Hope Against Hope | Resilience and Uncertainty in Wartime Britain
In A Family at War Season 2, Episode 6 – Hope Against Hope, the Ashton family clings to fragments of optimism as war continues to cast shadows over their lives. With news from the front uncertain and relationships strained by distance and fear, this episode explores the quiet strength needed to endure the unknown. A powerful portrayal of human resilience in the face of war’s harshest realities.
In A Family at War Season 2, Episode 6 – Hope Against Hope, the Ashton family clings to fragments of optimism as war continues to cast shadows over their lives. With news from the front uncertain and relationships strained by distance and fear, this episode explores the quiet strength needed to endure the unknown. A powerful portrayal of human resilience in the face of war’s harshest realities.
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01:00Have you got the flask?
01:07No, Mum's got it.
01:10Just look at your coat. Can't you put something else on for the shop?
01:13Oh, it'll brush off.
01:15How about some cocoa, then?
01:17Well, how about you making it? You can stay in bed in the morning.
01:20Tired?
01:21I'd be glad to get back to see if this carries on.
01:25Okay, okay. I'll put the coat on.
01:28Don't you think it's time you went to bed, miss?
01:30Oh, I always need to wake up when the all-clear goes.
01:33Ah, I think I've got to leave all these on here.
01:36I'm going straight up to bed.
01:38Has, uh, Margaret got a key?
01:40No, but I don't think we need wait up for her.
01:44Gone to Michael's, hasn't she?
01:45Yes.
01:46But your father will be back from the post shortly.
01:48Tell him I'll see to the alarm, will you, love?
01:50Good night.
01:52All right, Mum.
01:56Are you all right, son?
01:58Yes, yes, I think so.
02:00I'm sorry to bother you, but I've got this report to fill in.
02:03Shall I come back later?
02:06No, no, I'm all right. Carry on.
02:08Is it your wife we're trying to find?
02:11Um, a friend.
02:13Well, I'll just take your name for the time being, if that's all right with you.
02:19Armstrong, Michael Armstrong.
02:21Your house, is it?
02:23I'm the tenant, yes.
02:24Number 16, isn't it?
02:28Oh, uh, could you tell me the name of the lady, please?
02:32Porter.
02:33Marguerite Porter.
02:33Mrs. Porter.
02:36There's, uh, something I forgot to tell them.
02:38She's pregnant.
02:39Oh, well, I'll tell that to the doctor.
02:43Oh, there's some tea down at the post.
02:44It's only just down the road there.
02:45No, no, no, no, thanks.
02:46I'd rather stay there.
02:49Well, I'll go and have a word with the doctor, then.
02:51He's looking to one of your neighbours just now.
02:53Is there anything I can do?
02:54You just take it easy, salt.
03:10Margaret got back?
03:11No.
03:11Did somebody mention Coco?
03:17Well, Robert's making some.
03:18I'll place another order.
03:20One more Coco, Stuart.
03:21Steady as she goes.
03:22Steady as she goes?
03:24Oh, everything's port and starboard these days.
03:28Mum says she'll see to the alarm.
03:30What?
03:31She seems to think, uh, Margaret will be back tonight.
03:34Oh, I'll be able to look up, then.
03:37Gone to Michael's, hasn't she?
03:39Yes.
03:40Yes, she has.
03:41Is that it, then?
03:43It.
03:44Well, they're going to live together, aren't they?
03:46Frida.
03:48It's very late, love.
03:50Dad, aren't they?
03:51Perhaps.
03:52Look, I'm not shocked, you know.
03:54Well, I didn't expect you would be.
03:56I'm just sorry, that's all.
03:58I don't know where I am with him at all.
03:59Well, I thought you were supposed to be on Margaret's side in all this.
04:02Well, I am, of course I am.
04:04That doesn't automatically put me on his.
04:07I don't think she cares about him all that much, anyway.
04:10She's having his child, Frida.
04:13If you ask me, I think she was just desperate for a father for John George.
04:16Well, that's all a bit beside the point now, isn't it?
04:19Even so, I don't think she'd have looked at him again if it hadn't have been that she was expecting his child.
04:24So you'd want her to have to bring up two children without a father.
04:30Well, I wouldn't want her to be stuck with someone who's wrong for her for the rest of her life.
04:34And neither would you, would you?
04:35Would you like to take a look at her now?
04:42Please.
04:43Just for a minute.
04:44Yeah.
04:44Don't worry if she seems a little drowsy.
04:46We've given her something to help her sleep.
04:48Hello.
05:09You've hurt your arm.
05:14It's nothing.
05:15And your face.
05:17Tiny little cut, that's all.
05:20You'll let mum and dad know.
05:24Yeah, yeah.
05:25I'll go straight there.
05:25And I forgot to tell them about the baby.
05:31I told them.
05:32But it's important.
05:33They'll want to know.
05:36Tell them that it's four months.
05:39They know.
05:40I told them.
05:41Oh.
05:55Is the house all gone?
06:02Yeah.
06:04All gone.
06:09So there's nowhere to live together.
06:12We'll find somewhere.
06:14Yeah, but you don't want to, do you?
06:18You want to go and fight.
06:20No, no, no.
06:21I don't know.
06:23I don't know.
06:25Poor Michael.
06:28You're all at sixes and sevens, aren't you?
06:30It doesn't matter about me.
06:32We'll sort it out.
06:35Am I all right?
06:37You will be.
06:38But I forgot to tell them about the baby.
06:42They know.
06:43I told them about it.
06:46Nowhere to live together.
06:50Uncle Sefton promised us a flat.
06:53For John.
06:57For John to come back to.
