The following is commentary on Episode No. 35 ("Happy Returns") 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
Though we have seen indications that David Ashton may be ready to abandon his profligate ways, it is not until now that, for the first time, we witness him taking some definite steps in a positive direction. Not once, but twice, he rises up and confronts temptation, something he was unwilling to do heretofore.
Their missions scrubbed for the present, RAF pilot Peter Bryant asks David to join him in London, where sister Grace is said to be awaiting David with open arms, now that her marriage has collapsed for good. David seems more amused than tempted, and he graciously declines the invitation.
The next day, while on leave in North Wales (with separate sleeping accommodations from wife Sheila), he meets a flirtatious young woman in the local pub. Christine inveigles him into walking her home and then invites him inside for coffee. There was a time, of course, when David would not have thought twice before accepting such an offer. But things have changed. His adulterous affair with Grace Gould has taught him to be honest with himself, and he tells Christine no, a life-altering decision that brings an unfamiliar joy to his heart and a lightness to his step.
We cannot help but be moved by David’s frank confessions to Sheila at the lead mine. Belatedly but with a new-found sense of honesty, he openly admits that there have indeed been other women and that one of them, Peggy, had his baby.
Some random comments about “Happy Returns”...
The episode opens with a funny scene on the train, wherein a garrulous gentleman chats with Sheila about his grandchildren, his garden, and his granddaughter’s Scottish terrier. All the while, as Sheila tries to return his photographs to him, he only reaches for more snapshots to show to her.
There is an eloquent sequence at the RAF base, with David Ashton and Peter Bryant being viewed through a window, from a vantage point outside in the rain. Perhaps I am reading too much in director Richard Martin’s camera placement here, but it does seem to articulate well David’s isolation and loneliness at this point in his life.
Mrs. Jones is a nicely drawn character, a very believable busybody and gossip whom we all surely have encountered in our own lives.
Actress Brenda Bruce is touching in her portrayal of Mrs. Thomas, already grieving the imminent loss of the children, confiding that they have become her “whole life.”
I am impressed by what fine actors the two children are: Michelle Sussock and Alan Guy. No concessions need be made for their youthfulness, and both are fully up to their parts.
That final scene is a memorable one, with David sliding down into the gravel pit, unable to claw his way back up to the top. Certainly there is some symbolism here, as he tries to extricate himself from the self-imposed depths of his marital life. He repeatedly shouts, “Sheila!” but his wronged wife, understandably, is disinclined to come to his aid.
This whole episode was very nicely staged and photographed. Were the interiors of Mrs. Thomas’s home taped on a soundstage or in an actual house? Were those rustic exteriors (stream and lead mine) really filmed on location in North Wales?
