''Down to Earth'' was a light-hearted

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

television drama series first broadcast in 2000 about a couple who start a new life on a

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

farm. The early episodes of the series were based on a series of books written by Faith Addis about their real-life move from London to Devon. The music in the series was composed by Sheridan Tongue and

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the ban ...

, and had the song "After All this Time" as its opening and closing credits in series 2 and 3.

Plot

The first series starred

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...

as Faith Addis, a teacher, and

Warren Clarke Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' Dalz ...

as her long-suffering husband Brian, as they encountered various misfortunes and difficulties in adjusting to their new rural lifestyle, which is not helped by their uncooperative children's attitude to moving to a new location. The series was generally light in tone, although took a tragic turn following Brian's death in a road accident in series three. In 2003 the Addis family leave the farm for good. They are replaced by the Brewer family. Matt Brewer (

Ian Kelsey Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', DI Richard Mayne in the ITV crime drama '' Blue Mur ...

) is Brian's cousin. He leaves the big city with his young new wife Frankie (

Angela Griffin Angela Mellissa Griffin (born 19 July 1976) is a British actress and television presenter who has been active on British television since the early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the roles of Fiona Middleton in the ITV soap opera '' ...

) and his three children from his first marriage to move to Devon to take over the farm. Two years later the Brewer family moved back to the city and were replaced by Jackie ( Denise Welch), Tony Murphy (

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in '' Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in ''Cracker'' and Jim Royle in '' The Royle Family'', and playing the titular cha ...

), and their wayward daughter Emma ( Zara Dawson), who owned the local pub. The 5th and final series was broadcast from 2 January 2005 to 6 March 2005.

Cast

– Faith Addis *

– Brian Addis * Toby Ross-Bryant – Marcus Addis * Ellie Beaven – Sarah Addis * Alexandra Stone – Molly Addis * Katy Reeves – Celeste Addis * Pat Keen – Addy Addis (mother-in-law) *

– Matt Brewer *

– Frankie Brewer * Ram John Holder – Wilson Steadman * Elizabeth Bennett – Daphne Brewer * Inga Brooksby – Becky Brewer * Charlotte Redpath – Lucy Brewer * Finn Atkins – Kate Cooper * Thomas Byrne – Sam Brewer * Denise Welch – Jackie Murphy * Zara Dawson – Emma Murphy *

Liam Hess Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these eleme ...

– Jake Smith *

Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Lady Mary Sharma in the hugely successful Netflix series ''Bridgerton'', as Isabella in the film ''Love Sarah'', as Dr Elizabeth Sha ...

– Kerry Jamil *

-Tony Murphy *

Jason West Jason West (born March 26, 1977) is an American politician who served as mayor of the village of New Paltz, New York from January 1, 2003 to May 31, 2007, and again from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2015. A graduate of the State University of New Yo ...

– Adam / Mose *

Sally Watts Sally Watts (born 25 May 1950) is a British film, television and stage actress whose career has spanned four decades and who is perhaps best remembered for playing Barbara in the sitcom ''Billy Liar'' (1973–74). Sally Watts was born in Somerset ...

– Laura Carter * Robert James-Collier – Nick Christy * Marc Ryan-Jordan – Ryan Cooper

DVD releases

The show was broadcast in an hour format, with each show averaging 48 minutes. The first series featured 6 episodes, the 2nd, 3rd & 4th series had 8 episodes, and the 5th and final series had 10 episodes. So far only series 1 has been released on DVD, by

Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...

Series Overview

*Series 1: 28 August 2000 to 1 October 2000 (6 Episodes) *Series 2: 2 September 2001 to 21 October 2001 (8 Episodes) *Series 3: 2 February 2003 to 23 March 2003 (8 Episodes) *Series 4: 4 January 2004 to 22 February 2004 (8 Episodes) *Series 5: 2 January 2005 to 6 March 2005 (10 Episodes)

Episodes

Series 1 (2000)

*"The Great Escape" – 28 August 2000 *"In at the Deep End" – 3 September 2000 *"O Best Beloved" – 10 September 2000 *"Do As You Would Be Done By" – 17 September 2000 *"Kingdom for a Horse" – 24 September 2000 *"A Field of Dreams" – 1 October 2000

Series 2 (2001)

*"Great Expectations" – 2 September 2001 *"Wild Life"- 9 September 2001 *"A Time To Live" – 16 September 2001 *"Rites and Wrongs" – 23 September 2001 *"The Final Straw" – 30 September 2001 *"Home Truths" – 7 October 2001 *"The Lie of the Land" – 14 October 2001 *"Gone But Not Forgotten" – 21 October 2001

Series 3 (2003)

*"All Together Now" – 2 February 2003 *"Faith" 9 February 2003 *"The Last Dance" – 16 February 2003 *"Moving On" – 23 February 2003 *"Cat on a Bonfire" – 2 March 2003 *"The Poseidon Effect" – 9 March 2003 *"Honesty" – 16 March 2003 *"High Hopes" – 23 March 2003

Series 4 (2004)

*"Still Waters" – 4 January 2004 *"Seeing is Believing" – 11 January 2004 *"Fate And Fortune" – 18 January 2004 *"Can’t Buy You Love" – 25 January 2004 *"Family Ties" – 1 February 2004 *"Best Laid Plans" – 8 February 2004 *"First Love" – 15 February 2004 *"Unfinished Business" – 22 February 2004

Series 5 (2005)

*"Sisterly Feelings" – 2 January 2005 *"Cowboys" – 9 January 2005 *"Ignorance Is Bliss" – 16 January 2005 *"Dangerous Liaisons" – 23 January 2005 *"Changes" – 30 January 2005 *"Say Hello, Say Goodbye" – 6 February 2005 *"Broken Dreams" – 13 February 2005 *"Hot Air"- 20 February 2005 *"Tall Tales" – 27 February 2005 *"Trouble 'n' Strife" – 6 March 2005

External links

* {{BBC programme
Down To Earth Homepage
*
Down to Earth
' at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

2000s British drama television series 2000 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings BBC television dramas Television shows set in Devon English-language television shows