07:12Frida.
07:12Frida.
07:14Frida.
07:16For me?
07:17Who else at this time of the morning?
07:18Who is it?
07:19The jolly swag man.
07:21Who is it?
07:22I gather he's coming on leave and he wants to stay.
07:25Oh.
07:26And tell him bed and breakfast, seven and six.
07:30It's all right.
07:31Just dad having his little joke.
07:34Yes.
07:35Yes, if you want to.
07:37You know, we ought to get a register.
07:40It's like an hotel these days.
07:41People coming and people going.
07:43She didn't come back last night, then.
07:45Oh, Margaret?
07:46No.
07:47Well, it's just the way she didn't once that raid got started.
07:49It's as nasty as any we've had.
07:51It's no use pretending with me, Edwin.
07:53I know she's gone to live with him.
07:54She wouldn't have come back anyway.
07:56She'll come back today for her things, I suppose.
07:59Do you mind very much?
08:01Yes.
08:03It's the best thing for her, though, isn't it?
08:06The only thing, probably, for her and the babies.
08:09Will John George stay here for the time being?
08:13In the daytime, I suppose, until she's finished at the school, anyway.
08:17Did she say anything to you about handing a notice in?
08:21Well, she won't hand it in just yet.
08:23Not until things are settled.
08:25Settled?
08:26In what way?
08:27Between her and Michael.
08:29They are settled, aren't they?
08:31Well, there's a chance that he might go into one of the services.
08:34He's a conscientious objector.
08:39He's been exempted.
08:41Well, it seems he's not too sure of his beliefs anymore.
08:44I talked to him the other night.
08:47Well?
08:48Well, I can't decide his beliefs for him, can I?
08:52Don't you think he owes Margaret a little certainty?
08:55Yes, I do.
08:58And if what you've just seen as the only way
09:00could have been settled weeks ago
09:02if you'd faced up to it at the time.
09:05Why else do you think they're held back?
09:07They're waiting for you to get used to the idea.
09:11I'll go.
09:17Owen's coming.
09:19Yes, I know that, love.
09:20But when?
09:22Oh, well, today.
09:25I'd better go and put some clean sheets on Margaret's bed, hadn't I?
09:34What's the matter?
09:42Oh, this is the one with the moustache, pretending to be Adolf.
09:45I bet you thought it was real, didn't you?
09:47Is that your little boy, is it?
09:48Yeah, only he's a girl.
09:50Oh, we had to have our hair cut.
09:51Knits.
09:52Me wife says it's a shelter.
09:53You got any kids?
09:54Yes, a boy and a girl.
09:55They're evacuated whales.
09:56I bet you're missing, eh?
09:58Well, where's your husband, then?
09:59He's in the Air Force.
10:01Yes, I went back off leave with him last night.
10:03I was hoping to stay near the base for a day, too,
10:05but everywhere was full up,
10:06so I had to camp out in the beach.
10:10I'll be there in a minute.
10:11You get out here?
10:14I'll start plowing my way through this lot, then.
10:17I'll tell that old Batlax out there she can sit down.
10:19She's been glaring at me for the last half hour.
10:21Only we was up all night, too,
10:23and the night before that.
10:25It's all right, then.
10:26Nothing I wouldn't do.
10:27All right.
10:28Excuse me.
10:55Excuse me.
10:57I beg your pardon.
10:59I'm Sheila, David's wife.
11:02Oh, yes.
11:04Oh, we only met once at the wedding.
11:06Well, you are Mrs. Porter, aren't you, John's mother?
11:21Oh.
11:22Service at last, have we?
11:23Hello.
11:23What are you doing here?
11:24Having a day off.
11:25You get shocked by that these days, don't you?
11:29Here.
11:30Where's Mum?
11:30Oh, she's gone to the...
11:34Hey, look, it's...
11:36It's bad news, though.
11:39Margaret was hurt in the bombing last night.
11:43Badly?
11:45Well, they say it's her back and her legs, mainly.
11:48Mum and Dad have gone to the hospital.
11:50I had to stay and look after John George.
11:52You haven't heard any sound from him, have you?
11:54No, no, I haven't.
11:55Oh, poor old Max.
12:00Yeah.
12:02It's just about the last straw, isn't it?
12:07Was it at this chap she told me about?
12:09Yeah.
12:11Is he?
12:12Oh, he's all right.
12:14We can go and see her tonight.
12:16Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it now, so, uh, what do you want for your breakfast?
12:26Oh, break, uh, well, nothing much, just a bit of toast or something.
12:30Hey, I thought sailors were supposed to have big appetites.
12:32Well, you get sick a lot, it puts you off it.
12:34Sick how?
12:34Well, seasick, you know.
12:35What, all the time?
12:38No.
12:39Not all the time.
12:41Some other time, though.
12:42Well, can't you take something for it?
12:43Well, I've tried all sorts.
12:44Raw eel and dried bread they gave me at one stage.
12:46It's awful.
12:47You've got such a drip.
12:48Oh, you'll get used to it?
12:50Nelson didn't.
12:51Here, you put the toast on, I'll go.
12:58In those?
12:59What do you mean, in those?
13:00They're very classy.
13:10Good grief.
13:11If it wasn't for the uniform, I'd say the fleet was in.
13:16Hello, hello, hello, hello.
13:18Oh, and how did you get here?
13:20You know, Messerschmitt.
13:22Well, it's a five-hour journey around me from the station, didn't you?
13:24Yeah, the station at this end.
13:27Oh.
13:29Oh, um, no reply.
13:34Well, thanks very much.
13:37He's waiting for a tip.
13:39Oh.
13:43Where is it from?
