A Family At War
ITV (ended 1972)
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Season 3
- Ep 20Yielding Place to New2/16/72
Edwin is living in the past and trying to work out where he went wrong. Sefton attempts to get closer to Tony. David comes back from London and Edwin gives him a chance in the Works. John and Margaret decide to try and make a success of their marriage and Edwin helps them by giving them the deeds to the Ashton house. Doris has her baby and Freda and Ian accept the fact that they can't have a family. The final episode ends with Edwin and Sefton listening to King George's post victory Christmas speech.moreless - Ep 19The Old Order Changeth2/9/72
Sefton has lost most of his money in investment with Howell's dubious property, and Helen and Tony are both planning to leave home. Tony is doing well with the business. John and Margaret have marital problems and John is still seeing Marjorie. Ian and Freda's marriage is not happy, and Ian discovers that he cannot have children. Edwin is trying to tidy his life at home and at work.moreless - Ep 18Two Fathers2/2/72
Mr Ashton visits his son, Phillip's grave in Germany ,and tried to find the cause of his death. - Ep 17A Faint Refrain1/26/72
Michael Armstrong returns from Germany with a message from Phillip, but John is convinced he has come to see Margaret. Margaret meets Michael's girlfriend, Frances Redmayne and at the end of the episode we are left with the impression that their relationship is more real than Margaret and John's marriage. Sefton tries to make up his quarrel with Edwin and Freda confides in Ian.''moreless - Ep 16Coming Home1/19/72
David and Sheila receive news that Mrs Thomas has died and they go down to Wales to collect the children and bring them back to the new house. Howells give David the sack and at the end of the episode he leaves home to find work in London. Freda goes to Doris's home, with offers of help,which are refused. In the last scene we hear the news broadcast that a bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima.''moreless - Ep 15Under New Management1/12/72
The period - election time 1945 - John Porter is persuaded to help the Labour Party but gets involved with Margaret's friend, Marjorie. David and Sheila move into a new home, but Sheila is still not sure of the future and doesn't want the children back until David can prove that he has changed.moreless - Ep 14The Sensible Thing1/5/72
Sefton is trying to persuade his family to sell the works in order to put money into the Howells' dubious projects - he succeeds to Edwin's dismay. Howells give David a job. Doris tells Freda she is pregnant, and Ian's attitude towards this almost precipitates a quarell. The episode ends with VE celebrations.moreless - Ep 13The Lost Ones12/29/71
David has a motorbike accident that will stop him flying again and he and Sheila decide to try to make a go of their marriage again. Derek Robbins is grounded. - Ep 12Breaking Point12/22/71
David's divorce has now come through and he is waiting to get his last trip of his tour in. He is friendly with Derek Robbins and his wife Jill, and is very concerned when he finds out Jack Ridley is having an affair with Jill. Derek, David and Jack all leave on a flying operation, but on the return trip, Jack Ridley is killed and the plane damaged. David gets home and goes for a drink, wondering if Jill knows about Jack, also that Derek is feared missing. On his way to Jill's house he has a crash on his motorbike.moreless - Ep 11Thicker Than Water12/15/71
A friend of Margaret Porter, Marjorie, is trying to get John Porter involved in the Labour Party's work - he eventually succeeds in talking himself into the job of treasurer. Tony Briggs, who is still fond of Freda, waits for her outside the hospital, but she brushes him off as lightly as she can. Sheila Ashton is making preparations for moving house, and Freda invites her to stay for a few days to cheer her up. David returns home unexpectedly and finds she has been to his old girlfriends to get evidence for a divorce. He is furious,and at first refuses to co-operate, but after a terrible row when he hits Sheila he finally agrees.moreless - Ep 10The Fundamental Things Apply12/8/71
Freda marries Ian MacKenzie and Tony realises something that he should have known a long time ago. - Ep 9This Year, Next Year12/1/71
Margaret tells John that she is not pregnant after all. Harry Porter is depressed, out of work and John tries to persuade Sefton to offer him a job. Sefton offers one to John, but not to his father, which John turns down. After much discussion and indecision Freda gets engaged to Ian.moreless - Ep 8Take It On Trust11/24/71
Ian MacKenzie's ex wife comes to visit - her second husband has left her and she asks Ian to help her find a job. Freda is very unhappy about her presence and refuses Ian's proposal of marriage. Harry Porter is in financial difficulties - Edwin lends him 100 to pay off his mortgage debt. Margaret Porter discovers she is pregnant.''moreless - Ep 7Spread a Little Happiness11/17/71
