I watched all of the series, it was fascinating watching the characters grow. Mr Selfridge was a man of vision and drive and he is mesmerising. I was in London 5 years ago and went to Selfridge's, still on Oxford St and was very moved. Inside was a different story, not at all the same as it was. It was shoddily presented and the floor personnel were indifferent to their customers, just there for a paycheck. I bought some perfume and walked around thinking if Mr Selfridge could see it he would be outraged and fired them all. Great store history though, I loved it.

I LOVE this series. While Mr. Selfridge cannot take credit for inventing the modern department store, he WAS responsible for introducing an American style department store to London. He introduced window displays and the concept of merchandise on display throughout the store. Unlike the stodgy British retailers at the time, he invited customers to look, to imagine, to browse, and to feel and handle the merchandise.

In the days before television, video games, the internet and all of the technological advantages that we take for granted today, Mr. Selfridge understood the value of showmanship. His department store including an auditorium for guest speakers. He sensationalized many of the important events of the period such as having the first man to fly across the English channel appear in his store. He had world renown Freda Whittaker skate on a roof-top rink. He had Wimbledon champion Suzanne Lenglen demonstrate her serve on a rooftop court.

To battle the aroma of horse manure which was an unfortunate reality of the time, he put a cosmetics counter in the front of his store. Not only did he help pioneer selling cosmetics to ladies but by having the cosmetics counter in the front of the story, the sprayed perfume helped to mask the odor of the horse manure that some customers inadvertently brought in from having walked in the city streets.

Mr. Selfridge was a great lover of gadgets. He sold telephones, refrigerators, and ice making machines. He demonstrated the first television sets in London back in 1925. He enticed so many people to his store through lectures, theatrics, demonstrations, displays, sales events, food service, and other attractions that at one point he was able to proudly boast that Selfridge's was the THIRD largest tourist attraction in London after Buckingham Palace and the Tower.

Watching this series is like having a window into time.

I watched this whole miniseries when it was on PBS. I loved it and looked so forward to the next episode. I, especially, like Agnes Towler, who starts out as a shop girl, but she has ambition and talent that takes her far. I enjoy watching sexy Henri. Even his walk is sexy. He swaggers, not walks.

All of the other characters deepen and grow throughout the series. But, Mr. Selfridge, himself, is enigmatic and a dreamer, who believes he can do it no matter what.

I was ecstatic when I found I can watch the whole miniseries with my Prime membership. In the meantime, hubby can watch his shows on our TV. Now that I've cut cable, even more than before, I will be spending time watching this again.

While I know, from research I've done, that the show wasn't true to the real life of Mr. Selfridge, I still enjoy the version that is represented, and it is pretty close to the truth.

I will buy the seasons, separately, so I can watch the DVD's on my TV. That is how much I like this show. I don't buy DVD's that often as I hardly ever watch them unless I really like a movie or show. So, that, in itself, says something about Mr. Selfridge.

I wanted a better understanding Edwardian London in the early 1900s for my research. I don't know much about Selfridge except that I visited the store in London, England. Selfridges is a grand London department store but I didn't know much about it's history. I am surprised that an American named Harry Gordon Selfridge founded the magnificent store on Oxford Street that is still in existence today.

The three disc set includes ten episodes about 45 minutes each. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeremy Piven plays the pivotal role of Harry Selfridge. Both Piven and Selfridge hail from Chicago where Selfridge began working at Marshall Fields, the Chicago institution of department stores. I never watched Entourage nor do I care too. As for Jeremy's acting abilities, I wonder why he hasn't been nominated for any awards for this performance.

The series' weakness stems in the writing aspect of the series. The series appears to be both a hybrid of truth and fiction. The story lines involve a wide cast of characters more like a soap opera.

The cast includes veteran British actors and actresses like Frances O'Connor playing long suffering wife, Rosalie. Kika Markham plays the wonderful supportive mother, Lois, to Harry. There are other actors listed in the credits but they run the credits so fast in the beginning and at the end. Coronation Street's Katherine Kelly is wonderful in her part as a society lady, Lady Mae, with an absentee husband. Tom Goodman-Hill who plays Mr. Grove does a fabulous job. Philippa Heywood (Brittas Empire) has a memorable part as Ms. Bunting. French actor, Gregory Fitoussi, plays Henry LeClare, the French window dresser. The other cast members have had long and distinguished careers in stage, film, and television. Zoe Tapper plays Ellen Love, an actress and Harry's mistress.

The behind the scenes featurette (about 25 minutes) brings about how the series came to life from an idea to casting and set. The art direction and costumes are Edwardian in style and substance. You feel like you're in the early 1900s. The producers spared no expense in creating the Selfridge store environments based on old documents. Even the cast is in awe of the production itself. You can't help but want to be on set.

Unfortunately, I don't care really to see the second or third season of the series. I purchased this DVD to understand Edwardian London Society and I'm quite satisfied but I'm not in love with the series enough to see seasons two, three, and more. It's an entertaining melodrama overall where Harry Selfridge comes to life.

