The following is commentary on Episode No. 9 ("The Night They Hit No. 8") from members of AFAMILYATWAR-LIST. If you wish to add your thoughts to what is being said on this page, become a part of our discussion group by clicking the "Join" button.
Richard Veit
I find it impressive that John Finch’s fine script for “The Night They Hit No. 8” so seamlessly interweaves no fewer than three distinct storylines.
David and Sheila desperately try to locate their children, whom Sheila has sent to her mother’s house instead of evacuating them to Wales. A troubled adolescent named Alfred Powner is entrusted to the care of Edwin and Jean. And Margaret is about to give birth.
Personally, I was very intrigued by the shadowy character of Alfred. At first, I considered him to be no better than your typical teen delinquent. However, the surprising truth was much deeper than surface appearances suggested, and he developed into a very sympathetic character. True, Alfred stole Edwin’s cigarettes, but he did so for an unselfish motive. The belated “funeral” service for his drowned father—with the Mersey substituting for an ocean, and the purloined pack of cigarettes standing in for a wreath—is quite a powerful and touching scene. What a fine young actor was this David Bradley! (Oddly, another actor by that same name will join the cast of “A Family at War” a bit later, appearing in the recurring role of Colin Woodcock.)
Here are some random comments and questions about “The Night They Hit No. 8”…
Did the costume people “pad” Margaret’s figure for this episode, or was it simply a fortuitous coincidence that actress Lesley Nunnerley was far enough along in her own pregnancy to play these scenes?
I am curious to know where those shocking exteriors of bombed-out Liverpool were shot. Although committed to film three decades after the German air raids, these scenes seemed chillingly convincing and on a far grander scale than generally could be replicated on a studio backlot. The production designer certainly did a marvelous job of depicting wartime devastation on the home front. That and director June Howson’s judicious use of actual war footage, dramatic sound effects, and “explosive” indirect lighting all helped to make this a harrowing experience.
Why was it said that David Ashton hurt his right hand in a bicycle accident? Did actor Colin Campbell perhaps suffer a hand injury that somehow had to be written into the script?
I like the way Philip’s guilt over abandoning Dominique Brehaut on Guernsey carried over from the previous episode into this one. It is just such faithful continuity of detail that makes the characters on “A Family at War” come so richly alive for the audience.
Following the birth of John George, the attending nurse’s cheerless remark brings this episode to an effective close: “Poor little fellow. Only born today, and he’s already at war.”
John Finch
I thought this episode had a genuine wartime feel about it, though it had its sticky moments. Was never sure whether the story of the boy worked, but would welcome opinions. It was good to see the Mersey. The actress who played the boy’s mother went on to become a national figure in "Coronation Street," Bet Lynch. Nicely done by one of my favourite directors, who also did episode one.
Paul Cook
Having just watched "The Night They Hit No. 8," I am reminded how everybody in the UK has been affected by war, come this period of August 1940. Just thinking about my own family, there are a wealth of different experiences from that time. Two of my aunts were evacuated to Wales, and by all accounts they had a positive experience. Both Marge and Doris still kept in contact with their respective adopted Welsh families until they died a few years ago. Three other aunts moved to do war work, one to Birmingham to work in the Dunlop tire factory, one to Croydon, and one to Sussex to nurse in a children's home. My youngest aunt, who is now 67, told me how much she was frightened of the barrage balloons. She was a toddler at the time. This fear still remains for her, as she dreads seeing anything in the sky that reminds her of that time, such as hot air balloons, or those balloons that mimic barrage balloons, such as over B&Q stores.
My family all come from Dover, in Kent, known as "Hellfire Corner." David refers to the Luftwaffe building a railway line in the sky, so that the Germans can come back every night to bomb the UK. Certainly in Dover we got our fair share of the onslaught. My aunt Doris used to be involved in fire-watching and was involved in a direct hit. Miraculously she survived, with only a lost finger to contend with. All her companions were killed by the bomb. Understandably, she keeps much of this experience to herself.
In this episode, everyone is starting to appreciate how vulnerable they are, and how thoughts of survival become paramount. Life seems to be lived either under the stairs, or in an Anderson shelter in the garden, or in a communal shelter in the neighbourhood. All are on the move, one way or another, but as we see with the birth of John-George, life does go on.
It is interesting to see the young actor playing the evacuee, Alfred. His character seems very like the one he was to play later in the film "Kes."
Richard Veit
Yes, you are correct, Paul, but actually it was “Kes” that came first. According to IMDb, David Bradley was very inexperienced at the time (1969), having only done a few school pantomimes before he was selected by audition for the leading role of Billy Casper. It was the next year that he was cast for the part of Alfred Powner in “The Night They Hit No. 8.” I thought he did a brilliant job in “A Family at War,” playing an initially unsympathetic character who becomes quite endearing, even inspiring, as the episode progresses. The boy actor’s real life was rather difficult, too, as he came from humble origins. His father was a miner, and his mother was a seamstress.
