
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 28, 1993                   TAG: 9308280728
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: S-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARTIE ZAD THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`YEAR IN PROVENCE' PULLS TOGETHER TRAVEL CLASSIC

It was a bestseller as a book and is an acclaimed classic as a four-part television series. Now, "A Year In Provence" is available in a four-volume home video set, even before the final episode appears on television.

Peter Mayle's account of life in southern France was co-produced for television by BBC and Arts & Entertainment cable network. Each of the four 90-minute episodes - winter, spring, summer and fall - have been scheduled to air in those seasons, with the final program scheduled for Oct. 3.

This week's release of the six-hour series comes in a handsomely boxed set, includes a canvas tote bag and lists for $79.95 (1-800-423-1212).

John Thaw ("Inspector Morse") and Lindsay Duncan star as Peter and Annie Mayle in the rich comedy set in the lush Luberon Valley of France. The television series actually put the book back on bestseller lists.

The story carries the Mayles away from jobs in the big-city rat race of London to Provence, where Peter intends to write a book. But plans go awry after the couple moves into a 200-year-old farmhouse from whence they encounter more than a few misadventures and a parade of unusual characters.

They also fall victim to the lifestyle of the eccentric people of Provence, where food is a passion and customs are aptly referred to as quaint.

From the beginning when they set out to renovate the old farmhouse, Murphy's Law runs rampant through the lives of the Mayles and the fields of Luberon: If something could possibly go wrong, it does. During the renovation, water spouts up in the living room, which, in the midst of winter and Mistral winds, is left with gaping holes in the wall.

by CNB