Home Fires - General Discussion

[pasdetrois]

I'm enjoying this so far. I love these PBS/BBC period dramas any way. But this one appeals especially because my father flew bombing missions out of East Anglia during WWII. He used to talk about going into the nearby villages on days off. Occasionally they would be guests in the local manor homes - a kind of hazard reward. (American crews flew in daylight initially and thousands were shot out of the skies. English crews flew at night and also suffered tremendous loss of life.) So I watch this series with him and the other military guys in mind, seeing what they saw.

 

The farmer is a good-lookin' hunk of beefcake.

 

Good to see Francesca Annis. I saw her long ago in The Elephant Man. She disrobed to the waist on the stage, with her back to the audience, and the theater was utterly silent. She was dating the younger lead actor and combined with the on-stage disrobing it was quite A Thing.

[Diffy]

I believe he is going to be a military chaplain. Maybe they were harder to come by, or maybe preference was actually given to more experienced clergy, I don't know. But he won't be armed, so I guess some of the physical expectations are different.

 

 

Yes, he is going to be a military chaplain non-combatant status. He was traumatized by his own experiences in WWI and feels that he has to go given that.

 

I don't think this link has been posted yet.  http://lifeofwylie.com/2015/05/01/home-fires-interviews/

 

There is more information there about Home Fires and a link to a pdf file of Production Notes, including thumbnail sketches of the characters and their backgrounds and interviews with some of the cast.  It is very long, somewhat repetitive, but interesting.

[LuciaMia]

 

I'm curious to see how Pat got together with that loser in the first place.

Unfortunately, abusers can be very charming in the beginning. Is Bob too old to be called up?

[editorgrrl]

Unfortunately, abusers can be very charming in the beginning. Is Bob too old to be called up?

I don't know the character's age, but the actor is 45. The actor who plays farmer Stanley Farrow is 41, but he volunteered.

I thought, when he saw her called up to the podium, and the great response she got, that he maybe had an idea: "Hey! Maybe she isn't just a lump! Maybe she has a brain in her head, and I can admire her!" I truly thought he had had an epiphany. Bastard.

Bob was threatened by Pat's speech—as he's been by the Women's Institute all along. If Pat gains self esteem, she might leave him. (They must really need the money, for him to allow her to work.)

[Driad]

Watching Pat and Bob scenes alternating with the doctor's daughter and her new husband, I wondered if P & B married after knowing each other just a short time.

[Pickles]

Sad episode tonight. What was the tonic that the doctor's wife gave Pat for her husband? A sedative of some kind?

[lucindabelle]

Aw sniffle. I figured he was a goner since they were so happy.

I bet richard is married.

[Glaze Crazy]

What was the tonic that the doctor's wife gave Pat for her husband? A sedative of some kind?

 

Is it terribly wrong that I was hoping it was arsenic?

[albaniantv]

It was disappointingly easy (and therefore thuddingly flat) to see that the high flyer would die right after marrying. Similarly, that the lesbian love affair had no chance of proceeding or that the boy who had promised to await call-up would exit when his mother tried to hide his existence from the govt. These stories are soooo obvious. 

 

So, for me, the only intrigue is what kind of potion can make a physical and emotional abuser have trouble working on his writing but turn kindly towards his victim? Huh--heroin? What the hell is in that potion--guess I will keep watching to find out. But, then I am done!!

[JudyObscure]

Agree about the obvious storyline of the flyer getting killed, but I was surprised with the story of the illiterate farmer's wife.  I really liked that one. Farmer son is a bit of a mystery, always lurking.

 

Did the lesbian couple really think they could live openly in America in 1940? We weren't all that free and brave back then. 

 

Worried about Borris's mum cooking all those books and being bullied by thugs.  Why doesn't Borris run out and bite them?

 

A doctor's wife prescribing on the sly?  Hard to believe she's not been drilled in medical ethics a little better than that.  Also  hard to believe there's a drug for abusiveness. I can see him getting to a place of, 'I don't care, do what you want," but to respond to her question about tea with, "Thank you for asking," was just too much personality change.

