“To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

To Serve Them All My Days is a British television drama series, adapted by Andrew Davies from R. F. Delderfield's 1972 novel To Serve Them All My Days. It was first broadcast by the BBC over 13 episodes in 1980 and 1981. It was broadcast in Australia in 1981 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and in 1982 by PBS in the United States as part of their Masterpiece Theatre anthology series.

Plot

As in the novel, the protagonist is David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine), a coal miner's son from South Wales, who has risen from the ranks and been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the First World War. In 1918, after being injured and shell-shocked, he is hired to teach modern history at Bamfylde School, a fictional public school in North Devon, in the southwest of England, where he wins the respect and acclaim of colleagues and pupils. He serves under headmaster Algy Herries (Frank Middlemass), forms a friendship with Ian Howarth (Alan MacNaughton) and marries Beth (Belinda Lang). He engages in a long bitter rivalry with the jingoistic science master Carter (Neil Stacy) but the two of them later become friends. Powlett-Jones is eventually appointed headmaster.

Production

The series was filmed over 11 months in 1980,^[1] with Devon and Dorset locations^[1] including Milton Abbey School in Dorset.^[2] Besides the exterior filming, indoor scenes were filmed on a soundstage.^[4]

Cast

Reception

Writing for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor described the production as "a richly textured tapestry crammed with the social details that were the speciality of Mr. Delderfield",^[3] with "a steady flow of insightful and touching moments".^[2] He praised the performances of the cast and that of Duttine in particular.^[2]^[3] People magazine called the series a "colorful chronicle of post-World War I England that never crosses over to the gooey side of sentiment."^[4] In a review for the DVD release in 2011, PopMatters was less enthusiastic, calling Delderfield's material "inconsequential" and writing: "The action veers sluggishly from the mildly diverting to the excruciatingly dull." The review summarised the series as "basically a dated, dull, tiresome, tedious old drama by an author whose reputation is far from robust."^[5]

The adaptation was nominated in the Best Drama Series category at the 1981 British Academy Television Awards and in the Outstanding Limited Series category at the 1983 Primetime Emmy Awards.^[6]

DVD release

All episodes of To Serve Them All My Days have been made available on DVD in the UK, Australia and the US.

References

1. ^¹{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=John J.|title=TV View; How an Unknown Became a British Star|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/21/arts/tv-view-how-an-unknown-became-a-british-star.html|accessdate=5 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 November 1982}}
2. ^¹²{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=John J.|title=TV Weekend; A Series That Makes the Rerun Worthwhile|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/15/arts/tv-weekend-a-series-that-makes-the-rerun-worthwhile.html|accessdate=5 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 June 1984}}
3. ^¹{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=John J.|title=Masterpiece Theater Weaves a Rich New Tapestry|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/10/arts/masterpiece-theater-weaves-a-rich-new-tapestry.html|accessdate=5 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 October 1982}}
4. ^{{cite web|title=To Serve Them All My Days|date= 11 October 1982 |url=http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-to-serve-them-all-my-days-vol-18-no-15/|accessdate=26 April 2018|magazine=People}}
5. ^¹{{cite web|title=Bamfylde School is No Hogwarts!|date= 24 May 2011 |url=https://www.popmatters.com/141606-rf-delderfields-to-serve-them-all-my-days-2496024319.html|accessdate=26 April 2018}}
6. ^{{cite web|title=35th Emmy Awards Nominees/winners|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1983?page=2=Emmys.com|accessdate=13 February 2017}}

External links