The 'contractual obligation' TV series...
I tried to stick with the TV series and, for the sake of learning something about this vast and epic country, i persevered but the vision of BBC boardrooms and rubber stamps for meeting their educational/quality quota for the whole 'Dimbleby does Russia' premise kept appearing before me.

It smacks of televisual filler that the BBC is forced to put out inbetween the cookery, quizzes & dancing programmes. Trains, stilted conversations, poor structure and Dimbelby is so out of his depth in some encounters with 'ordinary Russians' you just want to cuddle him in the comfort blanket of a studio and give him some talking heads to referee.

It's Palin-lite, which is lite TV in itself but at least has the humour of a man out of his comfort zone actually experiencing real life. Dimbleby never leaves his comfort zone and seems always detached from the subject. As a result we, the viewer, do not get the cultural interaction and reaction from Dimbleby necessary for us to feel affinity with his subject.

It's not so poor, in reality, and there is plenty to marvel at but it is wallpaper just as much as any dubious fantasy drama or Saturday night quiz. In fact, this is worse than that. TV fluff never aspires to be anything more than fluff, this is dumbing down dressed up with a big name. The only box it ticks is on a BBC spreadsheet to the Government.

It deserves only two stars because of how good an in depth documentary/travelogue on Russia should have been. This is not it.

I wanted to enjoy this but didn't
I enjoy travelogues and travel documentaries, my favourite being Michael Palin's series which ended with `New Europe' (although that was his least successful). However,`Russia' was a missed opportunity. I was frustrated as it was spoiled for me by the presenter. He rather got in the way of what could have been a marvellous series now that most of Russia can be accessed. He came across as an Englishman who takes himself too seriously and tended to be rather patronising to his Russian interviewees. Russia doesn't want to model itself on the West. Russia is Russia. If he fancies some tuition on how to present an interesting travelogue then I suggest he has a look at Gavin Stamp's `Orient Express' [ASIN:B000Y1VQ5S Gavin Stamp's Orient Express]. This is an Englishman who understood what was needed and let the landscape and people he visited speak for themselves. His informed and humorous contribution to the film were outstanding.

Thoroughly enjoyable
For those of us who won't be able to go to all the places that Jonathan Dimbleby (JD) travels in the vast Russian country, this series provides some very interesting insights, facts, views of landscapes, people, cities and the enormous range of cultures and lifestyles and much more. I really enjoyed this and will look forward to watching it again and again. JD has a real grasp of people and humanity and communicates with people in such apparent ease that you wish you were travelling with him on this epic journey and to get to see all the places. Also there is a lot of honesty in the way the program is presented and it is far from a glossy travel documentary - it does give the impression that what you see is exactly what you get.

Enjoyable but Superficial
I must say that although I enjoyed this DVD set, I was ultimately dissapointed. It is much too short to give more than a brief glimpse of life in such a huge and varied country.
That aspect of Russia does come across. It is MASSIVE. However the structure, basically a meandering "journey" turns what could have been a highly informative and important series into little more than a travelogue. It ends up as a sort of Michael Palin Does Russia, endless shots of views from train windows and meetings with "ordinary Russians" with stilted conversations through interpreters.
I think this was a missed opportunity for us to learn a great deal more about one of the most important countries in the world and one which is going through monumental changes.
Another thing that was done really poorly was getting across the geography and history of Russia. I think a little time at the beginning to set the stage as it were would have put a lot of what followed in context.
I don't think this is a watch again DVD and I would recommend renting rather than buying as it is only about 4.5 hrs long in total.

Ignore the poor reviews!
Ignore the poor reviews! Jon Foster's review for Amazon is spot on.To say that JD needs a psychiatrist is very childish.

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