Freda meets Mrs Mackenzie on the eve of a church garden party and agrees to help out with the festivities. Sefton returns from holiday with a friend, Mrs Down. David goes home and is locked out. He decides to start divorce proceedings. Mrs Down upsets the Briggs household. She leaves. The episode ends with Freda and Ian together after the garden party.moreless - Ep 6Flesh and Blood11/10/71
Tony wants to marry Barbara, even when he finds out she has a child. Sefton persuades Edwin to visit Tony, to get his vote on selling the works. Barbara's former lover returns to see her and the boy, but tells her he's going back to his family in France. Tony is injured when he tries to stop two people walking into the minefield. Barbara refuses to marry him.moreless - Ep 5You Can Choose Your Friends11/3/71
Sefton wants to sell the works, but has to get the consent of the majority of the shareholders. David, who owes money, asks Sefton to buy his shares, not knowing the situation. The family divides - Edwin, Helen and Phillip against Sefton. David tries to win Sheila round again, but they argue. Sefton refuses to change his mind about selling, and agrees to let Tony have the casting vote.moreless - Ep 4The Things You Never Told Me10/27/71
Before Harry can stop her or warn Margaret, Celia Porter tells her son about the affair his wife had whilst he was missing in Belgium. As a result, many more home truths are told that day. - Ep 3Happy Returns10/20/71
November, 1943. Sheila Ashton goes to Wales to see her children - it is Janet's birthday. David Ashton unexpectedly arrives in Wales too. Sheila tells David that she wants a divorce. Mrs Thomas, who looks after the children, will never go back home. - Ep 2For the Duration10/13/71
John Porter takes up his old job in the Borough Treasurer's Office. He begins to remember what happened to him whilst he was missing in Belgium. Phillip's friend, Gwyn Roberts nearly spills the beans about Margaret and Michael in front of John. - Ep 1The Lucky Ones10/6/71
Mr Ashton recaps the first year's events and we see the lucky ones that are still left. Barbara is still living at home and is being persued by the hospital heart- throb. David is on 48 hours leave and goes to London to visit Grace Gould, but her husband returns from abroad and David has to leave rather abruptly, to his disappointment. He has another shock when he learns his best friend, Frankie has been killed in a air raid and this brings home to him the fact that he has made a mess of his own life - probably too late to make amends.moreless
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Season 2
- Ep 19A Separate Peace3/17/71
Edwin is annoyed with Jean for her strange behaviour. Freda is shocked when Jean is admitted to the hospital where she works with a stroke. The episode is the story of Jean Ashton's illness and death, and following her funeral, the varied effects of this crisis on the remaining members of the family.moreless - Ep 18I Wanted to be with You3/10/71
The family gathers for Phillip's birthday party. Freda's boyfriend is introduced to the family. David is living up in London. Jean does not turn up for the birthday party and no-one knows where she is. - Ep 17Salute the Happy Morn3/3/71
Christmas, 1942. The Porters are invited to stay at the Ashton's for Christmas Day. David Ashton is staying in London with his pilot and meets his friend's sister, Grace. Mrs Porter finds a letter addressed to Margaret Ashton - and when she reads it, discovers Margaret had a baby by another man whilst John was missing. Mr Porter and Margaret agree that John is not ready to be told yet, and they decide they must stop his Mother from saying anything. Sheila gets drunk on a bottle of sherry which Colin has given her for Christmas and decides to have an affair with him, but Colin does the noble thing and leaves her to sober up. The programme ends with Phillip returning home, his sight nearly fully restored.moreless - Ep 16Clash By Night2/24/71
Philip Ashton is travelling to London after returning from abroad - he is still blind. On the train he encounters Parker, whom he fought with in the Spanish Civil War. Phillip does not realise that Parker is travelling with him, but Parker immediately recognises Phillip. When Phillip stumbles on the fact that Parker is with him, there is a row because Parker shot one of Phillip's companions during the war. Before they arrive in London however, Parker jumps off the train. Also, Sefton Briggs is taken ill. His son Tony comes home to see him, believing that his Father is very ill - however it transpires that all he is suffering from is wind.moreless - Ep 15The Straight and Narrow2/17/71
The arrival of Mrs Porter to visit Margaret and John forces Margaret to make a decision about her future. While her mother in law is in the house, it is not easy for her to visit Michael Armstrong, but she manages to do so and tells him everything is finished. While she is out John takes a crucial step in his relationship with his Mother. At the same time, Sheila Ashton is to make a similar decision between her husband and a potential lover.moreless - Ep 14Into the Dark2/10/71