Jeremy Piven does an okay job at being Mr. Selfridge, a larger than life American business figure in conservative early 1900's British department store business and society. I think Robert Downer Jr would have been the perfect actor for the role as he is naturally more flamboyant and eccentric but Piven does an adequate job. The contrast of conservative British characters that surround Mr. Selfridge and their back stories is an effective juxtaposition with Piven's character for the story's over arching theme and historical relevance of perseverance despite seemingly insurmountable social and market constraints. The show excels at creating a dynamic dramatic universe that surreptitiously extols the virtue and vicissitudes of the individualistic entrepreneurial spirit of commercial-marketing-social incite and vision. The show transforms Selfridge's life's work from an over looked footnote in the dustbin of Western commercial history to a truly entertaining panoply of game changing business acumen to make every Shark Tank judge envious. The creative license of partial fiction is as alluring a retelling of biography as I have encountered in the visual story telling arts. While there is room for superior elements of dramatic conveyance, the show is still a must see. Well done Producer and star Jeremy Piven!

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Jeremy Priven fan. I've loved his work since the Gary Shandling show. I love his fast paced delivry, I love his bellicose balderdash, I love the way he over-emphasizes with body movements.. I just really LIKE the guy's acting. So I was CRUSHED almost immediately by this performance. Priven just isn't suited for the role of a turn of the last century ANYthing. It's like 'Saavy New Yorker gets caught in a time travel machine and lands in Victorian Europe'. At eight episodes into the first season, Priven seems to be in desperate need of a good diction coach and an intervention by 'Over-Actors Anonymous', though in all fairness the over-acting seems to be toning down somewhat, if not the terribly modern East Coast accent. That actress playing Mrs. Selfridge is very good, as is her love interest. The kids are pretty lackluster. The most interesting characters are to be found in the store, where the talent seems to be centered. The sets are really lush. The storyline is a little tedious in places and not very well thought out. For instance, most of us know about the women's movement of the time, but the writers didn't see fit to include any explanation of what was happening to women other than hinting at work inequality. So you find yourself caring a lot less than you would have with a little back story.

I'll watch more, but only because there are no more episodes of Outlanders to be seen. What can I say... Some like it Scot.

It took way too long for me to give in and finally watch Mr. Selfridge, but have to say, now I'm hooked. It's particularly intriguing to analyze Harry Selfridge himself. Brilliant businessman, full of life, energy and from what I can see, the power of positive thinking. This genius completely believes in himself and his power to bring his dreams into reality. I haven't watched the Secrets of Selridge yet, to see clips about the real Harry Selfridge, but Jeremy Piven's Selfridge is excellent.

Originally, I didn't care for Piven's acting, but can now see that he's perfect for this part. Underneath that businessman's smile, always keeping an eagle eye on what's "good for business", lurks the memories of a tortured little boy whose relationship with his father was not the best. It's these flash-back memories of Selfridge's childhood that spellbind and mystify. From a psychological perspective, this man has risen to incredible heights just based on his own inner drive to one day rid himself of the harm his father inflicted upon him, and the hurtful, lingering memories.

While we can see that the memories still pain Selfridge in many of the scenes, he almost immediately finds that inner strength and determination to overcome the harmful thoughts and return to his "state of grace" within his own self. And, then returns the enigmatic smile. The man overcomes the memories, and rises above them.

In this regard, I find this series, Seasons 1 and 2, an uplifting testimony to the powers within humans to overcome obstacles and childhood trauma, and find their way to peace, great success, and a more righteous approach to life.

Yes, Selfridge does have his faults, maybe a bit too arrogant at times, his philandering, which eventually stops once he truly falls in love with his wife. I'm so heartened by this series, just for the opportunity to psychoanalyze this man and see him grow and mellow a bit to appreciate the gentler things of life and finally leave his hurtful memories behind him and find happiness.

Love this program and look forward to many more seasons.

It's a show, alright. I found it to be rich in acting and full of talent, superior to other PBS productions. Frances O'Connor sort of steals the show, too bad she has to die. I haven't read the book in which the series was inspired, instead I went to Wikipedia and revised a feeble description of this family, a content not comprehensive at all, it's not even an abstract. However, it gave me a disappointing appreciation of the series: Mr. Selfridge and his wife Rose don't even look close to the photographs shown in the encyclopedia. In a young Mr. Selfridge's photo, he displays bushy and robust sideburns, in a latter photo, he has a sophisticated wax moustache; it appears he never had a beard. Rose's appearance is miles from the Rose of the production.

As a child, I watched a movie that had Al Capone in it, the name of it does not matter, I've forgotten it. What was striking was the looks of Al Capone. At the time I did not know who he was, but years latter, in a magazine I saw a picture of him and could not believe the astonishing resemblance of the character.

Mr. Selfridge is a multimillion pound production and I would've respected it more if the characters looked more like the personalities they were representing. Good looking people does not have to replace the individuals the stories are about. It's like voting for a candidate because he looks presidential. How does a president have to look? What does looking presidential mean? The Country could be in better shape If citizens had voted for the ugly candidates.

This is the reason I'm giving 4 stars, the producers and director were more interested in a make-believe situation added to the already make-believe philosophy Mr. Selfridge had already running through his veins.