|
|
 |
Tom Grattan's War (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (20th July 2009). |
|
The Show
 Tom Grattan’s War (Yorkshire Television, 1968-70)  
Set during the First World War, this Yorkshire Television-produced series (‘The wartime adventures of a London boy in Yorkshire’) follows the adventures of fifteen year old Tom Grattan (Michael Howe). As the narrator (Richard Warner) tells us at the outset of the first episode, ‘For the young it was a time of great adventure, the adventure of filling their father’s place in a nation stripped of men. One such adventurer was Tom Grattan’. 
Too young to be conscripted, Tom Grattan is sent to work on a farm in Yorkshire. The farm belongs to the Kirby family: the men in the Kirby family, Major Ralph Kirby and his son Robert, are fighting in France. His mother dead and his father in the army, Tom is engaged to help Mrs Kirby and the Kirby’s seventeen year old daughter, Julie, in the running of the farm. The narrator asserts that Tom’s life in Yorkshire will be ‘full of strange and exciting adventures’.  
Upon arrival in Yorkshire, Tom finds that the Kirby farm is near a prisoner of war camp which holds captured German troops, who provide labour for the local quarry. Needless to say, some of the locals resent the presence of the German prisoners, and in these half hour episodes Tom is faced with some moral choices when he witnesses the local people abusing or mistreating the Germans. Through the two series that make up Tom Grattan’s War, Tom also engages in adventures that include kidnapping and spycraft, from the theft of explosives at the quarry to the fallout from Amos’ realization that his son Davey has been killed in action on the Western Front. 
One of Yorkshire Television’s first drama series, Tom Grattan’s War featured input from Stephen Frears, who in the 1980s would go on to become one of British cinema’s leading directors, thanks to films such as My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and The Hit (1984). Episodes Disc One: 1.1. ‘The Watcher’ 1.2. ‘The Night Intruders’ 1.3. ‘Menace at the Mine’ 1.4. ‘Monster of Steel’ 1.5. ‘The Prisoner’ 1.6. ‘The Secret Boat’ Disc Two: 1.7. ‘The Fire Raisers’ 1.8. ‘Terrible Townsends’ 1.9. ‘The Search for Stan’ 1.10. ‘Battle at Weaver’s Lock’ 1.11. ‘The Hero’ 1.12. ‘The Lighthouse Mystery’ 1.13. ‘The Wrecker’ Disc Three: 2.1. ‘The Walking Bomb’ 2.2. ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’ 2.3. ‘Bridge of Death’ 2.4. ‘The Coward’ 2.5. ‘Badge of Fear’ 2.6. ‘An Eye for an Eye’ 2.7. ‘Five Minute Fuse’ Disc Four: 2.8. ‘Soldier from Margham’ 2.9. ‘Peddlar’s Ransom’ 2.10. ‘Ghosts of Hookey Vale’ 2.11. ‘The Inventor’ 2.12. ‘Castle of Terror’ 2.13. ‘Sky Patrol’
Video
Shot on 16mm film, the episodes are very well-presented on this DVD release. The series has a very strong aesthetic; the mise-en-scene is filled with period detail. Some of the episodes exhibit some wear and tear, but nothing that would distract too much from one’s pleasure of this excellent series. The episodes are presented in their original broadcast screen ratio of 1.33:1. 
Audio
Audio is presented via a two-channel mono track. This is clear and always audible. There are no subtitles.
Extras
Sadly, there is no contextual material.
Overall
With wonderful attention to period detail, Tom Grattan’s War is a fantastic period drama. Sharply-written and well-directed, the episodes in this series represent the very best of British children’s drama. Network’s release contains an excellent presentation of the series and comes with a very strong recommendation. For more information, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
|
|||||
|