To Serve Them All My Days (Miniseries)

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DVD details

Actor: Alan MacNaughton, Frank Middlemass, John Duttine, Neil Stacy, Patricia Lawrence
Brand: Acorn
Cinematographer: Ken Major
Cinematographer: Rodney Taylor
Editor: John S. Smith
Editor: Neil Pittaway
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 663 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-09
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media

DVD Reviews of To Serve Them All My Days (Miniseries)

DVD Review: The English Teacher
Summary: 5 Stars

First, let me say I am an Anglophile. This beautiful story moved me. I identified with the young teacher as he struggled to find his place in the public school. The first headmaster was a warm and delightful old gentleman. The next headmaster was the man who always fixed that which was not broken. The love life of the young teacher, his children, his loss, his caring -- all made me feel what we have abandoned in modern education. I loved this story so much I bought for my brother as a gift.

If I could turn back the clock I would re-invent the English classroom where language and poetry are honored and students can recite those passages that will guide them through life. Beautifully told. Beutifully acted. Superb televsion.

DVD Review: As good as it gets
Summary: 5 Stars

Perhaps one of the finest mini- series ever televised, this up-lifting production chronicles a young man who begins an awkward journey as a teacher at the other end of his English class placement upbringing after returning as an emotional wreck from his WWI tenure.
Watching his development through the years is both rewarding and pleasurable as is following the superb acting of an outstanding cast. Observing the skyward journey of one's spirit helps restore the possibility of hope,family,love, and redemption. A "must see" for those who wish to be enthralled for a week's time and who wish to feel the sanctity of hope.

DVD Review: Look Back to A Life Worth Living...
Summary: 5 Stars

I have been riveted to this video series since I began watching. Wonderful characters and a resonant plot! The central character is a history teacher, and just as that discipline gives one much to reflect upon--so does this well-paced drama about a schoolmaster at an English public school in the inter war period. As the episodes unfolded, I found myself thinking deeply about the measure of words such as altruism, narcissism, feminism, class, charity, generosity of spirit and a a host of other ponderables, including the elusive meanings of the verb, "to love."
The concluding episodes left me blubbering over what it means to live a "life worth living"--a theme raised at the beginning of each episode as they all commence with the singing of the Bamfylde school song, "Look Ahead to A Life Worth Living." The series' over riding question for me? What is the cost of a life worth living?

DVD Review: Rising Above Tragedy
Summary: 5 Stars

This BBC mini-series is beautifully filmed and written. The story based on the novel by RF Delderfield follows the career and personal life of a young Welshman who joins the staff of a boy's boarding school upon returning from the trenches of WWI. We meet David Powlett-Jones as a shell-shocked combat veteran and watch him develop into a first class educator and ultimately the school's headmaster. Along the way he meets both personal challenges and professional difficulties that drive the story and engage the viewer. John Duttine is absolutely brillant as Powlett-Jones and the supporting cast are almost uniformly excellent including the young actors who portray the students at the school.

This is a series to become absorbed in as it runs to almost 13 hours in all. The story unfolds gradually as the years pass and the banter between the old school teachers and their younger colleagues is witty and memorable.

Television rarely provides viewing of this quality.

DVD Review: "Look ahead to a life worth living"
Summary: 5 Stars

First off, I'm one of those who enjoys any drama, American or foreign, that depicts teachers, academia, and even anything remotely to do with a school - "The Paper Chase," "Good Will Hunting," "Diabolique," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "The Chorus," etc. The 1980 production of "To Serve Them All My Days" remains one of my favorites. I viewed this miniseries many years ago and recently with nothing new at hand, viewed it for the second time. Despite already knowing the story, I've to say it hasn't lost its appeal for me at all. It wasn't one of the more well-known British productions even back in the `80s and I think part of its appeal to me is that it looks like a homegrown production. By that, I mean that it doesn't have the gloss or polish that later British productions, especially those by BBC, had. It even looks like it was made on the cheap, but the story is powerful and quite moving.

The series is comprised of 13 episodes that span the years of 1918 to 1938 or thereabouts. The story centers on a soldier, David Powlett-Jones (PJ), who's just returned from active duty during WWI. He ends up teaching at a Devon boarding school called Bamfylde. Coming from a coal-mining family in South Wales and ever conscious of the class differences, he tries to settle into his new life and devotes himself to the education and guidance of his boys. As the decades go by, he finds purpose and meaning in the life he's chosen. In between, he marries and suffers some tragedies that make him a better man in the long run. It's a very lengthy story that I find difficult to synopsize (I've found sites that unfortunately provide too much of the plot). Suffice to say that the miniseries is similar to "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," but has a more pronounced political and social bent to it. PJ is vocal about the backward thinking of his era and wants to move the school toward a more progressive future even it means displeasing those who'd rather cling to the status quo.

As is the norm with most British productions, the acting here is first-rate, especially John Duttine as PJ and Frank Middlemass as the very amiable headmaster, Algy Herries. Lots of very interesting characters and each one well-defined, as well as a great many truly intelligent dialogues. The political and social issues (socialism, miners' rights, bigotry) add meaning and depth to the story and not just there as window dressing. This is definitely a worthwhile series whose themes of fairness, endurance, dedication, service to others, love and true knowledge will never lose their relevance. It took many hours (approximately 12) to view it all, but they are some of the best hours I've spent.

Description of To Serve Them All My Days (Miniseries)

After barely surviving the trenches of World War I, an embittered young soldier takes a teaching post at Bamfylde, an elite boarding school in the uplands of West Devon. It is an unlikely job for a Welsh miner's son without a degree, but David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine) proves to be a rare schoolmaster, as passionate about learning as he is about teaching. Through two tumultuous decades, Powlett-Jones inspires his students with his courage and idealism, qualities that help prepare him to send another generation of young men off to fight yet another war. A beloved PBS Masterpiece Theatre classic adapted by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones's Diary) from the novel by R. F. Delderfield.

The life of an English schoolmaster may sound like dry stuff, but To Serve Them All My Days finds engrossing drama and dry wit in the most ordinary of circumstances. David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine), a young Welshman, returns from the trenches of World War I disillusioned and suffering from shellshock. Accepted as a teacher at an elite boy's boarding school called Bamfylde, Powlett-Jones fears he won't last--but the faith of the headmaster who hired him (Frank Middlemass) proves well-founded. Powlett-Jones immediately flies in the face of convention, fighting with a pompous science teacher (Neil Stacy), speaking out in favor of socialist reforms, and finding a mixture of discipline and empathy with the boys he teaches. Over the course of his 20-year rise through the ranks of Bamfylde, he finds and loses love with several women (Belinda Lang, Kim Braden, and Susan Jameson); one of the greatest strengths of To Serve Them All My Days is how fully realized these women are, each strikingly individual and self-directed.

The writing and acting are impeccable, always cutting to the most engaging aspect of every scene, yet grounding every conflict in a rich understanding of character and circumstance. Even the minor characters are made vivid and distinct, and the realities of life--politics, sex, mortality--are handled frankly and honestly. In fact, To Serve Them All My Days demonstrates the best aspects of a miniseries, taking the scope of 13 episodes to map in detail a human life, with all its victories and disasters. Truly a pleasure to watch; of particular note is Alan MacNaughtan as a sardonic fellow teacher, whose ironic observations and close friendship with Powlett-Jones give the series a good dose of both humor and compassion. Based on the classic novel by R.F. Delderfield. --Bret Fetzer

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