Season 5 Discussion Thread

[Jodithgrace]

Oh yes, Singapore is not the place Edward wants to remain.

Is it me, or are British shows suddenly saying “Merry Christmas,” instead of “Happy Christmas” regardless of the time period? Because of the prevalence of American movies and tv, I can see “Merry Christmas” becoming popular, but it wouldn’t have been in 1941. Or were the terms always interchangeable? 
 

Is it a big tradition in England to sit around on Christmas Day watching the Christmas episodes of their favorite tv series? The British series I watch always seem to have x number of episodes followed by A special Christmas episode. Of course they are usually shown here whenever. But there must be several Christmas episodes shown on Christmas Day. Between those and the King’s speech, it must be a full day of telly. Hardly any time to play charades. 

I didn’t expect a Christmas episode to end tragically, so I expected Edward to be okay. It’s actually good that he was wounded, instead of having not been on the ship for some reason, because now maybe he can come home. (If he gets out of Singapore in time). Poor Mrs Hall, though. What an awful wait. No wonder she got so attached to that poor fox. 
 

I was afraid that Tristan was going to up and volunteer for active duty. Thank goodness he appreciates his good fortune. 

[cardigirl]

Such a beautifully acted episode. I hope Anna Madeley wins awards for her performance.

Edited 5 hours ago by cardigirl

[dargosmydaddy]

6 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

Is it a big tradition in England to sit around on Christmas Day watching the Christmas episodes of their favorite tv series? The British series I watch always seem to have x number of episodes followed by A special Christmas episode. Of course they are usually shown here whenever. But there must be several Christmas episodes shown on Christmas Day. Between those and the King’s speech, it must be a full day of telly. Hardly any time to play charades. 

It does seem to be a thing for British series, but some of the Christmas specials air near Christmas rather than on the actual day. This episode aired Dec. 17 in the UK. 

7 minutes ago, Jodithgrace said:

I didn’t expect a Christmas episode to end tragically, so I expected Edward to be okay. 

Downton Abbey once killed off a major character in a Christmas special, so it's not a guarantee...

[Calvada]

34 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Thankful for that phone call!

I believe that radio phone calls (e.g. phone calls bounced via radio from tower to tower over thousands of miles) were feasible even as far away from Singapore. However, it's likely that it was only due to Edward having been wounded that he would have been allowed to have had  access to that communication (with the help of dozens of radio and telephone operators making the connections).

Now, let's just hope that Edward can be evacuated from there before February, 1942 when the Japanese would conquer it via overland from the Malay Peninsula.

It's doubtful that anyone could have made a phone call from Singapore to England during wartime, especially a random sailor calling home.  If such calls were possible, they would have been reserved for war usage.  I don't think the fact that any particular person was wounded would have made any difference.  There would have been many, many wounded sailors, soldiers, and airmen.

HMS Repulse was sunk very soon after the onset of the Japanese attacks; the sinking was announced by Churchill in the Commons a full two weeks before Christmas. (History was one of my majors in college; I've done a LOT of reading on WWII.  Hello, my name is Calvada and I'm a history geek.)  Anyway, Audrey would have known then, not a day or two before Christmas.  She would have had to rely on checking the casualty reports printed in the newspapers until she heard from Edward via mail.  However, mail service from the Pacific front was probably sporadic at best, especially in those chaotic early days of the war.  Priority would have been given to transporting forces, ammunition, food, etc. And as others have noted, given that Edward is in Singapore, which would soon be under siege, he's not out of danger yet, especially if he is seriously wounded and will be hospitalized for some time.  The Japanese massacred many of the wounded as well as a lot of the medical staff at the British military hospital in Singapore.  

[dancingdreamer]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I had my Kleenex out for this episode, I cried when Mrs. Hall was talking to the wounded young man who served with her son, and then I cried when the Telephone call came through & they all gathered around Mrs. Hall:  They are a Family!  And then the end was lovely with Jimmy's Birthday celebration(should he be a Farmer or a Vet?!) 

Me too. I was pretty weepy throughout  this episode.  I love Audrey, so when she's  upset, I get upset. Siegfried  doing  surgery on the little  fox, he knew Audrey would like that. Jimmy is a lucky boy, to be surrounded  with so much love. 

 

[anna0852]

2 hours ago, Calvada said:

It's doubtful that anyone could have made a phone call from Singapore to England during wartime, especially a random sailor calling home.  If such calls were possible, they would have been reserved for war usage.  I don't think the fact that any particular person was wounded would have made any difference.  There would have been many, many wounded sailors, soldiers, and airmen.

HMS Repulse was sunk very soon after the onset of the Japanese attacks; the sinking was announced by Churchill in the Commons a full two weeks before Christmas. (History was one of my majors in college; I've done a LOT of reading on WWII.  Hello, my name is Calvada and I'm a history geek.)  Anyway, Audrey would have known then, not a day or two before Christmas.  She would have had to rely on checking the casualty reports printed in the newspapers until she heard from Edward via mail.  However, mail service from the Pacific front was probably sporadic at best, especially in those chaotic early days of the war.  Priority would have been given to transporting forces, ammunition, food, etc. And as others have noted, given that Edward is in Singapore, which would soon be under siege, he's not out of danger yet, especially if he is seriously wounded and will be hospitalized for some time.  The Japanese massacred many of the wounded as well as a lot of the medical staff at the British military hospital in Singapore.  

Oh yes, Edward is not out of danger in any sense of the word. In fact, he’s probably in more danger now with the Japanese assault on Singapore eminent. The city fell a week after being attacked and it was utter chaos.Unless he’s evacuated to Australia right away, he’s facing a grim fate.  

And Audrey most likely won’t have any idea what happened to her son. Mail from the Far East to England would have taken 2 to 3 months, provided he was even able to get a letter out before the city falls. The Japanese were not signatories to the Geneva convention at the time and were not inclined to share information such as prisoner lists or participate in prisoner exchanges the way the Germans would have (at least with the western allies). There were some civilians repatriated in 1942 and 1943, but most of those were in the Philippines. There’s a high likelihood that Edward is captured, and if he survives that, might be in interned for years. With Audrey having no way of knowing whether he’s alive or dead.

Edited 3 hours ago by anna0852

[Dowel Jones]

Unfortunately, Edward has gone from the frying pan to the fire, I think.  The battle for Singapore lasted only 7 days, and involved the massacre of over 200 patients, doctors and staff at the hospital.  We don't know how badly he was injured so maybe he could get out but even if he survived he would be in the hellhole of captivity on the Burma railway.

It was good, somewhat, to see Tristan get a consciousness-raising of sorts when he realized the war is not just pints and cricket.

What are they going to do with the fox?  It was cute, but in real life it would be scarfing up everybody's chickens and cats and whatever.