This Country - review

It is not easy to fit the entire concept of a British village lifestyle into a TV series, especially the one that started off production with a very limited budget. The regular, average, or some might say just normal Cotswolds village is just the right site for a mockumentary that tries to analyze and show how people struggle in rural areas. This Country is not just another comedy series but a very personal story told in a witty way. The series immediately became critically acclaimed and the BBC three decided to renew it for the second season. After the final third season that premiered in 2020, the creators of the series, siblings Charlie and Daisy May Coopers announced that the show will not be renewed anymore. With that, the third season that ended with quite some uncertainty but still a lot of satisfaction became the last time we will see “This Country” on TV.

So what is “This Country” and why should you watch it for sure? There are quite a few reasons for that. First of all, it is an utterly genuine and expressive TV show which some might even call a masterpiece. There are very few of such productions that managed to show what living in rural Britain really means. To understand how “This Country” managed to become one of those, we have to go back in time, to when the idea was initially born.

Born in Cirencester, England, both Charlie and Daisy May Cooper were brought up in a small Cotswolds village in the north-west of the country. Their childhood and lives were determined by the local, rural community and the way the village lived. After attending the local school, Daisy moved to London for studies while Charlie stayed at home and kept on living. Daisy enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. The famous and prominent institution has raised numerous generations of brilliant directors, actors and screenplay writers.

After graduating from RADA, Daisy went back to the village from the capital without anywhere to stay or go. Back home, the idea sparked in Daisy’s mind to write a story about the lives of average people in rural Britain. He proposed the idea to his brother and he decided to help. With the extremely tight budget and almost no hope, the siblings started working on the project that looked so unviable. However, it would soon become one of the leading BBC three shows on TV.

The British Broadcasting Company took up the idea and decided to produce it but with very limited funding. There was not much hope still, as the entire crew expected the show to be canceled after the first season. However, the siblings proved them wrong. They managed to deliver something with lots of feelings and personal touch to it. There is just so much happening in this small village and everything is displayed in an exquisite, explicit way, moving viewers into the world of Coopers.

Most likely, the thing that really made an impact on the success of this show was the stories that are told in it. A brother and sister play cousins in the show. The writers and actors stated in one of the interviews that being siblings in the show would eliminate the possibility of true friendship between the two. That was the idea when the story was being created - to have two cousins in a rural British village as best friends, almost too attached to each other. All characters were created from the inspiration of real-life relatives, neighbors and friends from the Coopers’ lives.

The Mucklowes live in a small Cotswolds village with not much going on. The first episode starts off in a bit confusing way for anyone who is seeing it for the first time. Nothing is really clear - is this actually a documentary? Then why are people so surreally comical? Soon the viewers realize that it is truly a mockumentary series with lots to offer. The cousin Mucklowes are not just relatives but best friends as well. They do not have many other options in a village full of all kinds of not so lovely people. Kurtan and Kerry show the harsh realities of being young in rural Britain. They are not even thinking of escaping but keep living the routine the Cotswolds village has to offer. Annual celebrations, village festivals, gatherings, and rarely some new individuals are what keep the lives going in rural Britain.

Besides the cousins, there is one very important figure in the show - the Vicar Reverend Francis Seaton. He is not from the village but has been allocated to take care of the social activities, religious gatherings in the village while helping out the elderly and the youth. Kerry and Kurtan benefit from his presence a lot. We could even say that the Vicar is the most rational, kind and open-minded character on the show. He is always ready to do whatever is needed to help out the locals. The Vicar also leads some of the most important activities in the village which are often the area of focus in some episodes.

The show takes us on an adventure to rural Britain and truly shows what young and older people go through on a daily basis. It is extremely funny with a ton of absolutely witty characters and an interesting setting. Nevertheless, the most important value of the show is its ability to show social problems that many people come across in the United Kingdom and beyond. All episodes revolve around a particular issue, which is displayed with a certain fact in the middle of an episode.

Should you want “This Country”? Probably you should at the very least try. There is no show quite similar to it. Everything about this masterpiece is unique and charming. Yes, the humor is quite obscure sometimes but after an episode or two, everyone just falls in love with those silly jokes and awkward situations. Thus, we would say that you should probably give it a try and see what the rural British adventures of Kurtan and Kerry have to offer.