Alan Plater's last work, Joe Maddison's War was set in the north east and consisted of plenty of songs and tunes, even some jazz something he was fond of.
This drama starts off with a marriage and ends with another. Kevin Whately is Joe, a veteran of the Great War with his best friend Harry (Robson Green.) Both the work in the Tyneside shipyard and with the outbreak of the second world war they wind up in the Home Guard, but not before his wife suddenly leaves him for reasons we are not initially told about. We do gather that his wife is a devout Catholic while Joe lost his faith in the Somme.
At least being in the Home Guard gives him something to do. Along the way he hooks up with a widow who gives him love and tenderness as his children make their own way in life, his son is in the RAF where he has done over 50 missions.
As the war years go past, his wife returns wanting to get back together with Joe. She got pregnant by another man. Joe later reflects that he ended up doing more things during the war than any other part of his life.
The story is well acted but rather a slight story. Plater avoids going down too deep on a dark path, keeping things rather gentle and lighthearted, also indicating why it was Clement Atlee's vision of the country that people went for after the war. It is a shame that the production values looked a bit cheap.
This drama starts off with a marriage and ends with another. Kevin Whately is Joe, a veteran of the Great War with his best friend Harry (Robson Green.) Both the work in the Tyneside shipyard and with the outbreak of the second world war they wind up in the Home Guard, but not before his wife suddenly leaves him for reasons we are not initially told about. We do gather that his wife is a devout Catholic while Joe lost his faith in the Somme.
At least being in the Home Guard gives him something to do. Along the way he hooks up with a widow who gives him love and tenderness as his children make their own way in life, his son is in the RAF where he has done over 50 missions.
As the war years go past, his wife returns wanting to get back together with Joe. She got pregnant by another man. Joe later reflects that he ended up doing more things during the war than any other part of his life.
The story is well acted but rather a slight story. Plater avoids going down too deep on a dark path, keeping things rather gentle and lighthearted, also indicating why it was Clement Atlee's vision of the country that people went for after the war. It is a shame that the production values looked a bit cheap.