Boy Dominic - The Complete Series [1974]

THE DVD SET: I'm pleased to say that the long awaited (by me) Network 2-disc set of the first series of Boy Dominic, made in 1973 and first transmitted on Sunday, March 24th, 1974, arrived at my address this morning from amazon UK. The menu designs are beautiful and there's an extensive image gallery on Disc One. Picture and sound quality are excellent, considering the age of the videotape it was transferred from (nearly 37 years). There is a synopsis for each of the 13 episodes on the inside of the DVD cover and Network's presentation of this classic series is also excellent. I highly recommend it.THE PROGRAMME: Boy Dominic was a superior Yorkshire Television children's drama series in colour with a distinguished cast of adult actors telling a tale of riches to rags of the Bulman family and in particular young Dominic, played by 12 years old Murray Dale, the son of 'Carry On' stalwart Jim Dale, in only his second professional engagement. This first series, that ran for 13 weekly episodes of approximately 25 minutes each, was made in 1973 and began transmission on Sunday, March 24th, 1974 on the ITV network. The setting for Boy Dominic was Yorkshire in the year 1820 and the realisation that the well-to-do Bullman family were about to have their world torn apart when the head of their family, Captain Charles Bulman (Richard Todd) loses his ship - The Bright Star - off the north coast of Africa. With no word of the fate of his father and no income, Dominic and his mother, Emma (Hildegard Neil) are forced to sell their Greenwich home.Together they travel to Yorkshire and throw themselves on the mercy of Charles' mother, the embittered Lady Bulman (Mary Morris), who turns them away as money grabbers. With nowhere else to go, they throw in their lot with an old seafaring friend of Charles, a drunken old salt by the name of William Woodcock (Brian Blessed). Together they open a guesthouse catering for patrons from all walks of life and of var0)ying notoriety.Events take a turn when Charles Bulman suddenly returns to England having survived shipwreck, slavery and prison to seek revenge on those who sabotaged his vessel (Julian Glover and Ivor Dean).As far as this first series was concerned, I thought that the then 12 years old Murray Dale was very beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, with his long, unisex fair hair, that if he had worn a dress, he could have passed for a girl. But this was a common trait of early 1970's boys, whether child actors or not and was quite a common place thing at the time, The "look" of Murray Dale and a lot of other young boys at that time was known, for obvious reasons, as "The Girly-Boy Look." His acting in Boy Dominic is excellent, as are all the other members of the cast and he practically carries each episode...no mean achievement for a boy of his age. Because of this, each individual episode in the series holds the viewers attention throughout, as the story line moves on from one episode to the next. Even if you're too young to remember 1974 (I was already 27 years old at that time), you'll like this series. They don't make television programmes like this any more, more's the pity.+

Suffering from nostalgia I remembered this Tv series after seeing it for sale and brought it, Dominic's father is lost at sea, he is betrayed by people he trusted for the insurance money, Dominic and his mother lose their home and have no money to survive, a friend of Dominic's father takes them in and offers his mother the chance of running a boarding house for him, she acceptsAs the series continues Dominic's mum has to assume her husband is dead but fights to clear his name, there follow many exciting and dangerous adventures for Dominic and his mother, will they ever find Dominic's father again and clear his nameDominic is played by Murrey Dale the son of Jim Dale famous for Carry Ons and Pete's Dragon, their are roles also for Brian Blessed and Richard Todd, I watched all the episodes over about six hours and enjoyed itA sequel to the series is available with Dominic now being sixteen and trying to avenge the death of his parents, again played by Murrey Dale

After watching such standards as Treasure Island and Master and Commander, I wasn't sure what to expect from this rather dated adventure. Names like Richard Todd and Brian Blessed aren't often associated with TV series in the US, and I was only able to watch on my computer, since my DVD player at home is an old NTSC Region 1 behemoth. Despite the obstacles, I was not disappointed at all by the performances. The outdoor shots were done in film, and bear some scratches, but the indoor scenes seem to be the familiar soft-color video so common to BBC audiences. The acting is very good, and young Murray Dale (son of actor Jim Dale of Carry-on fame) is a handsome, cheery, sometimes impertinent, and thoroughly engaging addition to the cast. Brian Blessed is his always confident and emotional self, a perfect model for future actors. I recommend the adventure to all ages, and perhaps even most to grown-up viewers who enjoy light entertainment with an historical twist on the side.

a great yorkshire tv series from 1974 i remember it well 1st around then it was repeated on the old tcc sat ch in the early 90s by then had video recorded ive watched it many time and now great coming to dvd barthurst the monkey too well remembered and ruth kettlewell as bessie i am sure brian blessed met his wife on this show ivor dean was also in it as a policeman( inspector clude from the saint) the sorty is gripping acting well done too with many twists too and richard todd as cat bullman ive also gt the paperback book of series too i would defently recomend this series and the follow up series dominic where he goes off to a navy training show hopefully that series will be relased too so its back in time about sundays at about 5 .30 for another edition of this classic series .

I loved this series when I was a child. Wonderful memories of looking forward all week to Sunday evening. Whenever friends and I talk about the programmes we used to love, this was mine, but no-one else remembered it at all so I was thrilled to have found the DVD on Amazon. It doesn't disappoint. A great story, wonderful actors and Murray Dale was just beautiful. Where is he now?Now all I need is the Dominic series, which told the story of 16 year old Dominic as a Navy cadet. Anyone know if there are plans to release that series?

I agree with several reviewers that this is an excellent program. However, this is NOT the complete series as advertised. There is a sequel with the same actors titled simply "Dominic," which aired in 1976. Taken together, the 1974 episodes and the 1976 episodes would comprise the "Complete Series." Viewers should be aware that this 1974 DVD with 13 episodes is NOT the complete series, and to put this on the DVD cover is misleading. There are a total of 21 episodes.

Bought this series for one episode, The Man With the Painted Face, because Gary Raymond guest stars. Very pleased!! Nice DVD picture and sound quality too.