[Afamilyatwar-list] Good and bad studio sets and another favourite character.

[Chadworth]

Hello all, I've decided to rewatch  A Family at War and When the Boat Comes In in 2026 one episode a week, the former on Sunday nights, the latter on Wednesdays. This is oddly a partial return to the once traditional way of watching television albeit modified with the convenience of DVDs, with a set day for viewing but not a specific time. I find it gives the week a structure and one looks forward to the measured enjoyment of a series which one misses when 'bingeing' a box set. The Australian series 'The Sullivans' is a serial set against the backdrop of WWII and I think fans of AFAW would enjoy it as well. It was made in the late 1970s and while perhaps not as 'good' in the dramatic sense as AFAW, it was certainly prolific with over a 1000 half hour episodes made that covered the prewar, war and post war periods. All episodes are available on DVD via Crawford Productions and while collecting the whole series can be daunting, it is in my opinion good value for hours of entertainment, although a multi-region player may be needed in some parts of the world. I also enjoyed Coral Atkins in the series the Spoils of War and another series from that era that I loved was The Cedar Tree which centered on an upper class family in the interwar period. I too treasure my DVDs and am not tempted by streaming services, physical media for television and music is my definite preference, perhaps an indication of my age, settled in my ways. I'll be quiet now, lol.


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From: Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu> on behalf of Lee Rayner via Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 4:30:00 PM
To: afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>; Rachel Kolsky <info at golondontours.com>
Cc: Lee Rayner <lee.rayner at live.com>
Subject: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Good and bad studio sets and another favourite character.

I have the DVDs and I treasure them but I'm frightened they may wear out. I have seen the odd episode on one of those older channels my 92-year-old granny is always glued to. It has great content for her as even her precious soaps are full of younger people she can't identify with at all and I'm not sure if want my children, had I had my own growing up watching soaps as we did. Far too much very heavy kissing stuff to make you blush between people of both opposite and homosexual sex. Nothing wrong with It but it's not family viewing like say crossroads or coronation street was back when I was a child. I suppose times change but not for the better. Give me a family at war instead. Intelligent writing, soapy elements but authentic and not sensationalist with multiple murders in tiny streets.

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From: Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu> on behalf of doris mahoney via Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 6:18:28 PM
To: Rachel Kolsky <info at golondontours.com>; Family At War Discussion Group <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
Cc: doris mahoney <sojourner7777777 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Good and bad studio sets and another favourite character.

In Canada

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From: Rachel Kolsky <info at golondontours.com>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 1:12:23 PM
To: Family At War Discussion Group <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
Cc: doris mahoney <sojourner7777777 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Good and bad studio sets and another favourite character.

Gosh
I watch it on Talking Pictures and you do not need a subscription for that
Hope this helps
PS Of course if you live outside of the UK you might not be able to see Talking Pictures on TV so you would need Amazon Prime


On 23 Jan 2026, at 18:06, doris mahoney via Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu<mailto:afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>> wrote:

Yes. I should watch it again before it leaves Amazon Prime.

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From: Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu<mailto:afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu>> on behalf of Lee Rayner via Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu<mailto:afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 4:21:17 AM
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Cc: Lee Rayner <lee.rayner at live.com<mailto:lee.rayner at live.com>>
Subject: [Afamilyatwar-list] Good and bad studio sets and another favourite character.


In the whole, I think the main sets were quite adequate for setting the scene. The Ashton house was a nice set and looked of the period. However, the poorest set for me was the ship in the episode 'we could be a lot worse off'. The one where Robert and his friend were. You had to try very hard to believe in it. Surprisingly, the post sinking where we see them in the small lifeboat was a better set than the main ship!. Some of the dialogue on the ship too was amongst the poorest I thought.

Incidentally, the episode at the 'Bath's despite the grainy quality shot on film was one of my favourites. I loved the scenes between Harry Porter and Connie. Really great script and acting from both. They really were genuinely attracted and both lonely and it came across beautifully. I'm not saying a quick full-blown affair would have been right but I was sorry we didn't we the lady Connie again except briefly. She was very beautiful for a maturer women.
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