 

What next, abuser's wife up for murder?  Doctor's wife up for drug dealing? Boris's mum up for fraud? Farmer's wife up for non-farm compliance? Maybe they can have the WI meetings in jail.

[SFoster21]

It was disappointingly easy (and therefore thuddingly flat) to see that the high flyer would die right after marrying. Similarly, that the lesbian love affair had no chance of proceeding or that the boy who had promised to await call-up would exit when his mother tried to hide his existence from the govt. These stories are soooo obvious.

So, for me, the only intrigue is what kind of potion can make a physical and emotional abuser have trouble working on his writing but turn kindly towards his victim? Huh--heroin? What the hell is in that potion--guess I will keep watching to find out. But, then I am done!!

Probably laudanum. Liquid heroin. He'll be sleeping alot soon. He will prob die and there will be a murder trial.

[Milz]

I think the tonic was a tranquilizer. Barbiturates were already in use by the 1930s http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu28.htm 

[Pickles]

I was hoping the tonic was something fatal that would put Bob in a permanent sleep.

[Milz]

I was hoping the tonic was something fatal that would put Bob in a permanent sleep.

 

It depends how much Pat gives to him. :-)

[SonofaBiscuit]

I missed the beginning of the episode.  Did anyone see what month it was?  Poor doctor's daughter, she went from married to widowed in the span of a month or two, it seems.  Her husband has died, her father is dying, her sister is going to get herself into trouble, I'm sure...I hope we don't add a surprise! baby into the mix.  

 

I'm interested in watching Teresa teach Steph and Stan to read.  When Stan Sr. went off to fight, the Farrows should have come up with some sort of plan regarding where Steph could go to get help reading correspondence and such.  I guess he didn't plan on writing to her while he was away?

 

I'd like Claire to stay away from Spencer.  Rather than just tell her the truth that he had to go before a tribunal  for being a conscientious objector, he let her find out from the gossip floating around town.  Add that to the fact that he was involved with some other girl when he was making plans with Claire, and I don't think I want to root for them.  

 

Oh, Pat.  I feel like this might blow up in her face if Bob finds out what she's doing.  Then he'll be really mad and hurt her even worse, probably.  How about a sedated Bob takes a little nappie nap while everyone else takes off for the bomb shelter?  Lights out, Bob.

 

Edited to correct name from Daisy to Claire

Edited October 28, 2015 by SonofaBiscuit

[JudyObscure]

I'd like Daisy to stay away from Spencer.  Rather than just tell her the truth that he had to go before a tribunal  for being a conscientious objector, he let her find out from the gossip floating around town.  Add that to the fact that he was involved with some other girl when he was making plans with Daisy, and I don't think I want to root for them.

I can sort of understand Spencer's actions.  Once he decided to stay true to his convictions he knew how it would be for anyone close to him.  His mother wont even be able to buy meat anymore!  I think he really wanted to distance himself from her to spare her.  After all, they had only had, what, one date?  The same with the other girl, she seemed to be someone he went to the pub with from time to time, not  a steady girlfriend, at least not in his mind, maybe hers.  I just don't expect a young guy in a small village not to know all the girls his age and maybe have had dates with several of them.  I wouldn't expect him to make a big declaration to the other girl about never going drinking with her again, based on having planned a first date with Daisy. 

 

That's what I don't like about these girls being so pushy. When we lived in England we would walk through a pub door and, right in front of my face, girls would come up and start climbing my husband, "You're a tall one!"  "You talk just like John Wayne, cowboy!"  (He's from Minnesota.)  I once went to the bathroom and came back to find some girl on his lap and him looking frightened to death.    It's fine to be all feminist and say why shouldn't they be the aggressor, but it puts guys in a really awkward position sometimes.  In the same situation if a guy hit on me I could tell him to back off and if he tried to pull me down on his lap, I could have kicked him.  My husband couldn't dump the girl on the floor without everyone thinking he was a cruel jerk.

 

Spencer knew he was facing some big problems and probably would have spared Daisy any involvement if she hadn't put him on the spot.  Flyer guy knew he had a very high chance of death and probably wouldn't have asked doc's daughter to marry him if she hadn't asked him first. 

 

Now we have doc's other daughter giving in to her superior officer which can only lead to trouble.  That was the time for some strong feminist action.

