The series stars
Anton Rodgers and
Julia McKenzie as middle-aged, middle-class husband and wife William and Hester Fields and follows the series
Fresh Fields, which ran from 1984 to 1986.
French Fields resumes the story three years later as William accepts a position with a
French company and the series follows Hester and William as they move from
London to
Calais. The pair are regularly visited by their daughter Emma (Sally Baxter and Karen Ascoe) and son-in-law Peter (
Philip Bird). Bird is the only other
Fresh Fields actor to appear regularly, as Emma only "appeared" via voiceover by Debby Cummings in the original show. Other regular cast members include their French estate agent Chantal Moriac (
Pamela Salem), who is also the Fields' neighbour to the left, and snobbish English couple Hugh (
Robin Kermode) and Jill (
Liz Crowther) Trendle, the neighbours to the right. Hester and William also cope with Madame Remoleux (
Valerie Lush), the unintelligible, ancient, and generally useless (but unsackable) French cleaner who lives on and cares for the estate, "Les Hirondelles," ("
Swallows" in English) where they all live. Also popping in regularly are local farmer and mayor Monsieur Dax (Olivier Pierre in series 1 and 2 and
Philip McGough in series 3) and his cheeky daughter Marie-Christine (Victoria Baker), to whom Hester does her best to teach English.
Nicholas Courtney also appears frequently as the estate's owner, the Marquis.
Ann Beach, Sonia in
Fresh Fields, makes a guest appearance in the final episode, in which Hester and William decide to return to their former UK home. ==Episodes==