The Passing Bells

Many years ago anyone staying at home during the day could watch THE SULLIVANS on ITV - an Australian soap opera that told of the experiences of a middle-class Melbourne family and the effect that World War II had on their lives. The series was very people- centered, and music was often used to set the mood of a scene in a technique that was very different from British soaps (this was in the ways when CORONATION STREET and CROSSROADS rules the network waves, and EASTENDERS had not been even thought of).

Memories of the long-forgotten Australian series were evoked through THE PASSING BELLS: written by Tony Jordan, it tells the story of World War One through the eyes of two young soldiers (Patrick Gibson, Jack Lowden), from the heady days of patriotism as they enlist, confident in the belief that the conflict will be over by Christmas, to the disillusion of 1918, when the aspirations of an entire generation were completely destroyed.

In planning a series like this for prime-time viewing before the 9 p.m. watershed on BBC, director Brendan Maher could have encountered a problem; how to emphasize the bloodiness of the conflict without resorting to graphic violence. Sensibly he chooses instead to focus on the human element; what is interesting about THE PASSING BELLS is the way the characters interact - or fail to interact - with one another. The camaraderie of episode one soon dissipates as the youngsters understand the true horror of the trenches; but even in the midst of war, some kind of friendship develops between the troops from opposite sides. This is historically accurate: hostilities inevitably ceased on Christmas Day, and the troops ventured into no-man's land to exchange a scrap of festive cheer.

And the music? In THE PASSING BELLS it is used to create mood; to emphasize the contrast between the edenic, community-focused world of prewar England and the living hell of battle, where young men had to live cheek-by-jowl in a sea of mud. Some of it might be a tad obtrusive, especially in the first episode, but the overall purpose is a good one; to make viewers aware of the social consequences of the War both at home and at the Front.

As a serial, THE PASSING BELLS works extremely well, despite the odd verbal anachronism (would people in the Edwardian era actually refer to "boyfriends" and "girlfriends"?), while not shying away from showing the destructive effects of war.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Yes, some of the button counters will be happy that they can comment on the accuracy of uniforms, sets etc. but remember this emotional drama is actually about the two young men and their progression from happy-go- lucky kids to two nameless cogs in the meat grinder that was the "Great War". As this was a pre-watershed series, the producers were careful to provide a thoughtful insight into the heartbreak that took the youth of our grandparents generation without providing OTT material for the "Call Of Duty" generation.

It was good to see that both sides were treated to the same level of sympathy, something echoed some years ago by my grandfather, who said when I asked him if he hated the Germans, said "they were just lads like us, doing the job they were supposed to do." The final episode had me in tears as I saw what could have been my own sons drawn into what turned out to be a pointless fight to the death. The final scene spoke volumes as a microcosm of the entire war for the PBI that fought it. Answering the call of duty whilst disregarding personal safety to save the life of a mate, in spite of being just seconds away from the armistice and paying the ultimate price. This should be compulsory viewing in schools so that we never make the same mistakes again. The BBC is to be congratulated for keeping the excessive swearing out of this. This generation were largely church-going kids who hadn't learned to eff and blind by the time they started school. There was some bad language, of course, but read the poems of Wilfred Owen to hear what soldiers actually cursed as they died.

The Passing Bells should be watched in schools to show the selflessness of a generation that very quickly had the jingoism knocked out of them.

Not too bad, and a good job sharing the emotions of the troops on both sides. BUT.... a soppy ending that even General Hospital would reject as being.... unlikely, phoney, a plea for crocodile tears, and, insulting to the intellect of the audience.

Made as a co production with the BBC and Polish TV this was shown during the remembrance of the 100th anniversary of 'the war to end all wars'. The synopsis is that this is the full five years of that terrible and pointless conflict seen through the eyes of two ordinary soldiers. One is English – called Tommy (predictable I know but still a great name) the other Michael is German. It is through their 'ordinary' experiences that we are taken on a tour of World War I.

Now we do have a number of issues dealt with, the lying about your age to be allowed to walk slowly towards slaughter for King and country is covered. The gas attacks, the not wanting to be a coward (no mention of the nasty white feathers though), the food shortages, lice, playing footie in no man's land and the 'affairs of the heart'. The uniforms are good though as are the guns, and the musical score is excellent.

Now the bad bits, first off everyone speaks English with a Home Counties accent – even the Germans. The only attempt at an accent is from the Polish nurse. So it is a good job they have good uniforms or you forget which side is which. There are six half hour episodes and on the DVD they have left in all the previews of the next episode and then when it finally starts you have a montage of what previously happened. This could and should have been edited out.

Then the coincidence and plot contrivances and the sheer unbelievability of some of the antics are just a bit insulting on the intelligence. There is also an amazing lack of blood and gore which was done for a certain audience I know, but war should never be sanitised it is the first step to making it acceptable and as such is the lowest form of propaganda. Then the bits that have been 'borrowed' from 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and even the ending shot is a straight lift from the excellent master piece of French cinema 'Wooden Crosses'. If you are going to tackle such a subject matter then do it realistically and do it justice, this was a mish mash of seen before, could have done better and over sentimentality in lieu of having anything really valid or original to say.

I thought this was a good drama and am a little bit baffled as to why some people needed to see blood and guts to be entertained or convinced.Anyone who has studied or read about the history of WW1 would already understand about the horrors of trench life and going over the top into battle.The viewer doesn't need to be hit over the head with blood and gory details we can leave that to the imagination and besides too much graphic details would only detract away from the dialogue of this drama as this story relies mainly on its script of what the soldiers are saying{their thoughts aloud}and thinking.And i think it was awesome. Of course there is a lot we are not shown such as the grounds in the trenches were always muddy and fall of rats and body parts from dead soldiers used to prop or hang things from etc the list is endless of how things really were but then WW1 was always censored our government kept quiet for decades until the 1980s about the amount of soldiers whose bodies were still being found by farmers in France and Belgium,sometimes as many as a hundred a year.And also so many people were totally unaware of how many of our soldiers were cruelly shot at dawn or if they had even knew in the first place. I thought this was a nice tribute to the men who served and put the point across that it was the war that was evil and not the men who served.I think this drama is good for educating the younger generation who might not know much about WW1 as it portrays how misled the men back then were and how underage boys got sucked in on having to do their bit.Very tragic and its what this drama does well. The film Oh What A Lovely War was a British musical about WW1 this also didn't show blood and guts as everything was said in the dialogue in what the actors were saying.Passing Bells has used the same idea.