Set in a world in which Nazi Germany won the Second World War, this is a superb and thought-provoking alternate history. A Nazi victory is one of the best known and most frequently utilised alternate history concepts, one which was already decades old in 1978. It has produced some of the best stories in the history of the genre as well as some of the worst. This three part serial approached the concept through the lens of television as it concerns the production of a soap opera entitled "An Englishman's Castle" which takes place in London in 1940 during the Nazi invasion and subsequent occupation of the UK. The serial is brilliantly written by Philip Mackie whose script hits all of the right notes and skilfully directed by Paul Ciappessoni, both BBC stalwarts.
The serial stars Kenneth More in a wonderful performance as Peter Ingram, the 58-year-old creator, writer and producer of "An Englishman's Castle". Ingram fought in the war and joined the resistance after the occupation. He hid out in the hills with his comrades for months - comparing the situation to that of the ancient Britons, who had themselves been faced with numerous Roman invasions - until the German occupiers announced an amnesty for all resistance fighters. The Nazis still have a tight grip on the UK in 1978. However, the British government of Quislings maintains a façade of normal life. To that end, not a single swastika is seen. Discounting a fictional Nazi named Heinz in the soap who is intended to be likeable, the only German seen is a beautiful young woman named Anya. Her appearance and demeanour do not exactly scream "oppressor." For his part, Ingram turns a blind eye to the realities of Nazi rule in Britain, which includes a police force which appears civilised but is in actuality every bit as brutal and sadistic as the Gestapo.
Over the course of its three year existence, the soap has become not only the most popular show on British television but a huge success in German-dominated Europe, being broadcast in 15 countries altogether. The main characters of the soap are Mr. and Mrs. Worth, their sons Frank and Bert and the latter's one-time fiancée Sally. In a typical soap opera twist, Sally and Frank have fallen madly in love, which Sally chooses to reveal to Bert the night before Frank leaves to fight the German invasion. Mrs. Worth is oblivious to this and seats Sally between the two brothers, an obvious piece of writing on Ingram's part.
The soap plays a vital role in perpetuating the collaborationist government's myth that the Nazis really aren't all that bad and that all right thinking people should want peace and comfortable lives at all costs. Fortunately, Mackie is nowhere near the obvious writer and "terrible crap merchant" that Ingram is as this point nicely illustrates that period dramas often say as much or sometimes even more about the time that they were made as the time in which they are based. The soap does involve a storyline in which Bert joins the resistance after Frank is killed and another in which their father suffers a heart attack after listening to news on the progress of the invasion on the radio. However, these elements are designed to remind the British people that they put up a fight before Germany achieved victory so they don't feel bad about themselves. It's really just another way of keeping the population docile.
Ingram is perfectly willing to keep his head down and go along with the status quo until the programme controller Harmer, played by a suitably slimy and intimidating Anthony Bate in an extraordinarily effective performance, objects to a character being given the name of Rosenthal. Ingram tells him that the character is drawn from life, a tribute to a Jewish friend of his who was later killed in a concentration camp. For perhaps the first time in years, Ingram begins to question the role that he is playing in his society.
Ingram, who is married with two grown sons, has a history of taking young actresses to his bed and Jill Freeman, who plays Sally, is the latest recipient of that dubious honour. Jill, played in an excellent performance by Ilsa Blair, makes no secret of the fact that she has no great love for either her part or the soap. However, for reasons of her own safety, she does keep two other pieces of information secret: her Jewish heritage and her membership of the underground resistance. She tells Ingram that she was ordered to get close to him so that she could recruit him and have him include the code phrase for the long-planned uprising in the soap. Ingram's relationship with Jill serves to reawaken the romantic part of his nature, which had been dormant since 1940. He is also faced with challenges in his family life as his radical youngest son Mark, played by a very young Nigel Havers, hates him for his role in perpetuating the aforementioned myths of 1940 and is arrested as a terrorist. Conversely, his elder son Henry, played by David Meyer, is a floor manager on the soap who later becomes one of its directors, though not before he proves himself to be politically reliable.
The serial also features strong performances from Kathleen Byron, Noel Dyson, Peter Hughes, Philip Bond, Frederick Treves and Anthony Stafford. I'm not sure whether it is a coincidence or a casting in-joke but, like her character, Dyson is best known for playing a woman with two grown sons in a hugely popular soap opera, having played Ida Barlow in the early days of "Coronation Street".
Ingram notes that both Frank and Bert are representations of idealised parts of his own nature. Mackie may have similarly been inspired by his own experiences since he worked for the Ministry of Information Films Division making propaganda films, albeit of a very different kind, during the war.
Overall, this is a first rate alternate history which raises many interesting questions about acquiescence to authority and the ways in which fiction can shape hearts and minds.
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