Lilies

This series is brilliantly written and beautifully realized. Like Heidi Thomas' more recent effort CALL THE MIDWIFE, it seems coy, but tackles difficult topics head-on and without blinking.

This was such a massive hit in the UK that a fervent campaign for more seasons resulted in nearly a year of developmental meetings and script experiments. In the end, it was decided not to tamper with it, it's that perfect.

In the 70's the film industry, BBC North and Granada TV regularly churned out gritty working class dramas of the struggling poor. Sam, A Raging Calm, Room at the Top, Saturday night and Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving, and the one which satirized them all - Brass, in which Timothy West played a flint hearted millowner who begrudged his workers the cotton dust they took home in their lungs. The modern day characters worked in menial jobs and lived for the Saturday Football match and the night at the dance and the pub. The period characters were a pawn shop away from the workhouse. Parents died and the children were sent to the orphanage. Lovers could not afford to wed and pregnancy out of wedlock brought shame to the family.

All these old clichés return in 'Lilies' a period drama about three young women coping with life in a working class port city. I am no lover of Downton Abbey and its clones, as I am well aware that the lives of the young women in Lilies was the norm for the vast majority. Only a small percentage of the people had means. For the rest it was a daily grind and struggle for survival. Little touches brought back memories for me, the closeness of the neighbors helping with bereavement and hardship, and the front parlor kept for best and only used for laying out the dead and receptions after the funeral. Growing up in northern England in the forties, there were many people around who had lost someone in WWI and a staggering number of widows and single mothers.

Of the performances, two actors irritated me beyond words, the father who seemed to be overacting, and Ruby, his daughter who was a little too brassy and mouthy for my taste. The handsome priest, Father Melia was just a little too handsome for the job. I shuddered when Iris was combing the nits out of his hair. The series did portray the division between Catholics and Northern Irish Protestants very well. Unless you grew up in that environment, it is hard to understand today that neither could enter a church of the other faith without condemning their immortal soul to hell for ever more.

Unlike a previous reviewer it took me about 20 minutes to get into episode 1, but I am glad that I persisted. For a start I loved the music which was quite jolly and infectious. I was a little unsure about father who seemed too young for the part, but his acting was so good that I soon got over that. All of the characters whether members of the family or not, were well cast. The many inter connected stories were well written, with very good direction. Much effort was given to the authenticity of the sets, and was very successful. Drama, romance (which I don't..normally go for) and comedy. A perfect series! Congratulations to all involved. I can't see how a second series could have repeated the success of the first.

I found this mini series by accident and what a delight. From beginning to end I felt transported back in time. Throughout the series you get a slice perhaps, of a less sugar coated time of transition after the First World War. This story unfolds through the eyes of three close , but very different sisters and the surrounding family and friends. A sure bet .

I was totally drawn in from the first episode. The spirited Moss family, so much like my own family was that believable. It was written from the reminisces of a grandmother of her family and that is probably why it rang so true. This is one of those shows that so deserved a much longer run that it is a travesty that it was not given one. What WAS made is a gem to be savored for eight episodes.