Hold the Dream

This is a sequel to "A Woman of Substance" which should be watched first. Although slightly shorter in length it is just as entertaining in it's own way and once again, Deborah Kerr, Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson pull off magnificent performances. There are of course deaths and there are romances, the viewer follows all these with the same palpitations as during the first episode. The picture quality is slightly superior to that of "A Woman of Substance" where colours were a little washed out at times. If you liked the first episode, there's no doubt you'll like this one !!

Jenny Seagrove makes a welcome return to the second installation of Barbara Taylor Bradfords thrilling sequel to the multi million copy bestseller A Woman of Substance. Hold The Dream is the second story of the Harte family. Multi millionairess Emma Harte is now played by Deborah Kerr, while her favorite granddaughter Paula is played by Jenny Seagrove.

Emma Harte is now 80 and is ready to hand over the reigns of the vast business empire she created all those years ago to her favorite grandchild Paula Fairley.

This story follows Paula's rise through from Emmas assistant to managing director of the vast emporium created by Emma over 70 years ago, whose life echos that of Paulas. A marriage on the rocks, callous betrayal at the hands of her family and the tragic loss of loved ones.

Hold the Dream is a story of one womans determination to single handedly keep her family fortune safe and to "Hold the Dream" of one very extraordinary woman.

Contrary to the feelings of some others, I wasn't taken back much by the fact that Jenny Seagrove plays the part of Paula Fairley here as well as of that of young Emma Hart in the first series; she acts both women evenly convincing. Seagrove as Emma Hart/Paula Fairley is the embodiment of a strong, willful and independent woman, smarter than all the men she works and competes with. And she adds to that an aura, as someone else here mentioned, of strange beauty. Liam Neeson as Blackie is remarkable. He can act an old man, although his young, large stature gives him away.

The beginning of hold the dream was quite confusing, nearly all the characters were introduced at once, so keeping track was rather hard. It must have been over a year or so that i have seen A Woman of Substance, which could partly explain my confusion. Still, i think a cheap 'what happened previously' block at the beginning would've hurt no one. As the film progresses, the puzzlement is lessened, although there are too many sub stories and insufficient character development. Fewer characters would've helped...

Hold the Dream is the sequel to the successful miniseries A Woman of Substance, in which an older Deborah Kerr recalls her struggles and rise to power during WW2. It's not absolutely necessary to watch them in order, but I'd suggest you do, since the first part is infinitely better than the second.

While Deborah Kerr reprises her role as Grandy, and John Mills and Liam Neeson make return appearances, Hold the Dream enticed Claire Bloom, Stephen Collins, James Brolin, and Nigel Havers to join the cast. Also, Jenny Seagrove played the young version of Deborah Kerr in the flashbacks of A Woman of Substance, and in this installment, she plays Deborah Kerr's granddaughter-how cute!

Deborah Kerr, older and finally ready to retire, is faced with one last difficult task: her granddaughter is troubled and needs guidance. It's not particularly suspenseful whether or not the fantastic and wise Grandy will be able to help, but you'll want to watch to see how she does it. As is the case with most sequels, the conclusion to Grandy's story is a bit of a let down, and the modern characters aren't nearly as interesting as the older ones. But if you want to see Deborah Kerr in her final performance, you can rent the full miniseries and watch it with your mom; she probably likes Deborah Kerr, too.