The following is commentary on Episode No. 51 ("The Old Order Changeth…") from members of AFAMILYATWAR-LIST. If you wish to add your thoughts to what is being said on this page, become a part of our discussion group by clicking the "Join" button.
Richard Veit
As the title suggests, change is in the air. Perhaps Edwin puts it best when he explains to Freda, “We had to readjust to the war. Now we’re having to readjust to the peace.”
Edwin himself, grieving from the loss of his middle son, seems intent upon tying up the loose ends in his life. Dismissive of the past, he burns the letters that he and Jean wrote to one another. At the printing works, he struggles to adapt to his new boss, disposing of outdated papers while handing over to Tony prospects for the future. He informs Sefton, quite bluntly, that he wishes to pay off the mortgage of the house, so he no longer will be obligated to his brother-in-law.
Meanwhile, Margaret and John are struggling to cope with serious changes in their troubled marriage. According to her, John never did return from the war, at least not the same husband she remembered from the days before he put on a uniform. For his part, John selfishly looks elsewhere for affection, though the affair with Marjorie appears to have run its course. Suddenly confrontational, Margaret insists that she and John must have a house of their own, in order to be truly independent, for otherwise the marriage is doomed to failure. She informs him that she alone will make a decision on the house, adding an ultimatum that he must decide about the teachers’ course by Christmas.
Freda and Ian, too, are passing through a “bad patch.” Their inability to conceive a child has strained the relationship, and well-meaning comments by others (Margaret to Freda and Edwin to Ian) only serve to make matters worse. Moreover, in an ironic twist of fate, Doris Jackson has been admitted to Staff Nurse Ashton's hospital to give birth to a child that she does not even want.
Sefton’s world is crumbling around him, a casualty of unwise investments in the shady dealings of Trevor Howells. Exacerbating this downward spiral of his life is the fact that Helen plans to depart the household and return to Australia. Another impending change, as yet unknown to him, is that son Tony is seeking a flat of his own.
Some random comments about “The Old Order Changeth”…
Lesley Nunnerley (Margaret) is wonderful, as always, in this episode. Of course, it certainly helps to have the brilliant dialogue of John Finch at her service! I enjoy her funny sarcasm when she tells Ian, “Just like old times” after she has discussed that very same phrase with Freda just moments earlier in a different context.
Among the fine character actors in “A Family at War,” John Savident ranks high among my favourites. He is very natural on camera, and his subtle stage actions (clearing his throat, scratching his ear, rolling his eyes) make George Askew seem to be a real person. Be sure to see the bittersweet, heart-breaking film A Summer Story, in which he plays the role of a bank clerk to unforgettable effect.
I confess to feeling a sense of gratification that the despicable Trevor Howells is said to be going bankrupt, except, of course, that he is taking Sefton down with him. In view of the crass way Howells terminated David Ashton from his employ, not to mention his suggestive behaviour toward Sheila and his defrauding of Sefton Briggs, it seems fitting that this thoroughly unlikable swindler should suffer a bitter reversal of fortune.
How poignant is the scene when a returning soldier arrives home from overseas, and his large family of loved ones are there too greet him. This nostalgic vignette is nicely staged by director Richard Doubleday, capturing a sense of optimism that better days lie ahead. The disillusioned John Porter, who witnesses the welcome, no doubt can see only emptiness in such a hope.
Young Paul Brett (John George) is at it again, seemingly very much in character as a mischievous lad playing with his mother’s rolling pin.
I love Marjorie's cynical remark to John: “That’s how it is for unmarried ladies of my age. We’re landing fields for unhappily married men with engine trouble.” What a great line!
Bryan Hooton
John Savident my not be known outside the UK but he is now very well known in this country. "Coronation Street" is the longest running TV soap-opera in the UK. For many years Savident played a central character, butcher Fred Elliott. He retired from the series earlier this year.
He then took the lead in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Hobson's Choice, which received excellent reviews. The production has just completed a six-month tour of the UK with Savident still playing the lead.
John Finch
Richard’s notes on this episode made me appreciate it more than I remember doing. (I’ve just finished watching it again after reading the notes.) I love it when an actor strikes exactly the right note, as so many did in FAMILY AT WAR. I just feel enormously grateful.
Denis Forman (then Managing Director of Granada) and I came under pressure from Cecil Bernstein to carry the series on into the peace. I must say I was sorely tempted. There was a great deal going for it in terms of the actors and the fine performances, but we had lost Robert and Philip, and in particular we had lost Jean Ashton, and I couldn’t see how they could convincingly be replaced. Moreover, I was very tired, and I think Denis appreciated this and persuaded Cecil to back off. In retrospect I think I possibly regret not having a go, but the idea for my next series, SAM, was beginning to excite me and I think this is what swung the decision in the end. Denis didn’t ask me for a pilot on SAM, or even an outline. We just talked for half an hour, then he said “Go and do it”.
I stayed in touch with many of the actors, and have always felt sad that so few of them were given the opportunities they deserved. Casting was never my strong point, so I tried to stay away when the decisions were being made as I would have been totally biased. In some of my later work, however, I don’t think I would have made more mistakes than those doing the casting did. Only in SAM was the casting really outstanding.
