This is a lovely, touching series revolving around the old fashioned adventures of a group of rural villagers in early 1900's Prince Edward Island. With characters and events very loosely based on L.M. Montgomery's books, the program makes for entertaining and heartwarming family viewing.
The series revolves around an 11 year old Montreal girl, Sara Stanley, who is sent by her wealthy father to live at Rose Cottage with her maiden aunts, Hetty and Olivia King, in the PEI village of Avonlea. The show chronicles the experiences of this young girl, who has been accustomed to city ways, as she adapts to her newfound rural relatives and simple village life. It also portrays Sara's various misadventures with her young cousins, the King offspring.
Sara's Aunt Hetty is a strait laced, humourless spinster schoolteacher. Olivia is Sara's more affectionate, younger aunt who works as a reporter for the local newspaper. Later Olivia marries Jasper Dale, a shy, stammering photographer and inventor. The King cousins, who live next door to Rose Cottage and share Sara's adventures, are the offspring of the loving & motherly but independent minded Janet and her farming husband Alec King, who is Hetty and Olivia's younger brother. The three King children include 13 year old Felicity, with her superior demeanor and later her beaux, mischievous 10 year old Felix, and the quiet, younger Cecily, who later suffers from tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium. During the course of the series, the three King siblings are joined baby Daniel while all these other children grow up. Felicity attends medical school and Felix works in the White Sands Hotel, while the independent Sara herself travels abroad and seeks a literary career in Paris.
The roles all seem well cast. Sara Poley wonderfully portrayed the adventurous, feisty blonde Sara Stanley. Jackie Burroughs is especially magnificent depicting the strict spinster Aunt Hetty. Some of the characters from Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables also appear, including the local busybody Rachel Lynde, her more reserved best friend Marilla Cuthbert, and the schoolteacher Miss Stacey, Hetty's rival and polar opposite.
Personally, I watched more of the earlier episodes with the focus on Sara, so am less familiar with the later tales relating more to the blossoming Felicity and her romance with Gus Pike. There's an interesting life lesson from these two girls. As another has also noted here, it warns us of the dangers of false assumptions. Felicity assumes that the rich urban Sara will be the snobbish stuck up one, but it is actually the rural Felicity herself who puts on airs.
I forget many of the episode details as it's been awhile, but just happened lately to stumble upon the TV channel where it's shown in re runs so will certainly tune in again. The episode I recently watched revolves around Janet's frail, elderly Great Aunt Eliza, a critical and opinionated spinster guest who has worn out her welcome in the King household. The episode also incorporates a storyline about a school science fair project for these youngsters, all tied in with harsh weather conditions that are threatening the King farm's lambing. Just one example of the type of stories in this series.
The adventures and regular everyday experiences of these Island villagers make for a touching, engaging, and addicting series. The program features lovely rural scenery, unfortunately filmed in Ontario rather than on PEI itself. There's also all the outdated domestic touches one would expect, the pre electricity oil lamps and so forth. Wonderful family viewing with good values, certainly vastly superior to the majority of modern TV offerings for young people these days.
The series revolves around an 11 year old Montreal girl, Sara Stanley, who is sent by her wealthy father to live at Rose Cottage with her maiden aunts, Hetty and Olivia King, in the PEI village of Avonlea. The show chronicles the experiences of this young girl, who has been accustomed to city ways, as she adapts to her newfound rural relatives and simple village life. It also portrays Sara's various misadventures with her young cousins, the King offspring.
Sara's Aunt Hetty is a strait laced, humourless spinster schoolteacher. Olivia is Sara's more affectionate, younger aunt who works as a reporter for the local newspaper. Later Olivia marries Jasper Dale, a shy, stammering photographer and inventor. The King cousins, who live next door to Rose Cottage and share Sara's adventures, are the offspring of the loving & motherly but independent minded Janet and her farming husband Alec King, who is Hetty and Olivia's younger brother. The three King children include 13 year old Felicity, with her superior demeanor and later her beaux, mischievous 10 year old Felix, and the quiet, younger Cecily, who later suffers from tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium. During the course of the series, the three King siblings are joined baby Daniel while all these other children grow up. Felicity attends medical school and Felix works in the White Sands Hotel, while the independent Sara herself travels abroad and seeks a literary career in Paris.
The roles all seem well cast. Sara Poley wonderfully portrayed the adventurous, feisty blonde Sara Stanley. Jackie Burroughs is especially magnificent depicting the strict spinster Aunt Hetty. Some of the characters from Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables also appear, including the local busybody Rachel Lynde, her more reserved best friend Marilla Cuthbert, and the schoolteacher Miss Stacey, Hetty's rival and polar opposite.
Personally, I watched more of the earlier episodes with the focus on Sara, so am less familiar with the later tales relating more to the blossoming Felicity and her romance with Gus Pike. There's an interesting life lesson from these two girls. As another has also noted here, it warns us of the dangers of false assumptions. Felicity assumes that the rich urban Sara will be the snobbish stuck up one, but it is actually the rural Felicity herself who puts on airs.
I forget many of the episode details as it's been awhile, but just happened lately to stumble upon the TV channel where it's shown in re runs so will certainly tune in again. The episode I recently watched revolves around Janet's frail, elderly Great Aunt Eliza, a critical and opinionated spinster guest who has worn out her welcome in the King household. The episode also incorporates a storyline about a school science fair project for these youngsters, all tied in with harsh weather conditions that are threatening the King farm's lambing. Just one example of the type of stories in this series.
The adventures and regular everyday experiences of these Island villagers make for a touching, engaging, and addicting series. The program features lovely rural scenery, unfortunately filmed in Ontario rather than on PEI itself. There's also all the outdated domestic touches one would expect, the pre electricity oil lamps and so forth. Wonderful family viewing with good values, certainly vastly superior to the majority of modern TV offerings for young people these days.