13:44Thanks, mate.
13:45It says, uh, please look after Celia.
13:47Coming to see you, not where.
13:48Signed, Harry Potter.
13:57I've been thinking of John such a lot lately.
14:02Yes.
14:03I imagine we all have.
14:06It's been such a little time.
14:09The years seem longer somehow.
14:12Well, these days, grey, all the same.
14:19October's a funny month.
14:21Different somehow.
14:23October?
14:24Yes, it pops up in my mind.
14:27October.
14:29I don't know why.
14:33Did Michael mention the baby?
14:35No.
14:38I don't think so.
14:40I haven't asked.
14:42Asked?
14:45You realise she could lose it.
14:50Now?
14:52It's possible.
14:55Like Cleveland.
14:57Oh.
14:58Better to finish her.
14:59He'll only marry her because of the baby.
15:07A release.
15:26It would be a release.
15:30For her or for you?
15:31You don't understand me at all, do you, Edwin?
15:36I don't know how you can even think...
15:37I've tried to be logical when I was her CC sense.
15:40With you, it's all...
15:42in here.
15:47She doesn't care for him.
15:49You don't know that.
15:51He certainly doesn't care for her.
15:55You don't know that.
15:58You'd see...
16:00if John came back.
16:01Now, who's being logical?
16:03Now, who's seeing sense?
16:05John isn't coming back.
16:07He's dead.
16:08Rotting somewhere.
16:09With two tags around his neck.
16:11Oh, Edwin.
16:12But it isn't all here.
16:13You know, some of it's up here.
16:15You can't run away from facts by...
16:17thinking your way around them.
16:21Those tags could still turn up one day.
16:26Why wait till then to face the fact?
16:30I'm glad Mrs. Porter can't hear you.
16:33I'm glad Margaret can't hear you.
16:36Would you wish it on, John, then?
16:38To come on to this?
16:42You can see her now.
16:43Don't worry.
16:44She's very cheerful.
16:45Oh, my love.
16:56Mum.
16:59Dad.
16:59Hello, my love.
17:01They're in Wales, and this is Thomas.
17:03We went on holiday to Wales.
17:05She's very nice.
17:06They like her very much.
17:07They're very happy there.
17:08He never understood about John's chest, Harry didn't.
17:10Almost wanting him to swim.
17:12The battles I had, you know, I did.
17:16Well, if you can't get through life without swimming,
17:19we all have to get through life without something,
17:22we want to use to tell him.
17:25Have you any food?
17:27Well, no, I haven't.
17:28I'm sorry.
17:29Without eating, I thought I'd get something at the station.
17:31It seems ages ago.
17:34We're coming into Liverpool now.
17:35Are we?
17:36Oh, I'm glad we left.
17:44I was brought up on the Wirral, you know.
17:49Has it been awful?
17:51Yeah, awful.
17:54Do they know that you're coming yet?
17:56Why, aren't they at home?
17:57Oh, yes, they're at home.
17:59Oh, I'm staying the night with a friend.
18:01It's Mr Ashton I'm coming to see, anyway.
18:04We had this letter, you see, Friday last week.
18:08You can read it if you like.
18:10It's about John.
18:11Oh, thank you, thank you very much.
18:38I wish people wouldn't, don't you?
18:42Well, I mean, it makes you look so helpless when the day comes when I can't lift a suitcase.
18:49I thought I'd get a taxi.
18:51Well, that'll be at work, you know, Mr Ashton.
18:53Oh, I haven't talked for that.
18:55That's across the water, isn't it?
18:57Yes.
18:57Now, look, I think we'd better go and get in the queue, don't you?
19:00Well, I'll come with you, then I can write the address.
19:01Is it all right, then, the ferry?
19:03Oh, yes, yes.
19:04Aren't any submarines in the river, you know?
19:15Come in.
19:15Oh, you found us.
19:21We've been on this side of the river for ages.
19:23I'm sorry to drag you over here, but it seemed the best place to talk.
19:26Oh, quite enjoyed the trip.
19:30Cigarette?
19:31No.
19:33Now, get you a cup of tea, it's only just been mashed.
19:35Oh, yes, please.
19:35All right.
19:36Let's sit down.
20:00Sugar?
20:01Mm-hmm.
20:06I'm sorry.
20:19This seems to be something that's expected of me because of my father.
20:23Expected of yourself, too, then, isn't it?
20:24Probably.
20:25I'm going back to that talk we had the other night.
20:28It's the uncertainty for Margaret that bothers me, Michael.
20:32You want to know whether I've decided to go in the army or...
20:36stick it out as a CO.
20:37Stick it out?
20:39Have you ever been a pacifist, Mr. Ashton?
20:41No.
20:42I may have had my doubts.
20:44It's not quite the same, is it?
20:46Of course, it's supposed to be quite a respectable position these days.
20:48Not like the last war with three out of ten in jail.
20:51No.
20:52Sticking it out probably sounds a bit exaggerated.
20:54Isn't it?
20:57Depends how thin-skinned you are, I suppose.
21:01I was a clerk in public service before this lot started.
21:03When the council found out I was a pacifist, they put me on army pay.
21:07Oh.
21:08It wasn't the money I minded, honestly.
21:10I didn't mind the odd anonymous letter.
21:12You can usually tell who they've come from, anyway.
21:14What I did mind was losing me friends, most of them.
21:19Or maybe they lost me.
21:22You're never altogether free from, well, embarrassment.
21:26Theirs and yours.
21:27You don't know quite how it happens, but you just seem to drift away, or they do.
21:34Yes, yes, I can see that.
21:36And, uh, quite a few people with my beliefs changed them, didn't they?
