Time for another summer movie to celebrate gardening, escape the summer heat, and avoid a few chores! This summer we're going back to view several more episodes from the British series, Rosemary and Thyme, which aired from 2003 to 2007, and features Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris in the lead roles (along with a cast of movie star plants)!
In the final season, Rosemary and Laura run a thriving landscaping business and have a special knack for encountering mysteries that need to be solved. They pool their experience and skills to do both, and have a lot of fun in the process.
While these assignments are going on, Laura packs up a few mementos from her home of 27 years, so that her ex-husband can sell the place. She keeps a few treasures, but discards most - including a decorator pillow that had formerly belonged to the Pargeters, which Laura had purchased at a jumble sale long ago.
Rosemary and Laura tour Edwin's locked seed room (untouched for nearly 90 years) and the greenhouse. In fairly short order, a dead body is found - a Chilean man with a puncture wound at the base of his neck, named Jose Antonio Pargeter. The police arrive, as does a whole cast of characters who are either vying to take ownership of the house, or probing for information.
Petra McKinley is writing a book called The Seed Collectors and wants to interview Edwin Pargeter's descendents, Audrey and Caroline; Frank and Sophie Minelli have arrived from America to teach nearby and want to purchase the house at the asking price in cash; and the pushy solicitor for the Minelli's demands that everyone stop their preparations to sell, since his clients want everything to remain as is.
When Rosemary spots Frank and Sophie at BB&B, a pharmaceutical company now run by one of her former students, and then Sophie dies at the estate, while trying to break into the greenhouse, Rosemary and Thyme know something is up. They interview their cast of characters and assemble their clues. Laura reads through Edwin Pargeter's old diary, and figures out what is at stake, and she and Rosemary look for the seeds of a now-extinct tree in Edwin's collection. Rosemary dashes off to Kew gardens to consult with Dr. Trevor about the seeds.
Laura swings by her old home first, to pick up the mementos. The rain has caused the pillow on the rubbish bin to sprout, providing her final clue. Laura grabs the pillow, leaves her mementos behind, and heads for Kew garden, hoping she is not too late!
I really enjoyed seeing Edwin's seed room, full of dark glass jars of seeds with their faded labels and covered with dust and cob webs. The room evokes the adventure of collecting the seeds, and the promise of the plants they may yield! I'm afraid this is the end of our summer movie series, but there are still more episodes to watch. I found the series on DVD in our local library and available through online retailers. I also found the synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia, and filming locations on Wikimedia. Enjoy!
In the final season, Rosemary and Laura run a thriving landscaping business and have a special knack for encountering mysteries that need to be solved. They pool their experience and skills to do both, and have a lot of fun in the process.
The Seeds of Time (Season 3, Episode 17)
In this episode, Rosemary and Laura have been hired to help the aging Audrey Pargeter and her niece, Caroline Pargeter, prepare the Pargeter estate for sale. Tasks include preparing an inventory of seeds collected by botanist, Edwin Pargeter, who died in 1914; taking an inventory of exotic greenhouse plants; and cleaning up the garden.While these assignments are going on, Laura packs up a few mementos from her home of 27 years, so that her ex-husband can sell the place. She keeps a few treasures, but discards most - including a decorator pillow that had formerly belonged to the Pargeters, which Laura had purchased at a jumble sale long ago.
Rosemary and Laura tour Edwin's locked seed room (untouched for nearly 90 years) and the greenhouse. In fairly short order, a dead body is found - a Chilean man with a puncture wound at the base of his neck, named Jose Antonio Pargeter. The police arrive, as does a whole cast of characters who are either vying to take ownership of the house, or probing for information.
Petra McKinley is writing a book called The Seed Collectors and wants to interview Edwin Pargeter's descendents, Audrey and Caroline; Frank and Sophie Minelli have arrived from America to teach nearby and want to purchase the house at the asking price in cash; and the pushy solicitor for the Minelli's demands that everyone stop their preparations to sell, since his clients want everything to remain as is.
When Rosemary spots Frank and Sophie at BB&B, a pharmaceutical company now run by one of her former students, and then Sophie dies at the estate, while trying to break into the greenhouse, Rosemary and Thyme know something is up. They interview their cast of characters and assemble their clues. Laura reads through Edwin Pargeter's old diary, and figures out what is at stake, and she and Rosemary look for the seeds of a now-extinct tree in Edwin's collection. Rosemary dashes off to Kew gardens to consult with Dr. Trevor about the seeds.
Laura swings by her old home first, to pick up the mementos. The rain has caused the pillow on the rubbish bin to sprout, providing her final clue. Laura grabs the pillow, leaves her mementos behind, and heads for Kew garden, hoping she is not too late!
I really enjoyed seeing Edwin's seed room, full of dark glass jars of seeds with their faded labels and covered with dust and cob webs. The room evokes the adventure of collecting the seeds, and the promise of the plants they may yield! I'm afraid this is the end of our summer movie series, but there are still more episodes to watch. I found the series on DVD in our local library and available through online retailers. I also found the synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia, and filming locations on Wikimedia. Enjoy!