[dcalley]

Will Bob get dependent on the "tonic" and need more and more of it, becoming even more volatile if he doesn't get his fix? I could see the doctor's wife not anticipating that effect. I am happy this story line is not predictable, but I worry it's at the expense of realism.

[JudyObscure]

Oh no.  Bob  already shouts "TEA!" and gets testy if she's the least bit slow with it. He may start grabbing the tea pot and chugging from the spout.

[iggysaurus]

I'd like Daisy to stay away from Spencer.

 

Isn't her name Claire? I don't think there's a Daisy on this show.

[albaniantv]

Actually, this show isn't as predictable as I was grousing about. There are a few more complex and less transparent stories. Whenever I watch one of these British village series and especially the ones around WWII, I miss my favorite Foyle's War and wonder why they didn't just fund another year or two of that one. The first year of Bletchley Circle was excellent too. 

 

The only good, similar American one I have found is Bomb Girls, but it may be Canadian. At least I saw on a website that it was playing there and I can't find it here anymore. Just recently I watched a couple of the WGN's Manhattan, which does cover some of the same issues through very different lenses.

[candall]

Hi.   I have the first three episodes recorded and kind of idly started watching No. 4 while waiting for Indian Summers.  About three-quarters of the people on this show are thoroughly disagreeable--and the ones who aren't, appear to be doomed. 

 

Maybe I just happened to catch a bad patch.

Edited October 27, 2015 by candall

[pasdetrois]

 

About three-quarters of the people on this show are thoroughly disagreeable--and the ones who aren't, appear to be doomed.

If this series meant to glorify the WI's contributions to the war effort, it's doing a lousy job. We've got a snooty battleaxe, an unstable butcher's wife, a dishonest bookkeeper, an illiterate farmer's wife who would rather lose the farm than ask for help, a witless servant girl, an abused wife, and a drug-dispensing doctor's wife. And a lung cancer patient whose treatment plan appears to be to nap and make noble jokes (while his wife merrily chuckles along). And the clanking anvils from the sky brought us a newlywed widow.

 

They did this with The Crimson Field - instead of stories of remarkable accomplished women, they gave us 1940s Real Housewives.

 

Disappointed.

[Milz]

Will Bob get dependent on the "tonic" and need more and more of it, becoming even more volatile if he doesn't get his fix? I could see the doctor's wife not anticipating that effect. I am happy this story line is not predictable, but I worry it's at the expense of realism.

 

Very possible he could become an addict or at least develop dependency.

[JudyObscure]

I'd like Daisy to stay away from Spencer.

 

Isn't her name Claire? I don't think there's a Daisy on this show.


LOLCome to think of it, you're right, but I was perfectly willing to go along with Sonofabiscuit's choice.

[izabella]

an illiterate farmer's wife who would rather lose the farm than ask for help

 

This part really annoyed me.  While I enjoyed the teacher figuring out what was wrong and offering to help and sort things out and teach her to read, I couldn't believe she'd rather retain her pride than ask someone for help.  That's what makes her stupid, not her inability to read.

[abbyzenn]

I'm enjoying this show and am happy to hear there will be a second season.

I hope that whatever the doctor's wife gave Pat is something that will slowly poison her husband - so there would be no suspicion of murder (and of course there's no CSI!!!!)

Yes you knew from the moment the pilot and the doctor's daughter met he would die but maybe not so quickly.  Did I recall right that they only knew each other 2 weeks when they married or decided to marry?

This show is like a who's who in British tv with so many actors I have seen before but with the exception of Samantha Bond and Francesca Annis mostly character type actors.

[albaniantv]

Difficult to say whether the almost-lesbian couple would have had a better time of it in London or New York in the 1940s. I don't know if London had women's bars then, but NYC had a few, noted in memoirs ( and bios, eg Patricia Highsmith) and casual lesbian histories, including: Louis' Luncheon on MacDougal, Mona's on W 3rd and the Howdy Club also on 3rd. One of my lesbian friends now in her 70s, remembers going to Three in the 50s, an upper east side elegant cafe/bar with occasional singers, where, evidently Judy Garland dropped in late at night once or twice a year. Since that was well known, all bar stools were filled and eyes were always on the door.

