Country Matters: The Four Beauties by H. E. Bates (1973)

"There where times when I wouldn't have been surprised if the café, with the Davenports inside it, were to vanish like a ghost into thin air... In fact, that was very nearly what happened" - Henry Batley Produced for Granada Television, The Four Beauties is a short story written by H.E. Bates and stars Michael Kitchen as a young journalist who is staying at a village bed and breakfast. The landlady, played by Zene Walker, has three daughters, Tina (played by Veronica Quilligan) Sophie (Jan Francis) Christabel (Kate Nelligan) whom, one by one each fall for him. This episode was originally broadcast on the 11th March, 1973. Two series of Country Matters, each featuring individual stories of rural romance among people living in the countryside. Both series where awarded with a BAFTA for Best British Drama, though for some unexplained reason the series has only received a DVD release in North America and remans an import only title. Shot beautifully on film and on location, I'd love to one day see it restored in high definition, its my personal favourite episode from the series and contains one of my favourite performances from Jan Francis so I took the liberty to upload it here.

 

"The Four Beauties."

ID

b299

Title

"The Four Beauties."

Genre

Novella

Page Count

48

Word Count

13000

Publisher

Woman's Own

Publication Year

1966

Document Types

Film & Television

Radio Dramatizations

Autobiographical

First-Person Narratives

Character: Richardson

Topics

Rushden, Sex, Northamptonshire, Journalism

A reminiscence of newspaper reporter Richardson (who appears also in Love for Lydia) which reflects Bates's Northamptonshire Chronicle experiences and concerns the narrator's romantic involvements with each of three lovely and highly-sexed daughters, as well as their mother.

An adaptation for the television series Country Matters featuring Jan Francis was aired in March 1973. The novella was dramatized by Gregory Evans for BBC Radio in 1986 in a production starring Mark Payton, Jenny Quayle and Diana Bishop, and directed by Gordon House.

In Woman's Own (April 23, 30, 1966), The Four Beauties (1968), The Best of H.E. Bates (1980).