21:41Bertrand Russell, Joe.
21:43If they're right, I'm wrong, so...
21:46Isn't that just because they hated fascism?
21:48I hate fascism, too, Mr. Ashton.
21:50And hating it, you feel you should fight it with force.
21:52That bomb that nearly finished us off last night, and not just that, I do a pretty dirty job at the hospital, you know.
21:58It's dirty enough for a chap like me, and I'm not putting myself a cut above anybody else.
22:01But after all, butchers are more used to it, and they'd find it a pretty dirty job.
22:06I see more of what the fascists are doing to human flesh and blood, to children like my Barbara, than most people.
22:13You'd think I'd want to be up there doing a bit more than shake my fist, wouldn't you?
22:15And I do.
22:16Sometimes it's a natural reaction.
22:17I hate it, because in the end it means I have to drop bums to do just that, to human flesh and blood, to children like Barbara, for some other poor devil to sort out.
22:27That's madness.
22:28I don't know, Russell and Joe aren't fools.
22:30There are all sorts of other arguments, all sorts of other situations and counter-situations.
22:36I could bore you all afternoon.
22:37Oh, I suppose you thought I'd have some great unshakable conviction.
22:49I had once.
22:51Seems it wasn't as unshakable as I thought it was.
22:54I'm sorry, it must be very difficult for you.
22:57More difficult than standing up to get a bullet in my stomach.
22:59Well, it seems we're all at the receiving end these days.
23:01Seems to be a law like gravity for people.
23:03I'd call it a law of simplicity.
23:05We're all drawn by a need to simplify, but it's all bloody and complicated.
23:09Oh.
23:12And then there's Margaret, too, of course.
23:16Yes.
23:17Yes, there's Margaret.
23:18So, in the end, you see, the answer to the question you want to ask me, for me, is that there isn't one.
23:27Unless it is Margaret and Barbara and the baby.
23:38She's going to be all right, you know.
23:39Yeah.
23:40And the baby.
23:43Yeah.
23:44It'll take time and patience and peace of mind.
23:54Supposing she were to lose this baby, supposing she were free, would you...
23:58I'd still want to marry her.
23:59Yes.
24:00I wish I could think she'd give you the same answer.
24:03You don't think she would?
24:07I'm not sure.
24:08I sometimes think it is just the baby, you know.
24:13Hello.
24:14They sent me over to look at the secret weapon.
24:16Oh.
24:17Well, I'm sorry.
24:18I didn't mean to interrupt.
24:20Well, I wondered if...
24:21I've heard his piggy's pregnant.
24:23I thought I'd better offer my congratulations in person.
24:26I told you it was dead easy.
24:28Now you can change enough or you're halfway to being a father.
24:31I wouldn't say that.
24:32Well, short of the baby, of course.
24:35I feel like a great big lump.
24:37Well, you are a great big lump, but you'll manage just while we're out seeing Margaret.
24:41Look, there's nothing to it.
24:43Robert's an expert.
24:44Well, bully for Robert.
24:46Why can't he do it?
24:47Well, he might not be back.
24:49They might not let him in till visiting time.
24:51He's relying on his charm.
24:53I'm not sure he's got any, not that kind of charm.
24:55Would you say I had?
24:56Nope.
24:57Oh, well, Tarl, thanks very much.
24:59Tarl.
24:59Oh, you got something, though?
25:01Like a uniform.
25:04God, I'm sorry, Frida.
25:06I'm sorry, I just clean forgot.
25:09About Peter?
25:11Well, I didn't think.
25:13It was just a big, stupid remark.
25:14Typical.
25:16It's all right.
25:17I forget, too.
25:20There seems to be something about a war that makes you forget things so easily.
25:25People go away and don't come back and aren't going to come back.
25:29And after a while, you forget even what they look like.
25:37I'm sorry.
25:40I'm sorry.
25:45Owen?
25:47Hmm?
25:48Would you mind?
25:50What?
25:51Would you mind taking your hand off my knee?
25:54Oh.
25:57Why?
25:58Well, because I asked you to.
25:59Why?
26:01Because I asked you to.
26:04No.
26:05No?
26:05No.
26:06Owen!
26:07No, not until you've asked me properly.
26:08I have asked you properly.
26:09No, you haven't.
26:10You've implied.
26:11Implied?
26:11Implied.
26:12I see.
26:13Well, I withdraw the implication.
26:14Good.
26:14I withdraw the hand.
26:16I suppose that makes you feel virtuous.
26:17Oh, so you want me to be virtuous?
26:19Well, of course.
26:20I wasn't being anything else.
26:23Good.
26:24Almost every time I come here, you're blowing hot and cold.
26:26Well, maybe I've just started to take you seriously.
26:30Really?
26:32Do you mean that?
26:34Owen, the hand.
26:39So, Dad's in Manchester, is he?
26:42He'd tell you anything about his trip.
26:44He said he'd left you some papers to sign.
26:47Yes, I've signed them.
26:48And he seems to think it'd all take time.
26:51But sooner or later, you'll be managing director.
26:54Yes.
26:55I suppose I ought to thank you for that.
26:57No, no, no.
26:59It was his idea.
27:00Let's give him credit.
27:03There'll be some pluses in it for him, I need hardly add.
27:07I suppose if he is in Manchester tonight, I've got the house to myself.
27:12I wonder where he hides his scotch these days.
27:14Well, I'll ask you back to our house for the night, but we've got young Owen staying.
27:20Mr. Lashley.
27:21Well, I ran the house and they said you were here, so I thought I'd come on.
27:26Yes, I'm so sorry.
27:28Do come in.
