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Starring: Don Wycherley,  Lorcan Cranitch,  Kate McEnery,  Simon Mulholland,  Victoria Smurfit, 
Directed By: Richard Standeven,  Chris Clough,  Paul Duane,  N.G. Bristow, 
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 2005
Studio: BBC Warner
Format: Box set,  Closed-captioned,  Color,  DVD-Video,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information

Product Description
Father Peter Clifford has no idea what he's in for when he's assigned to a parish in the small Irish town of Ballykissangel. Meeting the hilarious characters that populate the gorgeous mountain town Father Clifford must rely on his easygoing demeanor to keep himself from going nuts. The entire fourth season of the show is collected here.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 794051245625 Manufacturer No: E2456

Amazon.com
The events of season 3 left the BBC series Ballykissangel without its leading characters--pub owner Assumpta Fitzgerald (Dervla Kirwan) and Father Peter Clifford (Stephen Tompkinson)--and most interesting relationship conflict. Happily, the fourth season finds the drama-comedy successfully retooling itself with an influx of new cast members (including Colin Farrell) and a shifting of emphasis away from Assumpta's pub (called Fitzgerald's), previously the center of action in the Irish village. Not that the tavern is going anywhere; Assumpta's good friend, Niamh (Tina Kellegher), takes over its management after her father, wheeler-dealer Brian Quigley (Tony Doyle), buys Fitzgerald's at auction. Niamh's increasingly estranged husband, town cop Ambrose (Peter Hanly), isn't happy with the arrangement, and he worries that his superiors will object to his family moving into Assumpta's old living quarters above the pub. For Brian, however, Fitzgerald's is the smaller of two major acquisitions he makes in season 4; the other is a golf course to which he is led, literally, in a dream.

Meanwhile, returning characters Brendan (Gary Whelan), a teacher, and Siobhan (Deirdre Donnelly), the veterinarian, give birth to a daughter and struggle to come to terms with their unmarried relationship. Shop owner Kathleen (Aine Ni Mhuiri) has an unexpected encounter with an interrupted romance from her past, Brian's stooges Donal (Frankie McCafferty) and Liam (Joe Savino) keep trying to play an angle that will finally work for them, and Father Mac (Niall Toibin) is no less exasperated with his new priest, Father Aidan O'Connell (Don Wycherley), than he was with Father Clifford. Father O'Connell, a former monk who, until recently, was cut off from the mainstream world for a decade, is a somewhat reserved fellow undergoing a kind of re-entry shock. Fortunately, he has his outgoing sister, Orla (Victoria Smurfit), around to help him, though Orla proves quite interesting in other respects, particularly her unusual (and strictly platonic) bond with Brian. Finally, there's the aforementioned Colin ("Col" in the show's credits) Farrell, who plays Danny, a young nephew of shepherd Eamonn (Birdy Sweeney) and something of a fugitive in possession of a horse called Razor. Farrell is very good in the role, a haunted boy-man whose historical ties to the region--and to a much-resented other arrival, Sean Dillon (Lorcan Cranitch) and the latter's daughter, Emma (Kate McEnery)--are much more complicated than he knows. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

Heretofore engaging series achieves epic mediocrity
In case you haven't tuned-in to the British series BALLYKISSANGEL that aired on the telly from 1996 to 2001, its premise was to follow the career of a young priest assigned to the parish church in the Irish town of Ballykissangel (real-life Avoca, County Wicklow, Ireland), and specifically as he interacted with the town's cast of colorful and/or misfit characters. In series 1-3, the priest was Father Peter Clifford (Stephen Tompkinson), and it soon became evident that he was imperiling his priestly vows by falling for the owner of the local pub, Assumpta Fitzgerald (Dervla Kirwan). The growing sexual tension between the two, in addition to the charming and humorous subplots of each episode involving the village's other residents, made the series watchable to the point of addiction.

At the end of series 3, Assumpta dies tragically, and Fr. Clifford, grievously heartbroken, departs abruptly. From that point on, beginning with the first episode of series 4, the production becomes but a shadow of its former self.

The new priest, a former monk, is Fr. Aidan O'Connell (Don Wycherley), whose character is totally colorless and out of his depth. Without the Clifford-Assumpta axis, the other cast regulars gamely attempt to carry on: the local wheeler-dealer and business schemer, Brian Quigley (Tony Doyle), his daughter Niamh (Tina Kellegher), who takes over ownership and management of Fitzgerald's pub while staying married to Ballykissangel's deer-caught-in-the-headlights Garda officer, Ambrose Egan (Peter Hanly), and Quigley's two idjit can-carriers, Donal (Frankie McCafferty) and Liam (Joe Savino). But, it's just not the same - not even close.