[pasdetrois]

Each time I view the title of this show I see Home Fries. Yum.

[jah1986]

I really do like this show. It's not great tv but it's entertaining.  I was shocked that the pilot newlywed died so quickly, didn't see that coming.  I'm already tired of the bookkeeper being forced to "cook the books", I hate bully storylines. I really hope Pat doesn't decide to take any of the "tonic" for herself to feel better, just leave that all for Bob who I really hope goes away soon.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Isn't her name Claire? I don't think there's a Daisy on this show.

 

 



LOLCome to think of it, you're right, but I was perfectly willing to go along with Sonofabiscuit's choice.

 

Ha, you're right.  Daisy is the actress's name in real life.  Sorry about that, I'll edit to correct.

[jordanpond]

Too many hens with few Roosters.

I'm curious-- why do you say this?

[Brookside]

That's what I don't like about these girls being so pushy. When we lived in England we would walk through a pub door and, right in front of my face, girls would come up and start climbing my husband, "You're a tall one!"  "You talk just like John Wayne, cowboy!"  (He's from Minnesota.)  I once went to the bathroom and came back to find some girl on his lap and him looking frightened to death.    It's fine to be all feminist and say why shouldn't they be the aggressor, but it puts guys in a really awkward position sometimes.  In the same situation if a guy hit on me I could tell him to back off and if he tried to pull me down on his lap, I could have kicked him.  My husband couldn't dump the girl on the floor without everyone thinking he was a cruel jerk.

 

I've seen this happen plenty  of times in the US.

[JudyObscure]

I've seen this happen plenty  of times in the US.

 

I'm sure it does happen in the U.S. It just isn't my experience because I haven't been out clubbing since we lived in England.  I guess I just don't like pushy people who won't take a  hint and force the other person to either give in or be rude.  I never liked it when men used to ask me out and I would say something like, "So sorry, I already have plans," and they would keep going, "What plans?"  "How about the next day then?"  "Why not?"   In high school I went out with lots of guys I didn't like, just because they put me on the spot and I didn't know how to turn them down gracefully.  I finally got pretty good at it, but men have even less experience with all that.

[Milz]

Wow. Lithium salts! Too bad Bob escaped death............ this time.

[Brattinella]

Well, darn!  I really was hoping old Bob had gone to meet his maker.  And he is shitty as ever.  But at least Pat has a smidgeon of gumption now!  As an aside, I never knew Lithium was such a strong element (metal).  I thought it was used as a rather timid sedative.

[Milz]

Well, darn!  I really was hoping old Bob had gone to meet his maker.  And he is shitty as ever.  But at least Pat has a smidgeon of gumption now!  As an aside, I never knew Lithium was such a strong element (metal).  I thought it was used as a rather timid sedative.

 

Just waiting for Bob to buy the farm makes watching enjoyable. :-)

 

Shame about Laura Campbell being the "bit on the side" for the Squadron Leader Two-timer with children.

 

Bad feeling about Theresa and Allison knowing each other's secret.....

[LuciaMia]

I missed the reason why the book-keeper is being forced to cook the books.

 

I like the flawed characters. More interesting than just a bunch of stiff-upper-lips.

 

Though I wish it wasnt always so damn dark in everyones houses.

[Brattinella]

I missed the reason why the book-keeper is being forced to cook the books.

 

I like the flawed characters. More interesting than just a bunch of stiff-upper-lips.

 

Though I wish it wasnt always so damn dark in everyones houses.

 

Well, wartime, so....

[attica]

I would like to express my delight with the camera shot of Bob up through the keys of his typewriter. So cool.

[Brattinella]

I would like to express my delight with the camera shot of Bob up through the keys of his typewriter. So cool.

 

That really WAS a great shot!  I just wish they would do the story in longer increments.

[morakot]

Not a lot of decent men around, are there? Bob, adulterous sexual harasser Wing Commander, RAF lodger hoping to warm the bed of the vicar's wife, postman with a secret... Only Bryn the butcher and the farmer's son (and, okay, the doctor) are there to balance the ledgers.