27:29Let me take your case.
27:30Yes, thank you.
27:31Mrs. Porter.
27:32Well, I expect you're a bit surprised to see me here.
27:35We haven't been back since we moved, have we?
27:37Well, you've met my nephew, Tony, haven't you?
27:41Oh, yes.
27:42The night John went to France, wasn't it?
27:45Yes, I brought a message from him.
27:49Yes.
27:51Well, I must be off anyway.
27:52I'll look in before I go.
27:54You do that.
27:55Nice to see you again, Mrs. Porter.
27:59Mrs. Farther's place.
28:01Well, it's part of a family trust, actually.
28:03I got Mrs. Ashton's letter.
28:05She didn't say if she got the rompers, I sent my grandson.
28:10Anyway, I'd like to see him while I'm here.
28:12That is, of course, if nobody has any objections.
28:14Objections?
28:15Well, the truth is, Mr. Ashton, it has been out of sight, out of mind,
28:18since Harry and I left Liverpool, hasn't it?
28:20That letter I got from Mrs. Ashton was the first since Christmas,
28:23and Margaret hasn't written for weeks.
28:25Well, she hasn't been very well, as a matter of fact.
28:27Well, he is our grandson, you know.
28:29We do like to hear...
28:31Oh, dear.
28:32Oh.
28:34I'm sorry.
28:35I suddenly feel quite faint.
28:37I'll have to sit down.
28:38I haven't had any food lately.
28:41I keep forgetting.
28:43Forgetting to eat, you know.
28:44Okay, can I get you a cup of tea or a glass of water?
28:47No, no, no, no.
28:47It's all right.
28:48It doesn't matter.
28:50Oh.
28:52That's better.
28:55Mrs. Porter.
28:58Margaret was injured in the raid last night.
29:01She's in hospital.
29:02Hospital?
29:05Is the baby all right?
29:07The baby?
29:08Oh, yes.
29:09John George was with us.
29:10He's fine.
29:11Oh.
29:12Set back, mainly.
29:13Oh, dear.
29:15Oh, dear.
29:16That's terrible.
29:18Harry isn't well, you know.
29:20The days he's had off work the last month,
29:23and he's not a malingerer.
29:24He doesn't like to stay at home.
29:26That's why he hasn't come with me.
29:27He sent me a telegram to say you were coming.
29:30My daughter phoned it through.
29:32Oh.
29:33Well, I wonder why I did that.
29:36Was there something you wanted me to do for you?
29:38Yes.
29:40Well, we've had this letter, you see, about John.
29:46John?
29:47Yes, it's from a man in the army in Liverpool, well, here.
29:51And he was out in France, and he found this letter.
29:59John's letter was inside, you see.
30:01From what?
30:04He didn't say where he found it, you see.
30:06John's letter was inside it.
30:08And John's letter is to Harry, to his father.
30:10Well, it's about my birthday, reminding him.
30:14He always remembers my birthday.
30:15He never let my birthday go unnoticed.
30:17He just says he found it.
30:19He doesn't say where.
30:20Yes, I know.
30:21Well, that's why I'm here.
30:23That's, I mean, that's why I wrote to him.
30:26I arranged to come and see him.
30:28And you want me to come with you?
30:30Well, it's a public house, you see.
30:32The address, it's a public house.
30:34Mrs. Porter, I...
30:36Oh, I know what you're going to say.
30:37You're going to be just like Harry, aren't you?
30:38You're going to say, no, it's better if you don't see him.
30:41It's better if you're just right.
30:42Well, isn't it?
30:43Oh, yes, very well.
30:44Then I shall just have to go on my own, shall I?
30:46Would you like me to go instead?
30:49John's my boy, Mr. Ashton.
30:50Why should I ask you to go?
30:52Well, don't you think you might find it distressing for you?
30:56After what I've been through.
31:00The day they finally allowed me to read that telegram,
31:03I thought nothing more could happen to me in this world.
31:05Nothing.
31:05Yes, but then, when the other telegram didn't come,
31:10I realised it was just a question of time.
31:12The other telegram?
31:13Well, we haven't had the telegram to say he's been killed, have we?
31:16And if he had been killed, we'd certainly have had one by now, wouldn't we?
31:21Well, wouldn't we?
31:23Mrs. Porter, I'll come with you.
31:27But for the time being, shall we keep this to ourselves?
31:32What are you doing here?
31:43Visiting the sick.
31:45Oh, well, why?
31:46What time is it?
31:48Well, it's not visiting time.
31:50Oh, you'll get shot.
31:51No, no, no.
31:52I fixed it.
31:53Oh.
31:55Fixed it, did you?
31:56The old charm, you know.
31:57All the nice girls love a sailor.
31:59Oh, don't they?
32:00Well, uh, how are you, then?
32:06Oh, well, as well as can be expected.
32:09How are you?
32:10Mm, a bit bored, you know.
32:12Bored?
32:13Bet you've only just come home.
32:14Yeah, well, I'll be glad to get back when my leave's up, though.
32:17Don't let Mum know that, will you?
32:19No, of course not.
32:23Well, it'll probably be the States next trip,
32:25so Fred might get her fully-fashioned after all.
32:27What would you like me to bring for John George, and...
32:31It'll be another boy, I expect.
32:36Yes.
32:39Yes, well, I'll think of something.
32:43Poor love.
32:45Have I embarrassed you, having a baby and no husband?
32:48You'll understand when you're older.
32:57Mags, I do understand.
33:03No, you don't.
33:05Put the flower away, love.
33:10Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready?
33:12I'm licking a promise now, I'm ready.
33:15Your father isn't here yet.
