[Afamilyatwar-list] Episode 21

[Veit, Richard]

Episode No. 21, "A Hero's Welcome"

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This episode, written by John Stevenson, features outstanding performances by Colin Campbell (David Ashton) and Coral Atkins (Sheila Ashton). Sheila fears that their marriage is crumbling, and her desperate hope that the children somehow can keep them together seems doomed to failure. Daughter Janet has chosen to remain in Wales for Christmas, and son Peter, after a dispiriting reunion, becomes alienated from the father whom he once idolised. I must commend the fine acting of young Alan Guy, whose difficult role demands that he convey a wide array of emotions.

Some random comments about “A Hero’s Welcome”…

There is a very well-played scene in the café, with interaction among David, Sheila, Peter, and a waitress. It is nicely paced and believable throughout, right down to that final moment when Sheila attempts to exchange her plate (fish and chips) for Peter’s (rabbit pie). In so doing, some silverware falls to the floor, nearly striking a passing soldier on the foot. Whereupon David, in a revealing comment that betrays his self-centred nature, can think no further than to accuse his wife of showing him up in public.

Yet another instance of black-market dealings is presented, and this time the illicit commodity is a Christmas turkey, delivered to Jean Ashton’s kitchen by her brother, Sefton Briggs. He paid five pounds for the bird, an exorbitant price that he likens to daylight robbery.

Moments later, a humourous sequence occurs in the Ashton household when son Robert, feeling very much a man of the world, partakes in too many drinks of scotch. He must flee from the room before his alcohol-induced nausea brings humiliation upon him.

The climactic scene of "A Hero's Welcome" is staged most impressively, as director Oscar Whitbread makes good use of period passenger coaches, sound effects, well-placed clouds of steam, and dozens of uniformed extras to evoke a nostalgic glimpse of a wartime railway station. It is quite poignant to see the departing soldiers waving through the train’s open windows. Saddest of all, of course, is the sight of David waving goodbye to his wife and son, and we can only hope that he did not see Peter resentfully tossing his Christmas gift to the tracks below. The powerful closing shot, after Peter has announced, “I hate my dad,” finds Sheila first slapping her son and then embracing him, sobbing uncontrollably as the camera fades to black. Very powerful indeed.
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