New DVD release for Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville

The series also features Anna Chancellor and Stephen Dillane

Based on the best-selling novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, the saga delves into family life during the turmoil of war. The cast also includes Lesley Manville (Maleficent, Mayday) and Joanna Page (Gavin And Stacey, Love Actually). It makes its DVD debut as a two-disc set.

The Cazalets follows the lives of a large, privileged family transformed by the outbreak of World War Two. As storm clouds gather over Europe, the family’s three generations retreat to their country estate where the trials and tribulations of life play out against the backdrop of war. Births, deaths, marriages, secrets and intrigue test their stoic British restraint and resilience to the limit as both the country and family are fractured by the horrors of the escalating conflict.

Hugh is pleased to see it reach DVD – a series he feels the BBC should have continued.

“Based on the gorgeous books by Elizabeth Jane Howard, it is the intertwining stories of a well-to-do family set against the Second World War. I was attracted to it by the quality of the scripts and by the pedigree of the producer, the great Verity Lambert, who with her co-producer Joanna Lumley gave the production a tremendous confidence and sense of style

“The cast they brought together was superb. It’s a challenge casting older child actors (or younger adult actors, whichever way you want to look at it), and I think Verity and Jo got it spot on. These are powerful storylines involving flawed, human characters. A real shame the BBC dumped it after series one when there were more stories to be told.”