33:18No sign of Mrs. Porter.
33:20That telegram didn't necessarily mean she was coming today.
33:24Hey, what do we do if she comes before we go?
33:27She'll insist on coming with us, about to.
33:29Oh, she'll have to just take her with us, that's all.
33:32And what if Michael's there?
33:33He can't come tonight, he's on duty.
33:38Oh, well, that puts off the evil day.
33:40Which is just as well, because it might never come, might it?
33:43What do you mean, Mum?
33:46You sure it's all right leaving Owen with the baby?
33:50Oh, doing good.
33:51Did both of them good, come to think of it?
33:54He seems in much better spirits than he was at Christmas.
33:57Yes.
33:58He does seem quite pleased with himself, doesn't he?
34:01Being promoted?
34:03Hmm.
34:05Anyway.
34:07You don't have to sit there, you know.
34:09You've done your duty.
34:10Yes, miss.
34:11Oh, get off with you.
34:12You don't want to spend your whole leave sitting in this place.
34:15It's nearly visiting time, anyway.
34:17Room for two on that chair.
34:18Oh, hello.
34:20There you are.
34:20Who says the younger generation have no respect, apart from father?
34:23What are you doing here?
34:25Flying visit, on my way to the station.
34:27Well, you've come a funny route, but...
34:30Sit down, both of you.
34:31Oh, one of you.
34:34Well, after you.
34:35No, no, no, no.
34:36After you.
34:36Age before beauty.
34:38Thank you very much.
34:41Well, two sailors all to myself.
34:43I won't let this down in a hurry.
34:45You're looking in decently good health to me.
34:47Tony, who lets you in?
34:50Oh, uh, out of hours, you mean?
34:52Yeah.
34:52Well, that blonde one with the cheeky smile.
34:54Uh-huh.
34:55Same here.
34:58Oh, are you, uh...
34:59Well, I said I'd see her on the way out.
35:01Oh, well, don't worry.
35:01I won't clear your picture.
35:02I've got a train to catch.
35:03Who's worried first come, first served?
35:05A bit old for you, isn't she?
35:07A bit young for you, though, I'd have thought.
35:09I thought you both came to see me.
35:12Yes, well, I did.
35:13Oh, sorry you're taking up my time for me.
35:14Who's there?
35:18Coming!
35:18Uncle Owen, come back soon.
35:33Oh, uh, they've gone to the hospital.
35:36Oh, I see.
35:38Oh, and I'm managed to get off work.
35:39I was hoping to go with them.
35:40You're...
35:41Michael Armstrong.
35:42Ah.
35:43Oh, well, I'd better get off and get up.
35:45Listen, you don't know anything about it, John.
35:47Oh, I bet.
35:48You wouldn't, I mean, uh...
35:50You see, I...
35:52I don't miss visiting ours.
35:53Oh, mate, don't let me down there.
35:54I suppose I could get there before they all leave.
35:56It's all right, I'll...
35:57God bless you, mate.
35:59Where is it?
36:00In here.
36:17I don't think Frieda's all that keen on kids.
36:23What?
36:24You reckon?
36:25Well, she does go on about marriage a bit.
36:28Yeah?
36:29I reckon she's right, don't you?
36:32Well, I think it has its compensations, I suppose.
36:35You managed his nappy all right, or, uh...
36:42Didn't he, uh...
36:43He did.
36:45Oh, frankly, if I didn't feel so down for the poor little bastard...
36:49What's he mean down?
36:50Well, you know, him not having a father and all that.
36:53Yeah.
36:54Yeah, it's rotten, isn't it?
36:55Yeah.
36:57Hey, there was a cracking little Judy at the hospital.
36:59I reckon I shall want to go back with me.
37:01Leave some...
37:01You dirty bastard.
37:02Would you like me to straighten your pillows for you?
37:04No, thanks.
37:05It's all right, thanks.
37:11I suppose there's a lot of very bad people in here, are there?
37:15From the Blitz, like you?
37:17A few.
37:18Oh, I can't stand hospitals.
37:19I never have been able to stand hospitals.
37:23What are the screens round for?
37:25Over there.
37:28I don't know.
37:30Oh.
37:32You know, we sold the house.
37:39Yes.
37:40Yes, that's what you've come about, isn't it?
37:43Yes, well, yes, in a way.
37:45I do.
37:51We should have been closer to each other, you and I, you know that?
37:54We should have been closer.
37:56Well, we get on quite well together, really.
37:58We should have been able to confide in each other.
38:01How's Harry?
38:03Oh, yes.
38:05You always get on with Harry, don't you?
38:06We should all get on.
38:08We've been through so much together.
38:09Oh, that's true enough.
38:11That's certainly true.
38:12How is he?
38:14Oh, he's not very well.
38:15As a matter of fact, he's not well at all.
38:17He's always complaining of some pain or other.
38:21Well, just headaches, I suppose.
38:23And we all get them, don't we?
38:24He used to have to put up with some of the headaches I have to put up with sometimes.
38:28Has he seen a doctor?
38:29Oh, he went in the end.
38:30It's always been the labour to get him to go to the doctor's.
38:33Well, that's what they're there for, isn't it?
38:36Did he say what it was?
38:37I said it was nothing.
38:39Well, that's all he'd tell me, anyway.
38:40Nothing, he said, after all that fuss and bother.
38:43Of course, if I know Harry, he wouldn't have given them a straight story.
38:46Well, they can't do anything for you if you don't give them a straight story, can they?
38:51He comes in at night and he just sits there, staring.
38:58He's always been a bit of a stairer.
39:00It used to embarrass me.
