Masterpiece of Parody in ‘Summer’s Lease’

Probably no one is better at mixing fun and foreboding than John Mortimer, the writer whose satirical commentary on British manners arrives anew in a “Masterpiece Theatre” production called “Summer’s Lease.”

The first of four installments airs Sunday (8 p.m. on Channels 50 and 24, 9 p.m. on Channels 28 and 15).

Mortimer adapted this BBC production from his own novel of the same name, one that he drew from his own experience in annually renting houses in Italy for the summer.

Leaving heavy footprints on PBS, it was Mortimer who created “Rumpole of the Bailey,” adapted “Brideshead Revisted” for TV and wrote “Paradise Postponed.” What he delivers here--assisted by a superb cast and fine direction by Martyn Friend--is a deliciously perplexing and mysterious story about an upper-middle-class British family leasing a grand villa in Italy’s Tuscany region where people speak of living in “the next castle.”

The Italy holiday was the idea of Molly Pargeters (Susan Fleetwood), a bright but somewhat drab and dissatisfied middle-aged matron who drags along her dull husband, Hugh (Michael Pennington), and their three daughters. Rounding out the group is Molly’s eccentric father, Haverford Downs (John Gielgud), a creaky journalist who has somehow managed to include himself on the trip, much to the others’ dismay.

Almost immediately, the Italy-enamored Molly is drawn into a mystery regarding the family’s absentee British landlord, as Mortimer populates his elegant story with shadowy characters who act inexplicably. By the end of Part 1, we’re confronted by a body at the bottom of an empty pool.

As “Summer’s Lease” progresses, one on occasion finds equally inexplicable gaps in the plot, and even after it ends you have the feeling that Mortimer has more secrets to tell. The author’s primary agenda is parody--some of “Summer’s Lease” is extremely funny--and before finishing, he leaves barb marks on the British who create a culture clash by their presence in the area.

Fleetwood is such a fine actress that she never appears to be acting. But it’s the 87-year-old Gielgud who all but steals the story as the foul-mouthed, wonderfully bawdy old Haverford. He becomes a human exclamation point on scene after scene.

Treat time.