I don't recall in any of the episodes shown so far that he has one-night stands.
They didn't show it, but in the book, we're told he has a history of it.
What about Sara? Was there something in episode one about a boyfriend/fiance/husband who was killed in WWI?
For some reason, this adaptation has decided to really play up the legacy of WW1 side of things. In the book, Roy Carbery was just
the first of Sarah's fiancés (she's had 3!), a boy she'd been in love with when they were both students. She subsequently got engaged to an Afrikaaner farmer, Jan van Raalt, in South Africa, whom she dumped over his racism, and later to a Labour MP, Ben Latter, with whom she broke up because he wanted her to sacrifice her career to his (and who was horrified when she suggested becoming his mistress instead!). There have been a number of other men, too: one gets the impression she was very much a flapper in the '20s!
In fact, we're told Sarah has a history of falling in love frequently and with unsuitable men. I think she seems to be drawn to domineering men (kind of father-figures?)* because of her dysfunctional childhood (a violent, alcoholic father who lamed her little sister by dropping her when he was drunk); but because of her strong personality, she hates being dominated once in a relationship, so gets out. She and Robert
know that what they're doing is wrong and could never, ever work. What I find so sad about it is that she has an eminently compatible, lovely man who would do anything for her, and is always there when needed, right under her nose (and he's a widower!). At least in the book, there's a hope that she comes to realise this… but possibly almost too late.
*Interestingly, in the book, she's especially drawn to Robert after she sees him sit up all night to watch over Midge when the girl has measles: being the 'good' father she herself never had.
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joasiafly
13 years ago
Holy cow! This show has been unbelievably sanitized! Thanks for explaining all - now I really do have to read the book!
Thanks for such a detailed clarification.
"Hi! Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"
"Are they made from real Girl Scouts?"
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silverwhistle
13 years ago
Holy cow! This show has been unbelievably sanitized!
And somewhat depoliticised. What irked some of us with the foregrounding of the war theme in this version was them claiming Joe was a war veteran. He
is, but not in that way. In the book, he was
imprisoned as a conscientious objector (1916-18), soon after he qualified as a schoolteacher. He then worked as a left-wing journalist in trouble-spots (including Dublin c 1919-21). He has a bad chest because he got TB when he was working as a union organiser among Black miners in South Africa.
Thanks for explaining all - now I really do have to read the book!
The book is marvellous: it's a portrait of a whole community, with lots of supporting characters and storylines that have been axed from this adaptation. (The 1974 adaptation is far more faithful, and has 13 episodes, so you get to know everyone!)
I first read it as a teenager in Hull (Kingsport, in the SR universe) in 1980, and loved it. It's the era of my mother's childhood in the area, too. As I posted in another thread, last week, while down visiting my parents, I actually went to see the house in Hornsea where some of the book was written, and the owner very kindly let me in to see the back parlour, where Winifred used to write.
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supergran
13 years ago
To be fair to Andrew Davies, he sounds rather bitter about being allocated just three hours to tell the story. This is from his introduction to the tie-in version of the novel:
Adapting South Riding for television has been a fascinating challenge. When Stan Barstow adapted it in the 70s (with Dorothy Tutin in the lead), he had thirteen 50-minute episodes to play with - we had only three hours in which to tell a complex story. Inevitably, some characters and plotlines had to go, and readers coming to the book after watching the adaptation will find many new things to marvel at. But I hope we've been successful in capturing the essence of the novel, and in introducing Winifred Holtby to a new generation of readers.
Oh, for those halycon days of thirteen-part series!
One of my favourite Andrew Davies adaptations was R F Delderfield's "To Serve Them All My Days". This was of similar vintage and length. Thank goodness it was made when it was, and not today.
If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
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silverwhistle
13 years ago
I remember To Serve Them All My Days, too! Didn't know it was Davies's dramatisation.
And yet… Crappy soaps and clichéd cop and hospital dramas are allowed never-ending runs now! Why?!
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supergran
13 years ago
I loved TSTAMD. I have it on DVD, and I think Andrew Davies did a wonderful job. It's a HUGE novel and, thank goodness, Davies had the luxury of thirteen or so hours.
I'm with you on the soaps/cop/hospital dramas. I watch very few of them now.
If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
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