39:03Anyway, I've got him to stay in bed for a week at last.
39:08One of the neighbours is looking in on him while I'm here.
39:11I hate the idea of people going through your things when you're not there, don't you?
39:14Well, I'll give him my best wishes.
39:16Here we are, then.
39:18How's that?
39:19Lovely.
39:19They're not like they were before the war, are they?
39:23Oh, even the flowers have taken to wilting these days.
39:29Well, I'll see if mum and dad want to come in.
39:31Aren't there any more chairs?
39:33Well, they only allow two visitors in at a time, you see.
39:36Oh, I suppose that means I'll have to go.
39:39Well, you could come back again in a minute or two.
39:42We could take turn and turn about.
39:44Perhaps they won't want to come in just yet.
39:46After all, they can see you any time, can't they?
39:48Go and tell them.
39:49One thing about being in hospital, you do get plenty of company.
39:57I hardly see anybody from one day's end to the next, except Harry.
40:01I thought I'd leave it all behind me, you know, in Liverpool, the memory of those awful days after we got the telegram.
40:13But even when you know, as I do, that all you've got to do is hang on and wait, and wait, and wait a little bit.
40:24Don't cry.
40:26Don't cry.
40:29Please, don't cry.
40:38Seeing you again.
40:40It's brought it all back to me, seeing you.
40:43Look, if you don't go in, she won't come out, I promise you.
40:49But there are only supposed to be two of us, love.
40:51Well, go in anyway.
40:52Well, I'll wait out of here.
40:54Now, look.
40:55Go and see your daughter.
40:56Go on, the pair of you.
40:57Oh, I managed to get here, after all.
41:08Look, she mustn't go in.
41:09Why, is she...
41:09No, no, no, look, she's all right.
41:11Look, there's something I've got to tell you.
41:12Come outside, come on.
41:13Yes, good.
41:13There's something very important, please.
41:17Mrs. Porter, I think perhaps we ought to go.
41:19The siren's been going before ten these last few nights, and it's quite a long tram ride to that address.
41:23Oh, yes, yes, well, of course, if you say so.
41:25Will we see you in the morning, Mrs. Porter?
41:28Oh, no, no, I shall be leaving quite early.
41:30I'd like to come and see John George again quite soon, though, if nobody minds.
41:35Our best wishes to Mr. Porter.
41:37Yes, thank you.
41:38Well, uh, goodbye then.
41:45Goodbye, Mrs. Ashton.
41:46Goodbye, Mrs. Porter.
41:50If I'm not back before the siren goes...
41:52Yes, sir, I'll see to everything, Edwin.
41:54Well, there's spare batteries for the torture in the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
41:58Yes, sir, I know where the spare batteries are.
42:07I didn't think we were going to get a chance to talk at all, love.
42:12It wasn't too bad, was it?
42:14I felt all the time she could tell I was pregnant.
42:18I felt like a whore.
42:19Love, have they said anything yet about the baby?
42:29No.
42:32I'm sorry, I didn't ask.
42:33We did want a tea.
42:34Yes, thanks.
42:36Oh, I'm sad to meet me here, but Robert might not have got back.
42:39No, he wasn't there when I left.
42:41You'll be able to see Margaret tomorrow, won't you?
42:43Yes.
42:44Well, that's all right, isn't it?
42:45Isn't it?
42:46You're a very practical sort of person, aren't you?
42:49Am I?
42:49I don't know.
42:51I don't spend a lot of time wondering about what sort of person I am.
42:54Do you think I do?
42:55I don't know, do you?
42:57Possibly.
42:58I can't see that there's a lot of point in it, that's all.
43:00You may well be right.
43:01Then why do it?
43:03Why be the sort of person who wonders about being the sort of person he is?
43:06Oh, that's all quite beyond me.
43:07And one should never go beyond oneself.
43:10Do you talk to Margaret like this?
43:12No, you don't like me very much, do you?
43:14Look, have I ever said that?
43:15No, and because I've said it, you're embarrassed because you don't like me very much, do you?
43:20Well, if you must know, I don't think you're the right sort of person for Margaret, that's all.
43:24In the way in which you obviously feel you're right for someone like Owen.
43:30That's my business, isn't it?
43:33I'm sorry, you shouldn't goad me.
43:35Will you stay with Margaret if she loses the baby?
43:40I wish you hadn't said that.
43:42It's an honest question.
43:43It's a very heartless and unfeeling question at this point in time, in the way in which you ask it.
43:48As a matter of fact, I've been asked it once before today in a rather different manner.
43:52The answer was yes.
43:54It still is.
44:23There we are.
44:25One orange aid.
44:26Isn't he?
44:28He's serving on the other side.
44:30He'll join us in a minute or two.
44:32Oh.
44:37I suppose this is all right, is it?
44:40It is out of a bottle.
44:41Yes, yes, it's out of a bottle.
44:43You can see it in the eyes, can't you?
44:55Eyes?
44:57The baby.
44:59You can see where he gets those eyes.
45:03Yes.
45:04Yes, he's very like his father.
45:07Just like looking at him when he was a baby.
45:11Do you believe in God?
45:17Sometimes.
45:21I've never been much of a church-going woman.
45:23I don't know why.
45:24I was certainly brought up to it.
45:25And I brought John up to it, too.
45:28I've never been one who likes going out in public.
45:30You know, I've always been one who likes her own home.
45:33I suppose if God's anywhere, he's everywhere.
45:38And he's certainly deserted us now.
45:41I remember saying to Harry at the time, where is he now, I said.
45:45Where is he now in our hour of need?
45:49Mrs. Porter, I want you to promise me something.
