Bramwell - The Complete First Season

Product Description DVD Amazon.com From PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre , this 1995 miniseries chronicles the professional and personal challenges of a determined female physician in late 19th century England. With extraordinary depth and vitality, Jemma Redgrave plays Dr. Eleanor Bramwell, an ambitious doctor intent on becoming a surgeon who struggles to make her mark in the medical world while mocked by her male counterparts. In the season opener, Eleanor works at East London hospital under the patronizing tutelage of Sir Herbert Hamilton until she no longer can tolerate his barbaric medical practices—especially toward women. Against the wishes of her protective father (David Calder), Eleanor strikes out on her own to run the charitable Thrift Infirmary in London’s impoverished East End, thanks to the generosity of a widowed patroness, Lady Cora Peters. Subsequent dramas unfold, with each of the seven episodes building upon the last, as Eleanor grapples with issues of class, race, poverty-induced crime, family expectations, and the politics of patronage. In one story, Eleanor’s upper-crust outlook gets a jolt when she discovers that Lady Cora’s pregnant laundry maid is married to a black man; in another, a belligerent patient under her care attempts a sexual assault. This well-written and skillfully acted period drama provides a provocative glimpse at turn-of-the-century women’s rights as well as social commentary on the culture of Victorian England. Redgrave gives an intelligent performance, developing her character at many levels, as a deeply compassionate, headstrong, flawed individual who remains true to her convictions. The season ends with the possibility of a budding romance between Eleanor and one of her colleagues. Not suitable for young children due to mature themes. --Lynn Gibson