. She comes to work for the sisters before they even have a fashion house.  She stays on with them through thick and thin. Murphy plays Tilly so beautifully. I immediately fell in love with this character.

The other character is Madge Howell played by Judy Flynn (The Brittas Empire.) Madge is tough yet somehow fragile. She comes to work for The House of Eliott, later leaves, and then returns. She travels to America with the sisters and suffers from a loveless marriage. I love that Madge isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. Flynn plays Madge just the way I would imagine her to be.