A Family at War

*A Family at war*
A Family at war
Genre	Drama
Created by	John Finch
Developed by	Granada Television
Starring	Colin Douglas; Barbara Flynn; Leslie Nunnerley; Coral Atkins
Theme music composer	Ralph Vaughan Williams
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	14 April 1970 –; 16 February 1972

A Family At War is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The original producer was Richard Doubleday, and with 13 directors during the series. The series examined the lives of the lower middle-class Ashton family of the city of Liverpool and their experiences from 1938 and through the Second World War. Despite being set in Liverpool, only one of the regular characters (David Ashton) spoke with a Liverpudlian accent.

Fifty-two episodes were produced, all but eight of them in colour. Episodes numbers 25 to 32 were recorded in black and white because of the ITV Colour Strike. The memorable theme tune is from the end of the First Movement (Allegro) of Vaughan Williams's Sixth Symphony. The programme opening titles show a scene of a beach with a child's sand castle, with Union Flag flying, slowly being approached by the encroaching tide, symbolic of a beleaguered Britain standing alone in 1940–41.

Other interpretations of the titles are of a Britain whose empire the war accelerated the collapse of, triggering a long decline in the nation’s fortune which continues today, indicated by the incoming tide washing away the sandcastle.

Plot summary

The families Ashton, Briggs, and Porter live in Liverpool in 1938 and later. Edwin Ashton, the son of a mineworker, has moved up to the middle class by working for a printing company and by marrying Jean, the sister of company owner Sefton Briggs. The latter is a hard businessman who appoints his son Tony as the new manager of the workplace, rather than the experienced Edwin.

Edwin and Jean have five children: Philip, David, Robert, Margaret, and Freda. Philip is a leftist who fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. David joins the RAF because he cannot find another job. He is married to Sheila, but he impregnates Peggy. Robert, the youngest son, wants to join the Navy. Margaret, the eldest Ashton daughter, marries John Porter, but she has a troubled relationship with her mother-in-law Celia. All these events take place against the backdrop of the political conflict leading to the Second World War, which will have a major impact on their lives.

Cast

Colin Douglas as Edwin Ashton
Shelagh Fraser as Jean Ashton
Colin Campbell as David Ashton
Barbara Flynn as Freda Ashton
Keith Drinkel as Philip Ashton
David Dixon as Robert Ashton
Lesley Nunnerley as Margaret Porter
Coral Atkins as Sheila Ashton
John McKelvey as Sefton Briggs
T.R. Bowen as Tony Briggs
Ian Thompson as John Porter
Diana Davies as Doris Jackson
John Nettles as Ian Mackenzie
Mark Jones as Michael Armstrong
Margery Mason as Celia Porter
Patrick Troughton as Harry Porter
Brett Usher as Ken Beaumont

DVD release

All episodes of A Family at War are available on DVD in the UK, distributed by Acorn Media UK, but with several of the episodes edited from their original running times. For example, in episode three, Margery Mason and Patrick Troughton are credited, but do not appear.

The series was released in the Netherlands in 2015 by Just Entertainment. Several brief scenes cut from the Acorn set do appear in the Netherlands set, such as the scene referenced above.

External links