Review: The Spoils of War
DVD: The Spoils of War (1980 – )
Network on Air’s release of all three series of The Spoils of War is a very welcome addition to their already breathtaking array of television classics.
It tells the story of two families from the north of England in post World War 2 Britain; one working class and the other upper-middle class mine owners. It’s a well written drama/soap opera, that despite it’s unfortunately grainy (no Blu-ray clean up here, it’s Granada TV all the way) look and creaky sets is solidly written and acted. It spans the stories of the sons of two different families who join the British Army, one falling in love with a German girl and a brother thought to be dead in Burma who 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 (who she had an affair with a Ukranian POW…Imagine Dallas but set in 1945), while the rich family have to contend with heartache and their business being nationalised by those damned Labour types. Over the 3 series it expands throughout Europe and the Cold War making this quite a forgotten epic!
Once again Network on Air breathe new life into what could easily have been a forgotten series and have given it a platform for everyone to enjoy once more.
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from discs kindly supplied by Network on Air.
