MovieChat Forums > To Serve Them All My Days (1982) Discussion > David's women

David's women

posted 19 years ago by TrentinaNE
18 replies | jump to latest

Several comments indicate that Christine was not particularly well-liked by many viewers. I think I may have felt that way myself when I first saw the series back in 1984. Now, however, I find Christine to be the most interesting of the three women in David's life, though each was well-suited to him at the time. Beth, of course, was exactly the optimistic, brimming-with-life tonic David needed to complete his mental recovery from WWI. They were both young and unassuming, and probably would have had a long, happy life together had Beth not died in the car crash. Julia was certainly not life-partner material, but as someone that David already knew slightly, she was the perfect segue back into a sexual life after Beth's passing. Christine, like David himself, was conflicted, emotionally damaged, and complicated. They both were passionate people who struggled to find their place in Britain's social structure, and both bore the scars of previously losses. David's loss of Beth was a real and unwanted one, while Christine's loss of Rowley was a good thing in the long run, but represented a loss of innocence and self-trusting on her own part. Consequently David and Chris filled important voids in each other's lives, but in a more melancholic way that reflected the losses they'd each experienced before coming together. I was glad to see Christine find her niche at Bamfylde, but liked the way she continued to keep David on his toes, reminding him of the world outside the school's grounds. And oddly, she looked prettier as she got older!

[–] londonchick974 19 years ago

Hi TrentinaNE, this is Charly, although I am with my friend londonchick974 on her account. I agree with you about the optimistic, bubbly Beth being David's tonic to his damaged past. However, I confess to finding Chris far too patronising. She treats David rather badly for a considerable amount of time, and yet when things turn sour and her political career ends, she comes running to him! Julia is, as you say, more mistress material than wife material, but, naturally I suppose, although I am only a teenager myself, I, like everyone else, prefers Beth. And yes, Chris gets much prettier as she gets older. I think the hair is partly to do with it, that strange little bob was totally hideous!

And unlike Fleur (londonchick974), who rather likes him, I also am seriously infuriated by Algy Herries. I don't know why, just his mannerisms I suppose.

[–] TrentinaNE 19 years ago

Hi, Charly (& Fleur)! I perfectly understand your reaction to Christine. Yes, she could be patronizing, judgmental, dour, peremptory, and a host of other unflattering adjectives. But I think (and I surmise David thought) that these tendencies mostly sprang from her insecurities about her purpose in life coupled with her combativeness toward life's injustices. I suspect he saw a lot of his own youthful frustrations paralleled in Chris -- like his "losing" to Carter and Blunt in the matter of the war memorial.

I find it interesting that, after all he'd been through, he'd be attracted to a woman as forceful and independent as Christine. If he'd wanted to, he could have found a comely country widow who'd have been glad to move to Bamfylde, but he seemed to want a wife who'd be his friend and intellectual equal as well. Of course, when Chris finally accepts his proposal, he promptly begins to take her for granted, assuming she'll find a way to fit into the Bamfylde milieu on her own, but in the end, you can see how desperately he wants her to be happy on her own terms. In the final scenes, they really do seem like a couple who were meant to be together.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] donnakaran 18 years ago

I agree with everyone in this thread, that Christine was indeed patronising etc. but she did truly adore David and they were well matched in that they'd both suffered excessive amounts of heartbreak.

Beth was my absolute favourite. She was just perfect for David. I cry buckets every time I watch the scene where David is told she and the babies have been killed in a road accident. :'(

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] TrentinaNE 18 years ago

To me, it looks like Christine's initial short hair-cut was Susan Jameson's own hair. She appears to be wearing a wig in the last two episodes. But I agree that the severely blunt lines of the short 'do diminish Christine's initial attractiveness and make her look older. This was an appropriate choice for the character, however, as she was a young woman struggling to make her mark in a man's world, so she would want to look more "serious."

