Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square

Three young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.

Peter McGinn

Peter McGinn@narrator56

August 29, 2020

I think this series may highlight the dangers of production teams assuming their show is going to run for a second series. If you like your shows tied up with a bow, you will be disappointed at a few of the story lines remaining open when the show was cancelled.

Having said that, I don't see this show as being as wonderful or as terrible as a few reviews I read led me to believe. Yes, it is a period soap opera with dramatic stories in the same way Downton Abbey is these days, though admittedly not with the same quality of writing or perhaps even acting. Still, I think show does okay at least, given the overall decline of television offerings and influx of (so called) reality shows and poor-taste sitcoms.

The series follows three new nannies in a fashionable district of London as their stories and problems intertwine and expand and contract. We meet a lot of lesser characters which complicates the story somewhat, but I didn't find I had much trouble keeping track of it all. There were a few subplots that didn't seem to add a lot to the show in the long run, but it felt like they were done to give characters more of a focus and make them less one-sided.

If you like period dramas and need something to watch until the next great one comes along, this one will keep you in the game, so to speak.