[Brattinella]

There are quite a few hateful people in this show.

[debi49]

Lithium wasn't used for mental illness til late 1940's and then not widely . Wonder how Doctors wife got the idea to give it to give it to Pat? Perhaps just an anachronism. Even today Lithium can be very dangerous in too high doses.

[dcalley]

Bad feeling about Theresa and Allison knowing each other's secret.....

Oh no! I didn't think that. I hope you're wrong. All I thought was that the legal Mrs. Scotlock may show up.

 

I missed the reason why the book-keeper is being forced to cook the books.

It's the dog's fault. She couldn't pay the vet bill, so she borrowed some WI funds, which were then needed before she could replace them, so she took her client up on his shady offer for extra money. Now he's got dirt on her and is making her cook the books for everyone or else he'll expose her. Would he really expose her, though, when it seems impossible to do so without getting himself in trouble as well? Also, I remember thinking last episode that she could probably be a whistleblower and not suffer too badly, but now that I know she's got another secret I understand a bit more why she wouldn't want to call attention to herself.

[Milz]

Oh no! I didn't think that. I hope you're wrong. All I thought was that the legal Mrs. Scotlock may show up.

 

I'm thinking Theresa will find out about the book cooking and she and Allison will end up blackmailing each other.

[JudyObscure]

Wasn't  that the Wing Commander's wife on the phone just while they were planning "lunch?"  The doc should have taught his daughters a few things about men and his wife should have given her girls some birth control aids as long as she was passing out meds to neighbors.

 

I'm just glad Boris is allowed in the shelter.  He's still the only one I like.

[jordanpond]

So far I am really enjoying this show. A few random thoughts about episode 5:

Although having Erika give lithium to Pat was quite a serious thing, I didn't like how Will handled it. He really treated Erika like a child.

I liked how we are starting to see more sides to the characters, for example, Joyce putting aside her own belief that Spencer is a coward in order to speak out against the mean-spirited way that that group was treating him.

I was very pleased, although I guess not so surprised, that Frances agreed to take in Isobel. I really like Frances as the lead character. Yes, she can be petty or self-centered at times, but she can also be very kind, and is willing to admit her mistakes (like when she realized how selfish she was being about the army taking her fence.)

Oh, dear. So the man wooing Laura is married. I hope she comes to her senses immediately!

ETA: Judyobscure, I see we posted simultaneously about Laura. I can't fault Will or Erika for this. Stanley, who is a few years youger than Laura, is old enough to know this affair is a terrible idea. Surely Laura is old enough to know this, too.

Edited November 3, 2015 by jordanpond

[JudyObscure]

I agree  Laura is old enough to know better and has no one but herself to blame if this all goes bad. I didn't mean to imply that this was Will and Erika's "fault." 

[jordanpond]

Honestly, of all the storylines in this series, i find this one to be the least believable. Part of it is because the Campbell family seems so loving and sensible that I find it hard to believe that Laura is entering this affair with little or no concern about the morality of it all. The other thing that seems unrealistic is that she would think that this kind of relationship would be good enough for her. I would think that after seeing her parents in such a loving marriage for all those years, as well as seeing her sister find a man who loved her, would make her want that type of relationship. I can't see how she would want a relationship where they had to sneak around, where her lover was going home to his wife at night, and where she would always come second to another woman. Not to mention that it could ruin her career.

[proserpina65]

Honestly, of all the storylines in this series, i find this one to be the least believable. Part of it is because the Campbell family seems so loving and sensible that I find it hard to believe that Laura is entering this affair with little or no concern about the morality of it all. The other thing that seems unrealistic is that she would think that this kind of relationship would be good enough for her. I would think that after seeing her parents in such a loving marriage for all those years, as well as seeing her sister find a man who loved her, would make her want that type of relationship. I can't see how she would want a relationship where they had to sneak around, where her lover was going home to his wife at night, and where she would always come second to another woman. Not to mention that it could ruin her career.

Sometimes people do things they know they shouldn't because of an attraction they find difficult to resist.  That's why affairs happen even with people who've been raised in loving homes.  And, in her defense, she did seem quite reluctant about the hotel room issue.