[Afamilyatwar-list] Episode 3

[john at johnfinch.com]

On 17.08.2018 14:26, Veit, Richard via Afamilyatwar-list wrote:
> EPISODE NO. 3, "LINES OF BATTLE"
> 
> With a fine script by Stan Barstow, “Lines of Battle” cleverly
> interweaves two distinct storylines: the John Porter-Margaret Ashton
> marriage and the outspoken class bitterness of ("Welsh gas bag") Gwyn
> Roberts, from whose political discourse “Lines of Battle” derives
> its title. It is a swiftly-paced episode, with a powerful screen
> portrayal by Ioan Meredith. Gwyn Roberts will feature in a much later
> episode as well (Episode 34, “For the Duration”), when he engages
> in some decidedly one-sided pub talk with John, Freda, and Doris. The
> same thing occurs with another character of pro-communist sympathies,
> Parker, who played a major role in “To Die for Spain” and will
> return much later in the series (Episode 29, “Clash by Night”).
> Both characters are so strongly conceived and portrayed that their
> reappearances are welcome.
> 
> I was impressed by the remarkable continuity of “Lines of Battle,”
> with Stan Barstow faithfully capturing the essence of John Finch’s
> characters. That is, to me, a hallmark of "A Family at War", how the
> characters develop so convincingly over the span of 52 episodes. I
> sense that John Finch must have worked very closely with the other
> writers, polishing the submitted scripts so as to make them fit
> seamlessly into the whole fabric.
> 
> For me, a memorable scene in “Lines of Battle” is the tender
> moment when Margaret, attired in her wedding gown, tries to express
> her gratitude for all that her father has done in her life. It rings
> true throughout and appears to have been shot in a single take.
> 
> In the British release (Acorn), Patrick Troughton and Margery Mason
> are accorded screen credits for "Lines of Battle" even though their
> characters (Harry Porter and Celia Porter) do not appear on screen.
> The script calls for Celia to be taken ill and then leave the wedding
> reception with her husband. That brief scene is restored in the Dutch
> set.
> 
> The names of Peter and Janet Ashton (children of David and Sheila)
> were borrowed from the child actors who played these roles in "Lines
> of Battle": Peter Finch and Janet Tute. Peter, of course, is one of
> John Finch's sons.
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Dear Richard,   You are right about the polishing.  The amount of work 
required to maintain the continuity of style was one of the factors 
which persuaded me that I might as well write the whole of SAM myself, 
but another factor was that Richard and I felt we should try to use the 
series as a means of finding new writers.  It turned out to be a harder 
task than we had anticipated,  though Alexander Baron was an exception 
and his scripts required very little work.  The same applied to Stan 
Barstow, though he found the time it took to deliver a script to 
deadline interfered with his other work. TV drama schedules were very 
demanding at that time.  JOHN