A Family at War

I approached this British series made in the early 1970's with high expectations,hoping for similar excellence as the comparable series 'When The Boat Comes In' but alas these hopes were dashed almost from the start and never rose above pot boiler sensibilities. The almost complete confinement to the studio coupled with average writing,production values,and on the main fairly mundane acting made for a tedious and unexciting viewing experience. A few charismatic actors and dynamic direction would have helped and I kept imagining I was viewing episodes of The Thunderbirds but more wooden.

Starts of OK(apart from "Oxford" Phillips fanciful goings on in Spain). Thereafter thinks move at a pace.The most interesting battle in the series is between business-owner Sefton Briggs and his "donkey"brother-in-law, Edwin Ashton.Keeps the show alive actually.One or two appearances are rather "guesty"(eg Robert)And that little chap John George hardly ever gets fed,is never seen(one for the social welfare folk?) Moving to the second half-series 3 in particular.The whole yarn becomes rather "Mills & Boonish".Afraid I cannot tolerate the acting of passive-aggressive Sheila Ashton and her inadequate soiciopathic husband! I rather hoped a doodle-bug would get them....

It was titled Familien Ashton in Denmark, where I watched on Sunday nights while I was living there. It was a charming picture of war's effect on those who, as John Milton said, "also serve who only stand and wait." The native Danes appreciated it as well and kept a strict appointment on Sunday nights to tune in. At a distance of lo, these 35 years, it's difficult to remember specifics. I do, however, remember the series with a smile. Combined with WWII-related places and structures that I'd been seeing in Europe, it really brought home to this young (at that time) American the reality of war, which to that point had been rather an abstract concept to me. Similarly, in the early 1990s, there was a short-lived American TV series, Homefront, which did a very fine job of portraying America at home during World War II.

I also saw A Family at War on my PBS station in the 70's and loved that show. I wish it was available on DVD. I wish BBC America would rerun it. Why is it out of circulation? This show was on every Sunday in my area for a year. This was before VCRs so I always tried to make it home to watch this show. In my area it was on at 5PM. The stories were so compelling. I really got into the family. One interesting filming note on the series was that somewhere in the middle of the run the series had to go to black and white tape. It seemed that the color tape people went on strike so some of the episodes had to be filmed in black and white. I think there are about a months worth of episodes in black and white. If you ever get to see this series or if it ever gets on DVD please try to get it. You will not be disappointed. The acting is top notch all the way. Every character is fleshed out. You will be so drawn into the continuing story that you will not want to miss an episode. This is a continuing story not unlike many soap operas. But once this one starts it will grab you and you will be hooked to the very last episode. This is a series not to be missed. Catch it from the very beginning.

I was a small boy watching this series now and then in the seventies. But I have always remembered it to be a fine series. I have seen it again the last month. I did remember some of the characters, Peter and Sheila especially, and Mr and Mrs Ashton, off course, and it was fun to see John Nettles as a very young man. But what really hit me, right in the stomach, so to say, was the quality. After all these years there is almost no TV- production that can compete with this astonishing - amazing superb quality. The actors, the producers, everything. What is sad, is that TV in general becomes some poor compared to such high-quality as "A family at war". There are exceptions, like "Brideshead revisited", but I feel, after being a member of the Ashton family for a month, that I need a long break from TV. It just isn't worth it.