French Fields


French Fields is a British television sitcom. It is a sequel/continuation of the series Fresh Fields and ran for 19 episodes from 5 September 1989 to 8 October 1991. It was written by John T. Chapman and Ian Davidson and was produced by Thames Television for ITV. Like Fresh Fields, the theme tune to French Fields was an arrangement of Pick Yourself Up from the 1936 film Swing Time. The theme tune was played on an accordion and had a French feel to it. The music was by Alan Parker this time and not Harry Stoneham.

Cast

The series stars Anton Rodgers and Julia McKenzie as middle-aged, middle-class husband and wife William and Hester Fields and follows the series Fresh Fields, which ran from 1984 to 1986. French Fields resumes the story three years later as William accepts a position with a French company and the series follows Hester and William as they move from London to Calais. The pair are regularly visited by their daughter Emma and son-in-law Peter. Bird is the only other Fresh Fields actor to appear regularly, as Emma only "appeared" via voiceover by Debby Cummings in the original show.
Other regular cast members include their French estate agent Chantal Moriac, who is also the Fields' neighbour to the left, and snobbish English couple Hugh and Jill Trendle, the neighbours to the right. Hester and William also cope with Madame Remoleux, the unintelligible, ancient, and generally useless French cleaner who lives on and cares for the estate, "Les Hirondelles," where they all live. Also popping in regularly are local farmer and mayor Monsieur Dax and his cheeky daughter Marie-Christine, to whom Hester does her best to teach English. Nicholas Courtney also appears frequently as the estate's owner, the Marquis.
Ann Beach, Sonia in Fresh Fields, makes a guest appearance in the final episode, in which Hester and William decide to return to their former UK home.

Episodes

Series 1 (1989)

Series 2 (1990)

Christmas special (1990)

Series 3 (1991)

Home releases

All three series of French Fields have been released on DVD by Network. A 7-disc boxed set containing all episodes of both Fresh Fields and French Fields was also released by the company.
The entire series was released in a single DVD box set by Acorn Media UK on 2012-2-28.
DVDRelease date
The Complete Series 113 June 2011
The Complete Series 225 July 2011
The Complete Series 319 September 2011
The Complete Fresh Fields & French Fields Box Set24 October 2011