Casting tried to keep things alive with several new personae, the most intriguing of which is Fr. Aidan's somewhat mysterious sister, Orla (Victoria Smurfit). Orla is steamy, but by the time I gave up on series 4 at episode 9, the writers had failed to take her character much of anywhere. Probably the most useless newcomer is Colin Farrell as shepherd Eamonn's nephew Danny, on the lam from the big city with a favorite horse for some unexplained reason. With this small-screen appearance, Farrell was perhaps trying to duplicate the early 90s success of Catherine Zeta-Jones in British television's popular The Darling Buds of May: When the Green Woods Laugh. But, unlike the luscious Catherine, Colin manages only a scruffy and lumpish taciturnity. In any case, it was impossible for this viewer to engage with Danny; another segment of stacked-stone wall around his uncle's pasture would've been more entertaining. Perhaps female viewers find him attractively enigmatic. (Ok, ok, I see the political incorrectness here; Victoria and Catherine are both Hot Babes, and Colin might as well be a rock. I'm a Male Pig; so sue me.)

At one point during the filming of BALLYKISSANGEL, Tompkinson and Kirwan became engaged, but they later separated after leaving the show. This perhaps illustrates the improbable truth that television art sometimes mimics real life and, in the cases of BALLYKISSANGEL and its protagonists' love affair, all good things must end. Two stars in admonition of what the former once was and fails to be.

Requiescat in pace.

Linnie
Excellent DVD. Enjoyed every moment of this wonderful series. The Characters,Story line, and scenery all make this a great way to spend a few hours just watching and relaxing. Really makes you feel good.

Different view
Ok, I agree that the new characters were welcome and interesting because frankly, by the end of season three, the Peter/Assumpta relationship had pretty much run it's course as far as holding my interest. As long as Brian Quigley and loonies, Liam and Donal were back, I was happy. I did, however, hate...HATE...the way the show handled the dissolution of Niamh and Ambrose's marriage. Granted Niamh married him for all the wrong reasons (thumbing her nose at her father was my guess), but watching Ambrose's increasing state of confusion, hurt, etc., while Niamh blithely pursued a man that had taken her fancy was painful to watch. I won't even go into how much I despised what happened in season six when they solved the problem in a totally unrealistic and unsatisfying way. I loved and enjoyed Ballyk from season one to it's ultimate end but the whole Niamh/Ambrose/Sean debacle is what keeps it from being five star all the way.

Much Better than Season 1 and2

I like a lot of the reviews enjoyed season 4 as it consintrated on the other characters espeacilly Niamh who was excellent, The introduction of Sean Dillon made the show more interesting, I'm not a Colin Farrell fan but he was quite good. Just Got Season 5 on dvd even better again recommend this season to people that were not predjudiced about watching the rest of the series after the departure of Peter and Assumpta this season and the follwing all the better for it.

The road though BallyK still worth exploring after major cast changes.
If you are new to Ballykissangel this is a fine show, but it is not the place to jump into this entertaining pastiche of small town Irish life (real or idealized). Season four is not just the fourth year of this program, but really is just the first of several attempts at trying to reinvent itself after huge cast changes. Bit players Liam & Donal who did their job well as hapless hired hands to the focal character of the show (Brian Quigley) have had their roles upped several fold during this year. Thus we see them dredge for gold balls in one of the water hazard's at Quigley's golf course. One of them mysteriously (with no explannation) becomes the guardian of a "pet" bear; a bear, who obviously then reeks a bit havoc. The eccentric uncle (making his first appearance) of this Donal character also does likewise with the town in the season's finale. New faces are also introduced. The town has a new priest (who brings his sister), a new farmer (with his teenage daughter), and the old farmer's presence is complicated by the arrival of his nephew (also a young adult who predictably catches the eye of the new gal in town). In short, a lot is new herein & it takes a bit to absorb all of it since all 5 newcomers are introduced en masse. 3 of these, incidentially, are flat-out successful in the roles and add much to providing much needed ballast after the 3rd season lost the progam's 2 central characters. Father Aiden, as the new understudy to Father Mac, helps to re-center the plot and his sister provides much needed livliness. If you pick up the show with this season, however, it'll be odd to go back to the first 3 seasons. So do partake of the initial 3 seasons (whose episodes, generally speaking, don't significantly suffer much with repeated viewings) first, then delve into and give this selection a try. (And, if you haven't seen it yet, do treat yourself to seeing the very Irish and funny film "Waking Ned Devine".) (06May) Cheers!

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