Episode Discussion : Series 1, Episode 1

[violetcreme.livejournal.com]

Welcome to our little episode discussion! We start with the first episode - put your thoughts in the comments and debate away! *g*

Comments

[violetcreme.livejournal.com]

So, I'll start, episode 1...and my main thought is how very well it sets up all the characters and all the threads for the future, but also how slow the pace is. It's glacial! No modern drama would ever spend an hour just with one of two incidences and a bit of shopping! It's marvellous to watch.

I am instantly drawn to Bea, Stella plays her with such fire and determination, from her very first scene trying to persuade her father into letting Evie to go art school to her fury with Arthur at her father "runing her life" when she finds out about his second life - I love her. She's not easy to like, certainly, she's shrewish and hot headed but as a character she's amazing. LOVE HER! Despite Stella being rather stunning, they do make Bea look so very drab and washed out, quite clever considering how she shines later on.

I was also struck how very Edwardian everything is, from the clothes to the interiors. The sisters are in buttoned up to the neck blouses and corsets and everything is dark brown and red, plus those huge veils for the funeral! So very different to how we leave them in 1928, it's a real eye opener how much changed in such a few short years.

Ah, Penelope. I love her too. Really everything that happens throughout the whole series is down to Evie going to help Tilly and her mother here, if you trace it through. Fabulous story telling.

And finally, JACKKKKK! Although a Jack I don't love quite as much as later on as he is rather annoyingly pompous here a little (only a little) creepy towards Evie. Not to mention how incredibly insulting he is to Bea ("You'll do though"). In the book by Jean Marsh she tips a bucket of iced water over him at that point, and that's one thing I would very much have liked to see left in. He deserved it. Buuuut, I tend to think that him chosing Bea over Evie with a rather weak excuse has more to the with the fact that he's quite impressed with her/taken with her rather than purely pratical business thoughts. That's my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it!

Penelope

[susannanaomi.livejournal.com]

It's funny what you miss until you re-watch episodes more closely.

I love how in episode 2 Penelope flogged Jack tickets to a charity ball and then disappeared off. Funny how later she describes a charity ball as "grotesque"!

Extra reading material

[susannanaomi.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of books I read by Virginia Nicholson that gives a bit more insight about some of the people and situations referred to in the first couple of episodes.

"Among the Bohemians" talks about the lifestyle of artists such as Augustus John and those who frequented the Cafe Royal etc.

I absolutely loved the book "Singled Out" which discusses the lives of the million extra women Molly mentions in episode one. When there was 1080 women for every 1000 men after the war many of them never married. This book shows how some of them had successful and interesting lives.