To Serve Them All My Days (Miniseries)

Starring:John Duttine, Frank Middlemass, Alan MacNaughton, Neil Stacy, David King, Charles Kay, Belinda Lang, Kim Braden, Susan Jameson, Bruce Glover (III), Peter Arne, Daniel Radice, Michael Turner (II), Hugo Tillotson, Patrick Magill, Lockwood West, Jeffrey Segal, Edward Rawle-Hicks, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Peter Doran
Director: Peter Jefferies, Ronald Wilson, Terence Dudley
Studio: Acorn Media
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The life of an English schoolmaster may sound like dry stuff, but To Serve Them All My Days finds engrossing drama and dry wit in the most ordinary of circumstances. David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine), a young Welshman, returns from the trenches of World War I disillusioned and suffering from shellshock. Accepted as a teacher at an elite boy's boarding school called Bamfylde, Powlett-Jones fears he won't last--but the faith of the headmaster who hired him (Frank Middlemass) proves well-founded. Powlett-Jones immediately flies in the face of convention, fighting with a pompous science teacher (Neil Stacy), speaking out in favor of socialist reforms, and finding a mixture of discipline and empathy with the boys he teaches. Over the course of his 20-year rise through the ranks of Bamfylde, he finds and loses love with several women (Belinda Lang, Kim Braden, and Susan Jameson); one of the greatest strengths of To Serve Them All My Days is how fully realized these women are, each strikingly individual and self-directed.

Amazon.com

The life of an English schoolmaster may sound like dry stuff, but To Serve Them All My Days finds engrossing drama and dry wit in the most ordinary of circumstances. David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine), a young Welshman, returns from the trenches of World War I disillusioned and suffering from shellshock. Accepted as a teacher at an elite boy's boarding school called Bamfylde, Powlett-Jones fears he won't last--but the faith of the headmaster who hired him (Frank Middlemass) proves well-founded. Powlett-Jones immediately flies in the face of convention, fighting with a pompous science teacher (Neil Stacy), speaking out in favor of socialist reforms, and finding a mixture of discipline and empathy with the boys he teaches. Over the course of his 20-year rise through the ranks of Bamfylde, he finds and loses love with several women (Belinda Lang, Kim Braden, and Susan Jameson); one of the greatest strengths of To Serve Them All My Days is how fully realized these women are, each strikingly individual and self-directed.

Description

After barely surviving the trenches of World War I, an embittered young soldier takes a teaching post at Bamfylde, an elite boarding school in the uplands of West Devon. It is an unlikely job for a Welsh miner's son without a degree, but David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine) proves to be a rare schoolmaster, as passionate about learning as he is about teaching. Through two tumultuous decades, Powlett-Jones inspires his students with his courage and idealism, qualities that help prepare him to send another generation of young men off to fight yet another war. A beloved PBS Masterpiece Theatre classic adapted by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones's Diary) from the novel by R. F. Delderfield.

Customer Reviews:

Riviting Mini-Series.......2007-05-28

The mini-series, "To Serve Them All My Days," kept our attention so well that we finished the four DVDs without realizing the time had gone by! It is well worth the money we spent!

Great Story Telling.......2007-04-12

I saw "To Serve Them All My Days" when it was first broadcast on Masterpiece Theater and I have never forgotten the series, so I was very pleased to see that it was released on DVD. The story has been nicely related by other reviewers so I will concentrate on the wonderful performances. John Duttine is marvelous as David Powlett-Jones; his range and depth of emotion are perfectly portrayed in a role that must have been very demanding. Frank Middlemass makes Algy Herries a beloved Headmaster; gregarious, open and unflappable but very serious when he has to be. We are quite sorry when he "retires" as Headmaster but are glad that he does not entirely leave the story. Neil Stacy is excellent as Carter, a character that I could loath and find some sympathy and understanding for.

The women in David Powlett-Jones' life are certainly fascinating and charming. Belinda Lang was truly wonderful as his first wife, Beth. She played the role with particular sweetness tempered by good humor and good sense; Kim Barden made quite a seductive Julia Derbyshire and Susan Jameson made a troubled would-be politician and lover for Powlett-Jones.

