As Time Goes By: The Complete Series, Vol. 5

It may be odd for Americans to imagine Dame Judi Dench, award-winning powerhouse British thespian, in a TV sitcom, but she and Geoffrey Palmer star in the wonderful As Time Goes By. As Jean and Lionel, they're a couple whose romance during the Korean War went awry due to a lost letter--then, 38 years later, they meet by accident and pick up where they left off. In Series 5, they are now a comfortable couple (though prone to spar and bicker), living with Jean's daughter Judith and her friend Sandy. The stories revolve around a house in the country, the long-delayed airing of a miniseries that Lionel wrote, and grappling with their troublesome in-laws--but the plots are secondary to the fantastically well-written and acted interplay between the richly drawn characters. Even if you haven't seen any earlier episodes, you'll quickly be drawn into their world. --Bret Fetzer


As Time Goes By: The Complete Series, Vol. 6

Every series of British sitcom As Time Goes By is an astonishing pleasure. Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer star as Jean and Lionel, two long-ago sweethearts who fell out of touch during the Korean War, then--due to a chance re-meeting--rekindled their romance in their late middle age. Series 6 mostly revolves around Jean's reluctantly retiring from her business, along with the stumbling romance of her daughter Judith (Moira Brooks) and their friend Alistair (Philip Bretherton, particularly strong this series). The plots of the show are often gossamer-thin--one entire episode revolves around circumventing the nosiness of Jean's sister--but it doesn't matter. The rapport between Dench and Palmer holds a treasure trove of alternating comfort and prickliness. It only takes a half-finished sentence and a disgruntled look to be screamingly funny. They're as attuned to each other as dancers; their waltz through As Time Goes By is a pleasure to behold. --Bret Fetzer


As Time Goes By: Complete Series 8 & 9

Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer continue their prickly but loving affair in the eighth and ninth series of As Time Goes By. Young lovers reunited 38 years after a lost letter ended their relationship, Jean (Dench, Shakespeare in Love, Iris) and Lionel (Palmer, He Knew He Was Right) have settled into cozy married life, but that doesn't stop Jean from meddling right and left with the lives of the younger folk around them--Jean's daughter Judy (Moira Brooker), her best friend Sandy (Jenny Funnell), and Lionel's wealthy and excitable publisher Alistair (Philip Bretherton). After eight years, you'd expect a sitcom to be played out, but As Time Goes By sustains its spark; it helps that British comedy-makers don't crank out dozens of mediocre episodes each season, but instead pour as much imagination and humanity as they can into a handful. The six episodes of Season eight are straightforward, with stories revolving around such tidbits as a lost dog or Jean's efforts to get on the Internet, but the simplicity of the plots only lets the rich rapport between Dench and Palmer be the show's true subject. The four-episode 9th and final season not only maintains quality but even picks up energy from bringing a satisfying resolution to the characters, with proposals and weddings skillfully managed by the man who wrote the entire series, Bob Larbey. He must have felt like he was bringing an enormous novel to a close, yet he avoided the temptation to go for some kind of spectacle, ending the show with the same basic pleasures of human foibles with which he began. This is obviously not the ideal starting point for a newcomer (though the show's tart but gentle humor is always accessible and enjoyable), but for any long-time fan, these final seasons will prove warmly satisfying. --Bret Fetzer