Apologies but those above who have slated the series by rubbishing the acting I feel, are seriously mistaken. Those who have said that the British characters were too reserved and meandering are quite correct - it is how British people were and definitely how they were portrayed in Paul Scotts original book. The beauty of the piece lies in its tender subtlety which provides in itself enough drama without constant high adrenaline action so common to the Hollywood Blockbuster. Tim Pigott Smith was just beautiful with his sadistic menacing Ronald Merrick who definitely goes top on my list of all time favourites. The whole piece when watched one after the other definitely gives the sense of time and place which - living in modern times it is often easy to lose sight of. Thumbs up to all the cast I feel that the acting from all members was superb.As the show progresses the viewer gets gradually enveloped and involved in the lives of these people the thing to remember about this piece is that it is not necessarily the action which enhances the show but more importantly the psychological development of every single character ( maybe with the exception on Aunt Fenny - funny but was only there for convenience - to introduce Sarah to Jimmy the soldier)