Julia's "flapper" wig in the middle episodes *was* pretty awful. And she had had such beautiful long hair before, but bobbing it was certainly the style of the 1920s. One of my favorite scenes, though heartbreaking, is her farewell to David in his bed at Bamfylde. It's an uncut scene of about 3 minutes' length, something you just about never see on television today. Notice how, at the exact moment when Julia says to David that "I wanted to go to bed with you one last time," John Duttine (David) gasps and a tear runs down his cheek from the corner of his eye. It just slays me.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] donnakaran 18 years ago

John Duttine is simply an amazing actor. How he did not make it bigger I will never know.

Paul: He's so far into the closet, he spends half his week in Narnia!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] TrentinaNE 18 years ago

I think this was true to a certain extent for John Duttine, as he seems to have chosen theater over TV/film at some points in his career. But from the interviews I've been able to track down, it also seems that he hit some very difficult patches when the roles simply weren't there for him. I get the feeling he would have liked a somewhat more high-profile career.

[–] ogimura 17 years ago

Maybe, but he's had a nice steady, if unexciting, part as the police sergeant in the TV series "Heartbeat" this year

[–] JoChatting 16 years ago

To me, it looks like Christine's initial short hair-cut was Susan Jameson's own hair.

Oh no, it certainly wasn't her own hair - I've never seen such a bad and unflattering wig!

[–] TrentinaNE 15 years ago

I agree that it was a horribly unflattering style, but it didn't (to me at least) have the look of a wig. It hung very naturally. In contrast, the longer hair Christine sported in the final episodes had an artificial look, even though the cut was more flattering to her.

[–] rebkad 13 years ago

I didn't think the first flapper look was **that** unflattering, it emphasized her cheek bones - it was her inbetween kind of bowl-cut that was most unflattering. It was obviously not 'her' just as her initial role as substitute Beth wasn't completely her. That is the thing with period dramas - people have to go with what is period appropriate!

[–] TrentinaNE 13 years ago

Since I wrote earlier in this thread:

Julia's "flapper" wig in the middle episodes *was* pretty awful. And she had had such beautiful long hair before, but bobbing it was certainly the style of the 1920s.

I certainly don't take issue with period-appropriate hair styles. :-)

[–] Borg222 13 years ago

Yes I saw the tear. Not only a moving moment but quite fine acting as well!

Likes movies, taken away, but thoughtfull

[–] chinapants 16 years ago

Charly, regarding Algy Herries, I started off enjoying his affability and frankness which seemed to serve as a foil for David's timidity early on. character early on. David's character seemed to need help getting out of its shell, and Algy's character brought it out. However, when Chris entered the picture, her outspoken distaste for him and his style, sort of rubbed off on me. I began to find Algy repetetive and somewhat self-indulgent, much like Bamfylde itself if left on it's own, without a catalyst and social outsider, like David to challenge and improve its insular perspective.

Also, regarding Chris, somehow once she married David, I enjoyed her character less. Beth seemed suited to be settled down and to be a home body. Chris' dynamacism emanated through politics and towards the end, pioneering the prep school. Yet still, she seemed stifled there at Bamfylde and I sympathized with her. Somehow, I guess, David seemed distracted with her there.

My favorite relationship was certainly Howarth and David. Howarth's dry sarcasm and acute insight, coupled with a steady loyalty and care seemed to uphold and guide David through several of those traumatic events in his life (His adamptation to Bamfylde, Beth's departure, defending him against Alcock, and lastly helping him understand Chris). Just Howarth's presence on the screen would make me laugh--and oh, his jabs at Carter truly delighted me. It's fun to see them get a rise out of Carter and his gimp knee.

Cheers, Bsting

[–] TrentinaNE 11 years ago

Yes, David's friendship with Howarth was the most enduring of the series. Howarth sized David up pretty quickly and accurately on his first visit to the teachers' lounge, and did a great job of subtly supporting and goading him from then on. His departure in the last episode was beautifully done. I was so glad that David and Chris decided to name their son Ian after him.