45:52Promise me that you won't expect too much of this.
45:56Anything, in fact.
45:57Oh.
45:59Makes no difference to me, one way or the other.
46:01Oh, I've come.
46:03I mean, I had to, but I'm not expecting any miracles.
46:07I don't need miracles, Mr. Ashton, believe me.
46:10It's what you're feeling here that counts.
46:13Oh, he's coming.
46:14What's his name?
46:15What's his name?
46:15I forgot what I said his name was.
46:16Gawking.
46:17Gawking.
46:18Mrs. Porter?
46:19Yes.
46:20This is Mr. Ashton.
46:23I'm glad you got the letter.
46:25Sorry it took as long as it did,
46:26but it was with some things I couldn't get at for some time
46:29and what with one thing and another.
46:31Do you reckon I'll come tonight?
46:32It's on the cards, I suppose.
46:34That letter was from my son.
46:36Yes.
46:37Yes, I could tell that.
46:39The flat was tucked in when I found it.
46:40I wouldn't want you to think I'd opened it up or anything.
46:42I had to put it in another envelope
46:44because the ink had run.
46:45You couldn't read the address very easily, you see.
46:47Where did you find it?
46:51We had a telegram saying that John was missing,
46:55believed killed.
46:56You've heard nothing else?
46:58Oh, no.
46:58No.
46:59We haven't had the other telegram.
47:01The other one?
47:02Mrs. Porter means that we haven't had a telegram
47:04saying that he's definitely killed.
47:07Oh, I see.
47:09Where did you find it?
47:12Mrs. Porter, it's not going to be any help to you.
47:15It's like I said in the letter, you see.
47:16I just found it.
47:18Like you might find anything on the ground, you see.
47:22Oh, wasn't there...
47:25There was nobody around at all.
47:28I was lost, you see, trying to find me unit,
47:30or anybody's unit.
47:32There was bits of camps about,
47:34where chaps had been now and then.
47:37That's where I found it.
47:39Near a place they'd pulled out of,
47:40not far from Tuna, it was.
47:45Was nobody there?
47:46No.
47:48I'm sorry.
47:49I should have said in the letter,
47:51well, I should have made it more plain.
48:00Is that...
48:02Through that door there.
48:03I wish my missus was here.
48:11She's on the edge, isn't she?
48:13Yes.
48:14It's a pity we couldn't have had a talk before you met her.
48:18My missus had a missing telegram about me.
48:21She lost two stone.
48:23God knows how many years of her life.
48:27Are you a relative?
48:28Well, her son, John, married my eldest daughter.
48:32I see.
48:34It's a right bloody old mess, isn't it?
48:36I could tell I had to be careful the minute I saw her.
48:39Dotted on him, did she?
48:41Yes.
48:42Yes, she did a bit.
48:44She thinks he's still alive, you know.
48:47It's hard to know what to do for the best, isn't it?
48:50I could have sent that letter on months ago,
48:52only why stir it up for some poor soul, I thought.
48:56I'd look at it now and then.
48:59I couldn't bring myself to burn the bloody thing.
49:03In the end, I sent it.
49:09I'd like to tell you something.
49:12I found it on him.
49:14On John?
49:15I know it was the same, because I looked at his tags.
49:18If I tell you, it'll be up to you, won't it?
49:22What you tell her.
49:24Yes.
49:24Yes, of course.
49:26He was lying at the side of the road.
49:28No holes in him, no blood or anything that I could see.
49:32Badly bruised, though.
49:35Awful, really.
49:37I felt for his ticker as best I could.
49:40I had to think twice before I got the right side,
49:42so that's how much I know.
49:44His pay book went on him.
49:46I was just going to take his tags off
49:48when the jerry plane started coming up the road,
49:50and I copped this.
49:51Oh, I lost it, you might say.
49:55I staggered around for a bit,
49:57and then a couple of officers picked me up.
49:59I tried to tell them about your chap,
50:01but I was faint enough half the time.
50:03The letter was still in me hand when they took it off.
50:09They must have put it with me things.
50:11So that's it.
50:12Except for one other bit.
50:17Just before the planes came over,
50:18it's up to you what you make of it.
50:23I just had the feeling
50:24he wasn't dead, that's all.
50:27I can't make it any better than that.
50:29Just the feeling I had.
50:31Has he?
50:35You can't tell a woman a story like that, can you?
50:38No.
50:39No, you can't.
50:40So now you know.
50:43Or I know.
50:45You've heard nothing more?
50:47Nothing.
50:50It's a right bloody mess, isn't it?
50:52I brought these yesterday, me.
51:03I couldn't...
51:04Mrs. Porter.
51:05Freed to rustle me out.
51:06Have the others come?
51:08No, they haven't arrived yet.
51:09They'll be along soon, I suppose.
51:12Well, no raids last night.
51:15No, no, no raids.
51:16Perhaps they think we've had enough.
51:18Yeah, perhaps they do.
51:22I wanted to tell you.
51:27All that business about feeling I'd have to join up.
51:32I won't be.
51:39Because of me?
51:43Partly.
51:44Quite a lot, actually.
51:46And the baby, of course.
51:48I'll just have to go on objecting,
51:50only not quite so conscientiously, I suppose.
51:52Just makes it that much harder.
51:53I don't know.
51:54Why did I ever think it ought to be easy?
51:58You're a funny man.
52:00Yeah.
52:01Well, I have some news for you, too.
52:05The baby's going to be all right.
52:07I'm not going to lose it.
52:10Would have been a way out for you, though, wouldn't it?
52:12What makes you think I want a way out?
52:17I don't want a way out, do you?
52:19I don't want a way out for you.