Apart from agatha christie , wesley offers us a glimpse into privileged relatives and relations; however here we find they are no different to anyone else. What goes on behind closed doors stays there and is tolerated until time has passed and care of reputation has long since been discarded.
The sensitive thoughtful ones gaslight themselves into tolerating abominations for fear of shunning and isolation. Loneliness in a large family is a tragedy and trauma bonding ensures there is little wholesome joy to be lived elsewhere.
Wesley speaks from experience; the intertwining stories, coloured with precise expressions and intimate attitudes, provide the familial glue of curiosity that keeps these people loyal after living decades apart. The keep going stoicism saw them through the confusion of Churchill's war and out the other side into as fulfilling a life they could muster.
The lack of self pity is astounding in view of today's collapsing of backbones everywhere . People made do and used the hand with which they were dealt. They did not depend on big gov to 'fix things' so they could go back to normal. Normal was gone . Normal was the last summer on the Camomile Lawn, before the barbed wire, before the death of the flasher, before London homes were abandoned ,unlocked and bombed.
And this was not only the wealthy. Class superiority melted away as everyone chipped in to the new great war. Teamwork created tolerance. We see many depictions of the poor, paid to fight and die in wars that the elite engineer, but these retrospectives do not depict the willing sacrifices and resourcefulness of the citizens , committed to assist their neighbour.
The characters in this story are well written, realistic, self deluding at times, naive and stubborn. The sharp screen play and razor like comedic edits sympathize with the difficult choices and risky chances that challenge this troupe. It makes for addictive viewing as particular prose and nuanced tones narrate a stimulating spicy tale. 90's audiences were not idiots and the hard sell of degenerate posh people could not work without humour and an excellent wordsmith. Seeing this after 30 years in the worldwide autistic indoctrination system - school/uni - would be confusing and the pc judging emotionally fearful robots of today ''would not get it''.
So it is with great pleasure that I found this series again after it's first outing. The matrix hold was tightening its grasp on me and I could not understand the apparent 'coldness' of the cast and what the hell was going on with who. It seemed contrived to sell new big faces and the miracles of surgery with clever camera angles for sexual Channel Four titillation, Kendal thrown in to perplex devoted country gardeners.
But the selected ones - Stephens, Adams, Ehle, Fitzgerald and Hall stayed true to the caricatures on which they were based and by the end of the series, one cannot help but forgive, understand and even agree with the choices they made through their turbulent times, a truism about families who protect, understand and will support their flawed loved ones when the time comes.
The sensitive thoughtful ones gaslight themselves into tolerating abominations for fear of shunning and isolation. Loneliness in a large family is a tragedy and trauma bonding ensures there is little wholesome joy to be lived elsewhere.
Wesley speaks from experience; the intertwining stories, coloured with precise expressions and intimate attitudes, provide the familial glue of curiosity that keeps these people loyal after living decades apart. The keep going stoicism saw them through the confusion of Churchill's war and out the other side into as fulfilling a life they could muster.
The lack of self pity is astounding in view of today's collapsing of backbones everywhere . People made do and used the hand with which they were dealt. They did not depend on big gov to 'fix things' so they could go back to normal. Normal was gone . Normal was the last summer on the Camomile Lawn, before the barbed wire, before the death of the flasher, before London homes were abandoned ,unlocked and bombed.
And this was not only the wealthy. Class superiority melted away as everyone chipped in to the new great war. Teamwork created tolerance. We see many depictions of the poor, paid to fight and die in wars that the elite engineer, but these retrospectives do not depict the willing sacrifices and resourcefulness of the citizens , committed to assist their neighbour.
The characters in this story are well written, realistic, self deluding at times, naive and stubborn. The sharp screen play and razor like comedic edits sympathize with the difficult choices and risky chances that challenge this troupe. It makes for addictive viewing as particular prose and nuanced tones narrate a stimulating spicy tale. 90's audiences were not idiots and the hard sell of degenerate posh people could not work without humour and an excellent wordsmith. Seeing this after 30 years in the worldwide autistic indoctrination system - school/uni - would be confusing and the pc judging emotionally fearful robots of today ''would not get it''.
So it is with great pleasure that I found this series again after it's first outing. The matrix hold was tightening its grasp on me and I could not understand the apparent 'coldness' of the cast and what the hell was going on with who. It seemed contrived to sell new big faces and the miracles of surgery with clever camera angles for sexual Channel Four titillation, Kendal thrown in to perplex devoted country gardeners.
But the selected ones - Stephens, Adams, Ehle, Fitzgerald and Hall stayed true to the caricatures on which they were based and by the end of the series, one cannot help but forgive, understand and even agree with the choices they made through their turbulent times, a truism about families who protect, understand and will support their flawed loved ones when the time comes.