Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Product Description
Starring Alan Hunter (Dangerfield), James Bate (Auf Wiedersehen, Pet), Ian Hastings (Prime Suspect), Malcolm Tierney (Dalziel and Pascoe) and Madeleine Newton (When the Boat Comes In). It is 1948 and the war is slowly receding in people's memories but rationing still exists and there are many scars that will not heal. The Spoils of War follows the fortunes of two north country families, the Haywards and the Warringtons, in post war Britain Originally broadcast on ITV in 1980 Written by John Finch (A Family at War).
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), SPECIAL FEATURES: 2-DVD Set, Biographies, Filmographies, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Originally broadcast on ITV in 1980, The Spoils of War follows the fortunes of two north country families, the Haywards and the Warringtons, in post war Britain, starring Alan Hunter (Dangerfield), James Bate (Auf Wiedersehen, Pet), Ian Hastings (Prime Suspect), Malcolm Tierney (Dalziel and Pascoe) and Madeleine Newton (When the Boat Comes In) ...The Spoils of War - Series One - 2-DVD Set ( The Spoils of War - Entire Series 1 )
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"The Spoils of War" (series one) is the story centred on the experiences of a working class family living on the Cumberland coast told through the eyes of its members at various times and places from 1945 to 1947. One of the sons is in the British Army and he falls in love with a German girl in whose house he is billeted on VE-Day in 1945. Unfortunately for her the house is in an area soon to be occupied by the Russians as part of the post-war carve up of Germany by the allies after the Yalta Conference. His brother thought to be dead in Burma returns from a Japanese prisoner of war camp traumatised by his brutal treatment to a wife and young son he has not seen for five years. What he does not know is that when his wife was told he was missing presumed dead she had an affair with a Ukranian POW who fought against the Russians who were allies of the British and Americans. This secret is eventually revealed despite the attempts of her family to keep it hidden. The family at home struggle to come to terms with conditions at the end of the war and there are tensions in the household as a result of their political differences and attitudes towards living in rapidly changing post war England.
The series although made thirty years old is not too dated and is very well made, intelligent, compelling and well acted. I don't remember the series when it was made in 1980 but when I saw the reviews of the first series it looked like a story well worth watching. I was not wrong and the subsequent series maintains the high standard of the first series.
The series although made thirty years old is not too dated and is very well made, intelligent, compelling and well acted. I don't remember the series when it was made in 1980 but when I saw the reviews of the first series it looked like a story well worth watching. I was not wrong and the subsequent series maintains the high standard of the first series.
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'd never heard of this series before I accidentally came across it on Amazon. It's very well written and acted and is astonishingly intelligent. Very political - in the widest sense of the word - and is totally devoid of stereotypes and cliches; for example several members of the working class Haywards are Tories and 2 of the upper class Warringtons are Socialists ( the wife even ends up a Labour MP ). Summarising the plot would be a bit pointless, basically very high quality soap opera and the interweaving fortunes of 2 families in Cumberland over the immediate post war years ( though also encompassing war-ravaged Germany/Eastern Europe and the start of the Cold War, giving the series an almost epic quality, amazing considering its low budget ).
I would give this 5 stars if it weren't for a few minor flaws, a few historical inaccuracies and the first 2 episodes have a little too much political exposition, but this is basically a very good series that I would recommend anyone interested in the great ITV drama series of a generation ago ( ie Upstairs Downstairs, We'll Meet Again ) should watch.
I've also now seen the very good 2nd series - but apparently there were 3 series - roll on the release of this final series!
I would give this 5 stars if it weren't for a few minor flaws, a few historical inaccuracies and the first 2 episodes have a little too much political exposition, but this is basically a very good series that I would recommend anyone interested in the great ITV drama series of a generation ago ( ie Upstairs Downstairs, We'll Meet Again ) should watch.
I've also now seen the very good 2nd series - but apparently there were 3 series - roll on the release of this final series!
40 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I loved this show and watched each episode 3 times a week when it was first on! (the joys of an afternoon repeat on different days when you live on the cusp of two TV regions)
It was a thrill when it was released on video and I was not disappointed when I viewed it again. All I hope is that the rest of the series are released too.
The characters are really involving, it's about a fascinating period in history and it's well written. I miss this kind of drama.
It was a thrill when it was released on video and I was not disappointed when I viewed it again. All I hope is that the rest of the series are released too.
The characters are really involving, it's about a fascinating period in history and it's well written. I miss this kind of drama.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
classic post war series
I thoroughly enjoyed this series about a family during post wartime in northern England. Times are still hard with some rationing and men returning from active service. Read more
Published 9 months ago by June R from Oz
spoils of war
Spoils of War again is another great series. bring it back on TV or make some more series like this one.
Published 9 months ago by period drama
Magnificent!
I've just finished watching the complete series, bought from Amazon along with 'Enemy at the Door', the episodes of which we started watching alternately with episodes of this one. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Smiler
Magnificent presentation of post WW2 stories.
Magnificent presentation of post WW2 stories. All 6 DVDs in the complete series of Spoils of War are superb television. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Keira DVD reviews
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Film & TV > Television > Drama
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
