Television series

The Darling Buds of May

Name: The Darling Buds of May
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 1991
Cast: Catherine Zeta Jones, David Jason, Pam Ferris, Philip Franks, Rachel Bell

Comedy
Light-hearted

A sun-drenched portrait of 1950s Kent farm life, where Pa Larkin's warmth and scheming heart anchor a family navigating love, duty, and small-town rhythms. It's comfort television with real feeling—funny, occasionally poignant, suffused with the particular English magic of post-war contentment. For anyone who wants to be held gently for an hour.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like warm, sun-soaked comedy where a larger-than-life rogue of a patriarch causes chaos and charms his way out, and where the easy rhythms of a big, loud family matter more than plot.

Skip it if you want a tight, fast-moving story; this is episodic and leisurely, with gentle scrapes rather than real stakes, and its rural 1950s idyll can feel more like a postcard than a world.

What it asks of you: Settle in for an episodic, unhurried series across three seasons of short episodes, with little urgency between them and a light, easygoing tone that rewards letting it wander.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Grantchester2014

A Cambridge detective and vicar investigate crimes in the 1950s, with the same nostalgic English village charm and period detail. It's warm, character-driven, and finds real darkness within beautiful surroundings without losing its fundamental kindness.

But Can feel cosy to the point of predictability; some cases blur together across seasons and the formula rarely surprises.

Cold Feet1998

Three couples navigate love, marriage, and life in Manchester with humour and genuine emotional stakes. It has the same ensemble warmth and ability to shift between comedy and real tenderness that makes The Darling Buds so watchable.

But The early seasons are brilliant but it loses focus after a few years, and some storylines veer into soap opera territory.

Heartbeat1992

Police procedural set in 1960s Yorkshire with the same affection for rural England and small communities. It's unpretentious, character-focused, and genuinely interested in the ordinary lives it depicts alongside the crimes.

But Relies heavily on nostalgia and can feel dated; the crime plots are often secondary to village life, which won't suit everyone.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Darling Buds of May

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Brief Encounter1945

Both find their deepest feelings in the English landscape and small moments of daily life; both believe that ordinary people contain extraordinary emotional depths. Brief Encounter is the serious sibling—what The Darling Buds would become if the tone shifted from warmth to melancholy.

Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in David Lean's masterpiece about forbidden love in post-war England. It's achingly romantic, perfectly composed, and finds profound emotion in glances and silences—a vision of English restraint and yearning that feels almost unbearably alive.

But Slow, emotionally subdued, and morally unresolved in ways modern storytelling rarely tolerates. The romance unfolds almost entirely through implication.

The Larkins2021

A reboot starring Bradley Walsh that captures the warmth and humour of the original without simply copying it. It understands what made the Larkins appealing: a family that loves each other and faces life with good humour.

But Reboots always invite comparison; some fans of the original find it can't match the 1991 cast chemistry.

Emma.2020

Anya Taylor-Joy in Jane Austen's comedy of manners, gorgeously shot and genuinely funny. It has the same fizzy energy and affection for social observation that makes The Darling Buds so easy to love.

But Austen adaptations can feel stiff or overly reverent; some find the satirical tone too slight for serious drama.

Midsomer Murders1998

John Nettles as a detective investigating crimes in the Home Counties, with beautiful location filming and a deep fondness for English village life. The cases are the frame; the world is what you really watch.

But Wildly variable in quality; later seasons decline noticeably, and the formula becomes very apparent once you've watched several episodes.

Lark Rise to Candleford2008

A female-centred drama set in 1890s Oxfordshire, focused on community and the quiet transformations of ordinary lives. It's rich with period detail and genuinely moving about the bonds between women.

But Slower and more introspective than The Darling Buds; some find the pace glacial and the drama too muted.

All Creatures Great and Small1978

A vet and his wife navigate rural Yorkshire with humour, kindness, and occasional heartbreak. It shares the same celebration of country life and the same warmth toward its characters, just with more animals.

But The 1978 original is more dated in tone and pacing than you might expect; some episodes feel slight even by that era's standards.

Call the Midwife2012

Same era, same affection for working people, same belief that ordinary lives contain everything worth watching. But Call the Midwife is set in urban poverty rather than rural comfort—it's what happens when you remove the Larkins' advantages and see what remains.

Nurse midwives in 1950s East London deliver babies and navigate birth, poverty, community, and faith with humour and dignity. It's joyful about life even when depicting real hardship, and finds profound meaning in the smallest human moments.

But Heavy on birth scenes and bodily reality; some find the earnestness about motherhood and family cloying. Also significantly darker about class and suffering than The Darling Buds.

Stalker1979

Both trust that watching people think and feel—without needing to do much—is enough. Both find the sacred in the ordinary and believe that the camera's job is witnessing rather than managing. They move at completely different speeds for completely different reasons, but they share a faith that life itself is the story.

Tarkovsky's Russian science-fiction meditation on desire, faith, and the landscapes inside us. Hypnotic, philosophically profound, visually extraordinary—a completely different way of making cinema, where slowness becomes a form of attention and beauty is a gateway to meaning.

But Nearly three hours long and nearly plot-free; structured entirely as philosophical conversation and long takes. If you need narrative drive or conventional drama, this will feel impossible.