I recall that Alistair Cooke had warm praise for Charles Kay who turned in a perfect performance as Alcock, the icy Headmaster who succeeds Algy Herries. Alan MacNaughton was a delight as Howarth, who may have had a bleak outlook on life but was a solid friend to David Powlett-Jones.

Having come from a military boarding school founded along the lines of English boarding schools by an Episcopal minister, it was easy for me to recall events from my own education and compare the teachers of Bamfylde with ones that I was taught by. The series is so good because it is true to life and I would believe that R. F. Delderfield based his books on real people and events from his own experience. This is an unforgettable series that is well-acted and holds your interest throughout its 13 parts. Highly recommended.

Entertaining, some subplots a little boring..........2007-04-11

David Powlett-Jones is a Welsh combat vet discharged with shell shock. Hired to teach school at an elite boarding school, David finds himself mired in a culture he despises: that of the wealthy social elite. Soon however, David becomes enamored with the school and teaching and chooses to stay.

David's life is an interesting one, though at times some sub plots were more interesting to this viewer than others. David's persecution at the hands of the evil South African headmaster went on a little long. Likewise, I found his last romantic interest tedious. She seemed a selfish character who used David as a crutch. I found myself disliking her intensely.

Overall, I enjoyed the series and felt it could've benefited from a few more episodes. 4 stars.

A Great Story.......2007-02-18

This is a story about a shell-shocked soldier, David Powlett-Jones who returns home from the First World War, and finds his healing and restoration while teaching at an English boarding school for boys called Bamfylde. The story is derived from the novel by R. F. Delderfield with the same title as the film, To Serve Them All My Days. It is a hopeful and encouraging story which sweeps across the years from the final days of the First World War to the approach of the Second World War. Many discouragements and even tragedy plague the years, but the general trend is upward and encouraging.

This is a film series that I had waited a long time to see. I had read the book, To Serve Them All My Days twice, the second time just before seeing the film version. By and large I thought the film version was quite well done. The adult characters are well developed as they are in Delderfield's writing. Many of the individual schoolboy characters are slighted somewhat in the film, however. The story flows well from episode to episode as it apparently was presented on television.

The DVD version is about eleven hours long on four DVDs. In shorter films derived from written stories, one can understand leaving some significant things out. I felt, however, that there were too many exclusions in the film version of To Serve Them All My Days which was plenty long enough to take into account important elements of Delderfield's original story. In that sense I was quite disappointed. I felt the film makers deleted too many of the stories about the individual schoolboys which give the written story reality and life. Plus, the entire aspect of the story based on the survival and recovery of Powlett-Jones' young daughter, Grace, who in the book lives through the accident in which Powlett-Jones first wife and Grace's twin sister Joan were killed. I use the word "aspect" because Grace figures very prominently through much of the story as Delderfield originally told it, partnering with her father from a very young age and aided in her recovery by two of the Bamfylde schoolboys in particular, and finally joining her father as a secretary. When such a major aspect of a story is removed the story becomes something different. A bit less of Powlett-Jones love life and common room discussions, and the inclusion of Grace's recovery, and more of the stories about the boys he served all his days would, in my opinion, have raised the film to a level of excellence.

Excellent!.......2007-01-04

This is an excellent version of the book. The main characters and the supporting are very well cast and continue to be a pleasure to watch.

Average customer rating:

To Serve Them All My Days
Starring: John Duttine , Frank Middlemass , Alan MacNaughton , Neil Stacy , and David King
Director: Peter Jefferies , Ronald Wilson , and Terence Dudley
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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One of my favourites of all time...

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Customer Reviews:

One of my favourites of all time..........2005-12-14

I spent the long weekend getting reacquainted with an old friend, so to speak. I got the boxed set of the wonderful miniseries, 'To Serve Them All My Days', based on the novel of the same name by R.F. Delderfield. I saw this first when I was barely a lad of sixteen or so, just at my school-leaving age and going off to university. I was amazed then at how much from 'before the war' remained true to form for school, and watching it again now twenty years later, it stands up to the test of time perfectly well (and I was once again amazed at the true-to-life nature of the whole enterprise). The series won the BAFTA award for the best television series of its year, and rightfully so.

