A Family At War - Series 1 [DVD]

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The book that I’m looking at here, A Family at War, was published by the Shetland Times earlier this year and offers a tantalising glimpse at Lerwick during the First World War. I remember these films from the early 1970's and was elated to have found them available only to be disappointed.

Hazard also uses ‘Senoritas’ to describe the Spanish (probably inoffensive), Reds to describe the Spanish Republicans, and Jerries to describe the Germans. Liverpool 1938 is the starting point for this drama series depicting the World War II experiences of the fictional Ashtons, Jean and Edwin, and their five children. It was regarded as having much more in common with the high quality plays and dramas being produced by the BBC at the time, and seemed to be ITV’s response.Another interesting aside to my viewing the series was the concurrent coal miners’ strike at the time. I think this is grossly unfair, and it’s not a description that was applied to it at the time as far as I remember. For a serial like Family in which the same sets were used over and over again, the studio offered a budget economy.

Over 100 years have passed since the guns of the First World War fell silent over the battlefields of Europe. By August that same year, one of Granada’s press releases was able to boast that A Family at War was now ‘top of the national TV ratings. The four cameras, two sound booms and a large technical crew – not to mention a big studio – were tied up for only two days and they cost a lot of money. The episode looks at the terrible conditions for German kids and defeated civilians, most unusual from a 1970 viewpoint.Being able to watch the whole of A Family at War had only been made possible because of its release on DVD box-set by Acorn Media UK, bringing another previously unobtainable television text back into the public domain. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I found the first season of this series on a streaming service here in Canada and absolutely loved it. Colin Douglas, as the lead and father of the Ashford family, was a captain in WW2 and fought in Sicily and at Arnhem. Wonderful John Finch story about a believable family living as the title suggests through the World War.

Most importantly, the audience at the time remembered the war, and even those born after it, like me, had heard SO much about it.Nor does the programme pull its punches: several central characters die during the course of the series and those left behind have to struggle on imperfectly, while the skilful writing makes plain the emotional damage they suffer as they do so.