A dream cast brings Anthony Trollope's Barchester novels charmingly to life in this engaging production from the golden age of Masterpiece Theatre. Featuring Alan Rickman in his breakthrough role as the odious Obadiah Slope.

The community of Barchester is shaken from its cosy complacency when a newspaper's crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires. Overnight, Rev. Harding (Donald Pleasence) becomes a pawn in a battle between his younger daughter's beau, John Bold and his older daughter's husband, Archdeacon Grantly (Nigel Hawthorne). Little do they realise that the worst is yet to come, until a regime change delivers Barchester into the hands of a most unholy trinity: the weak-willed Bishop Proudie, the domineering Mrs Proudie and the insufferable Rev. Obadiah Slope.