Ruth Rendell Mysteries (TV Series) The Orchard Walls (1998) User Reviews

Awesome hour of TV.

[khunkrumark · 9/10 · 29 April 2019]

Top notch cast, especially the teenage Honeysuckle Weeks. Spectacular sets and location filming, too.

It's an oft used device, farming out the kids to the country while the war is going on in London... but it doesn't get old and is used well here.

Old fashioned values lead to tragedy under the watchful eye of an imaginative teenage girl. Great TV, although not really a 'mystery'!

A great character study.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 7 November 2019]

Honeysuckle Weeks plays Jenny, who is sent to join family in the country to escape The Blitz.

It's a fantastic drama, I always thought it was longer, just about fifty minutes. It is particularly well produced, it looks great, and moves at a good pace.

You think of Ruth Rendell, you instantly think of murder mysteries, she did so much more then just that genre, this one of the finest examples. This is a drama, yes about crime, but about observation, longing and discovery.

Jenny is at a very important stage of her life, she's becoming a woman, and starting to develop interests and desires. She's impressionable, she's despised, and she's desired, you cannot fault Honeysuckle Weeks, it's a terrific performance.

Superb storytelling, beautifully realised. Someone please get this full set of Ruth Rendell dramas out on Blu-ray.

Observed

[tedg · 10 March 2008]

They threw a lot of elements into this pot:

— A Heidi-like redheaded teenager in the flush of sexual wonder, played by an actress with the florid name of Honeysuckle

— Significant reference to and use of Romeo and Juliet (including the title)

— Ripe Cherries by the bushel, directly conflated with menarche

— An illicit love affair (that doesn't directly involve the girl) in the English country

These mix to make something tolerable that otherwise would be dreadful. The device is overused: the girl is sent to the country because of the war. She is the reporter, presumably writing as an older woman. We see what she witnesses.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Rupert Procter steals the show!!

[ilovdebaby08 · 10/10 · 1 June 2016]

This is a truly excellent, compelling, interesting, very well-made film. In particular, Rupert Procter, as Tom, steals the show in every one of his scenes. He is the epitome of a spellbinding man. I can never take my eyes off him every time I see this movie. Also, his acting, during every second he's shown, is of the absolute highest quality, and shows tremendous adaptability and versatility, as well as serious depth of character. I will never be able to say enough about how excellent Rupert Procter is in this film. He is the most talented actor I've ever seen anywhere, in anything. Every single one of the other actors and actresses gets their parts and characters exactly right--bang on, as people in England say. Honeysuckle Weeks is fabulous and so authentic as a teenager visiting relatives who are a bit irritable towards her. The actress playing Auntie Ella gets it exactly right as a young lady not getting along with her mother-in-law. I do also believe, very happily, that this film makes a very important, positive political statement. That statement isn't revealed til almost the very end, and is done with great sensitivity and respect for the issue I think it takes a stand on. In general, I encourage anyone, other than young children, to see this film--it is truly enriching.

Honeysuckle churning out honeysuckle.

[oxleyhs · 5/10 · 4 September 2021]

To come back to see this actress as a young woman sound EXACTLY the same stuff she has done her whole life is sobering. She really can't do anything. I saw her on stage a couple of years ago. Same old same old. No range, no flexibility. She must have mates. Connections are everything.

The Orchard Walls

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 31 March 2024]

Although shown part of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries strand. The Orchard Walls is a very different kind of story from her. With themes of sexual awakening and illicit liaisons during World War 2.

Jenny (Honeysuckle Weeks) is a teenager sent to live with relatives in the country during the Blitz. They run a farm.

Although Jenny is daunted by her experience as she does not know these relatives well. At least she has her books, she is reading Romeo & Juliet.

Aunt Ella seems abrasive towards her. Her husband is serving in North Africa. However Jenny soon learns that Ella is having an affair with a handsome RAF pilot who is convalescing.

The rest of the family suspect of the affair. Uncle Daniel whose brother Ella is married to. He seems to be always following Ella about.

The story is more about Jenny's maturity. She seems to be infatuated by the pilot as well. The local farm hand expresses an interest in her.

One morning Jenny wakes up believes that he has been killed but it turns out to be a scarecrow in a tree. Not the body of the pilot.

That might be foreshadowing as he has been called up back to service and rapidly leaves. Leaving Aunt Ella miserable and her husband is due back on leave as well.

I think the story would had worked better as a stand alone film rather than a Ruth Rendell mystery.