The miniseries is done in thirteen parts, each just under an hour long, as a co-production of the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was filmed in a real public school, Milton Abbey School in Dorset (not too far from part of the country where the mythical Bamfylde School resides), and many of the 'extras' in school shots are actually school boys of the Milton Abbey School. The settings didn't have to be changed too much to accommodate the inter-war period décor, and of course the architecture for the most part was hundreds of years older.

However well done the sets and images are, this is still a teleplay about relationships and the coming of age, not just of the boys in the school, nor even of the lead character, Mr. Powlett-Jones, but really of the whole of society. The inter-war period in Britain was a fascinating time of societal development, particularly in terms of politics. Delderfield introduces this as an ever-present but never centre stage idea through the dealings of Powlett-Jones, son of a Welsh coal mining family, some of his out-of-school relationships, and the clash that this inevitably sets up with the privileged corps of boys at the school.

In the first episode, David Powlett-Jones has just returned from the trenches in the first world war, wounded both physically and spiritually. He is suspicious of the job offer at this upper-class bastion, but the gentle understanding of the headmaster, Algy Herries, encourages him to stay. His relationships with the other teachers are a fascinating study, particularly the gung-ho-warrior type Carter (whose not-always-disabled knee seems to have kept him out of the war) and the cynic-with-a-good-soul Howarth, who becomes Powlett-Jones' best friend over the course of their life together at Bamfylde.

Howarth chides Powlett-Jones at one point about the kind of monastic life that one can fall into at a remote school such as Bamfylde.

Howarth: Some men can live the celibate life. I don't fancy you're one of them.
David Powlett-Jones: What did *you* do about women all these years?
Howarth [pausing, smiling]: Your appetite for sordid revelations never ceases to astonish me.

Howarth reveals some of his indiscretions (remember, this is post-Victorian England, and the revelations, such as they are, would be considered exceedingly mild by television standards today). Powlett-Jones over the course of his twenty years at Bamfylde ends up with three primary loves; Beth, a young wife who dies early; Julia, someone not to be tied down to a school (or even the island of Britain), but keeps regular if long-separated contact with David over time; and Christine, the failed Labour candidate who becomes his second wife, taking on a role at the school as well, not the least of which is to remind the now-headmaster Powlett-Jones that there is a world outside the still-privileged halls of Bamfylde.

The teleplay is exceedingly well done, with the acting and the writing supporting each other in such a way to give real insight into the psychological make-up of the characters. John Duttine played David Powlett-Jones with a good amount of passion; however, I am torn between Frank Middlemass (as Herries) and Alan MacNaughtan (as Howarth) as to who my favourite actor is in the series. Both bring so much to their roles, and I can see myself in each of them in many ways more so than I can identify with Powlett-Jones. For the women, David's first wife Beth is played by Belinda Lang; Julia is played by Kim Braden (trekkies may recognise her from bit parts both in Star Trek film and series work); Susan Jameson plays Christine, David's second wife (fans of 'Coronation Street' may recognise her from that show). Each of the three is very well suited for their respective roles - Lang plays the young, optimist; Braden plays the worldly, ambitious but sensitive soul; Jameson plays the idealist who comes down to earth, managing to keep her ideals intact.

The play does a good job also of keep the boys from becoming a faceless, anonymous mass (a decided danger, given their uniformity in dress as well as age). There are particular boys who stand out, but one gets the sense from the watching that they are all individuals, and treated as such, both by the careful and caring headmasterly type Harries and Powlett-Jones, as well as the cynical Howarth (and even by the more scathing of the teachers, whose style is no longer in vogue).

The situations are credible, interesting, and instructive. The characters are fully formed and worthwhile. The production values are not to cinematic standards, but hold up very well over time (the lack of lavishness befits the nature of the school and the nature of the time as well).

This remains one of my favourite series of all time. The DVD has few extras, but among them are photographs, background information both on the school and on Delderfield, and the lyrics to the school song (which opens each episode, sung by the congregation of boys), by Kenyon Emrys-Roberts: 'Look ahead to a life worth living, Full of hope, full of faith, full of cheer,...'

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