The Crimson Field, what did you think?

I too was very disappointed, just hope it gets better, as perhaps they were just setting the scene for the future. The cast is very good, but there again, there is so much 'honest' information about the war that the fiction just seems that. I think watching Antiques Road Show just before The Crimson Field rather took the shine away. What a lovely tribute the Antiques was to all those who served and suffered the results.

The Antiques Road Show was so good, PRINTMISS. We visited Thiepval (sp) a couple of years ago, and are going again next month to Ypres. Impossible to comprehend the fact that all of those names on that memorial and those such as the Menin Gates, were men who were completely lost.
Wasn't too sure about Crimson Field. It may improve, and as you said, with the information we already have about WW1, it may end up just being a 'story'.

I was in floods by the end of the Antiques Roadshow and more worried about the fate of the cake in The Crimson Field.....think that sums up what I thought!

I watched it but then wondered what it was supposed to add to my feelings about WWI. The characters were terribly clichéed, though I do wonder what the addition of Suranne Jones as the biking sister will do to the mix. I'll keep an eye on it.

Can't really critiscise it as I didn't watch it but my first thought when I heard about it was that they'd had an unexpected success with Call the Midwife and had formulated this to cash in on that and it would feel somewhat contrived.

We watched Endeavour instead and by the sound of things made a good choice. OH not good with blood and gore of a battle field but the odd garrotting doesn't bother him at all!

Please don't take what I am about to say badly and I really don't want to upset anyone particularly given the dreadful number of young lives lost in wars. Sometimes I wonder if there is too much war commemoration going on. Even my book club is doing it, we are reading about Mary Seacole (eat your heart out Michael Gove). Remembering is one thing but we do seem to have the possibility of the real thing happening now and this breaks my heart.

I echo your thoughts, DebnCreme. I was chatting to one of my sisters the other night and we agreed that the media were overdoing WW1. However, I wonder if we would feel the same if any of our forebears had been killed or injured (or escaped unscathed) in either of the WWs. This makes us unusual and very lucky.

AR was indeed very moving. The item about the hero relative of the three generations was remarkable, the fact the expert could hardly speak is testimony to that.
CF was indeed predictable. I could have written the script for the sister passed over for promotion. Not giving the PTS guy his ticket home,eating the cake herself, check! I will give it another go and see.

As for WW1 overload not sure about that one.

I'm enjoying it so far.

My grandfather came back from the war with flu and passed it on to his baby son (would have been my uncle) who sadly died. Grandfather lived to a ripe old age.

It is not just WW1 I am thinking about but all major wars pre 1950. We will, no doubt be 'celebrating' 70 years on from WW2 soon. I would not want to forget and always wear my poppy with pride and thanksgiving each year. I just feel we are taking things too far and possibly bringing about further dreadful events.

Sorry friends, that's what happens when I sleep badly. Off now for a good swim to cheer myself up.

My grandmother lost her sister, her mother and her 7-month old baby boy from Spanish Flu at the end of WW1, all within one week Debn. We do well to remember.

My aunt was a volunteer nurse in France during WW1 (she died of influenza at 21), so I watched with interest. But I was disappointed, I found it to be too clean, everything was incredibly spick and span, the uniforms and bedding were pristine, surely this wouldn't have been possible given the circumstances?

Agree with you Deb
I will never forget the sacrifices made by our parents' and grandparents' generations but I don't like the 'celebrations' - the horror is too real.
I always attend the Remembrance Day Service in the village, and I have some photos from my grandfather's service, including one of about 12 men standing by some artillery. It's entitled 'All that were Left' - the only ones from his regiment to return from the front.
That's enough for me.

My grandson wanted to learn about the First World War, so we went into the village to look at war memorials. Over the past month we have done lots of online research and found out that five of the young men, aged between 18 and 21, died on the Somme. Three are commemorated at Thiepval.
One is buried at Bouzincourt and one at Bully-Grenay. All these men were miners together, in the Durham Pals.
My grandson would never think of watching Antiques Roadshow, but he watched it with me because he recognised the names, and he was visibly upset.
We have been to the DLI Museum in Durham, and he has handled the guns.
I would not have thought of doing this with him if it wasn't for the commemorations.
He now wants to find out if any of my family fought or died in the war. Three of them died that I know of, and one came back but never spoke again. I know this, but will let him find out for himself.
He has watched lots about the war in short bursts and knows more than I ever did at his age. I do not think that's a wrong thing. My brother, sister and brother-in-law were all in the army, and can tell him how horrible and unnecessary war is.
Hopefully the more people see of the futility of war, the less chance there will be of World War 3 starting in the Balkans.

The Antiques Roadshow just before was very moving and what really finished me off was the playing of Karl Jenkins "Benedictus,"(from the Armed Man.)
The cello plays this theme at the start it is just amazing as is the choral input.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc1Zoz-NUro

There is no argument from me durhamjen on there being many programmes showing the gruesome reality of WW1, and I think it is fantastic that it is on the school curriculum and school children are doing research and making visits. Which makes my comments about The Crimson Field more pertinent I think, it looked too sanitised, no mud, and the characters were one dimensional. Unless it improves hugely, it is not going to show a very accurate portrayal of a field hospital in WW1 I feel. My brother has done a great deal of research, and when he visited the grave of our Great Uncle who died in 1916 it was oddly moving to realise that my brother was the first family member to visit the grave ( this was in 1989), or grandparents were never able to visit. Great Uncle was just a boy like all of them, 20 the same age as my son.

I suspect this first episode is set at the very beginning of the war when everyone thought it would 'be over by Christmas'. I enjoyed the first episode as an introduction to the characters but will be disappointed if things don't look up as we get deeper into the conflict.

As for characters being 'one dimensional' I thought there was quite a complexity introduced for a first episode and I certainly saw two-sides of several characters being portrayed.

I wondered if they had been sent out there because they had been disobedient in their previous posts. My mother would have said "They would have been sacked if they'd talked like that to matron." I suppose she did try to sack one of them.
I'd like to know how they managed to have so many chamber pots.

Finding this really heavy going, not sure I will watch any more, it is so slow and really lacks any true emotion, I think.

I am finding it hard going now
Durhamjen I agree that the insubordinate behaviour seems to being ignored. This seems to happen with the soldiers as well as nurses. There is a level of answering back that I do not think would have been tolerated in that time.

Not to mention the discussion about homosexuality between the soldier and the nurse.

I've watched it but find that there is nothing/no one really holding my interest. The matron and the sister seem to alternate between being slightly sinister and being caring and sympathetic, and I just don't care about any of them.

I don't think I'll bother again.

I didn't bother last night - watched Endeavour instead and wasn't thrilled with that either.

I didn't bother last night - watched Endeavour instead and wasn't thrilled with that either.

How did I manage that? I thought I'd managed to control the habit of double posting.