Phillip is brought into a desert hospital - blind. There he meets Reynolds and Grant. Reynolds is dying and he confides in Phillip that it was Grant who brought the German patrol on them as he fired a shot which they heard, whilst trying to give himself a minor wound in order to be sent home. Phillip recovers his sight, Reynolds dies, Grant goes home free. John Porter tries to commit suicide. Margaret says she has made her choice between Michael and John.moreless - Ep 13Believed Killed2/3/71
John Porter, who has been missing, presumed dead, returns to the Ashton family. The situation is awkward, as Margaret, his wife, is having an affair with Michael Armstrong and she cannot find the courage to tell John about this. David Ashton seeks out his old girlfriend , Peggy Drake, and sees his daughter for the first time. Peggy tells him she is going to get married and doesn't want to see David again.moreless - Ep 12Giving and Taking1/27/71
Margaret is back at home with her family. Tony Briggs' girlfriend, Jenny is staying with the Briggs. Edwin's father has just died and he and Jean go to the cottage where he used to live,to tidy things up. Edwin receives news that John Porter is still alive and he tells Margaret.moreless - Ep 11Hazard1/20/71
Phillip is out in the Western Desert. He is sent on a mine course when he meets Sergeant Hazard. Hazard is a blase, roving type of man - but he has a horrible fear of mines and being blown up by them. He believes in the real enemy, not an enemy planted in the ground. After the course is finished, Phillip and Hazard meet up again in the desert. They discover an abandoned German vehicle and when Hazard investigates, it is riddled with mines. However, with Phillip's guidance he gets out alive and goes off into the middle of the desert.moreless - Ep 10Lend Your Loving Arms1/13/71
Liverpool, January 1942. Despite the fact that Sheila Ashton knows David is coming home on leave, she decides to go out for the day with Doris, her lodger and Freda to Southport. She meets Colin Woodcock; they miss their train home and when she eventually returns, David is waiting for her. The programme ends with the arrival of a telegram at the Ashton's informing them of Roberts death.moreless - Ep 9We Could Be a Lot Worse Off1/6/71
Margaret is still in hospital recovering from her back injury. Michael calls at the Ashton's after visiting her and is invited to stay for the night. Freda is disturbed by her feelings for Michael. David is confident about getting his commission which upsets Sheila. Edwin is visited by two intelligence officers who are checking on the possibility of John being alive. Robert Ashton leaves New York by convoy for England, but his ship is torpedoed and both Robert and his pal, Peter both die slowly in the lifeboat having swallowed too much oil.moreless - Ep 8A Hero's Welcome12/30/70
This episode takes place at Christmas, 1941in Liverpool. David Ashton returns home on 72 hours leave, where he is enthusiastically greeted by his son, Peter . The boy has built up a hero worship for his father, and unfortunately David does not match up to this image. In the course of these three days, their relationship worsens, and when David leaves to return to his unit, Peter tells his mother that he hates his Dad.moreless - Ep 7A Time To Be Born12/23/70
Sefton Briggs has half shares in a pig with Harry Jenkins, the brother of Sefton's housekeeper, Mrs Foster. Margaret is taken into hospital , but her child is stillborn. - Ep 6Hope Against Hope12/16/70
Margaret is injured during an air-raid while staying with Michael; her situation causes continued friction between Edwin and Jean. Michael is having a battle with his conscience over whether he should change his views and join up. Owen is staying with the family and Robert is home on leave. Mrs Porter arrives in Liverpool with a letter from a soldier who saw John just before he was reported missing. Edwin takes her to meet this man.''moreless - Ep 5The Forty-Eight Hour Pass12/9/70
It is May 1941. David Ashton is home on an unexpected 48-hour leave. Robert is back from a voyage to Africa, laden down with presents. Neither knows yet that Margaret is expecting an illegitimate child. Nor that their mother, Jean Ashton, has taken the news very badly. The relationship between David Ashton and his wife Sheila is as bad as ever. He never bothers to write and seldom spends his leaves with her. She is worries that he is growing away from her and the prospect that he may soon be elevated from flight-sergeant to pilot officer terrifies her. Sheila still gets poison-pen letters about Peg, the girl he made pregnant at basic training camp. When David arrives home, he is surprised to find Sheila sharing the house with a lodger - Doris, one of Sheila's friends from the Naafi.''moreless - Ep 4Is Your Journey Really Necessary?12/2/70
Sefton is anxious to discuss changes in the business with Tony who tells his Father that he has no leave due to him. Sefton pays a surprise visit to Tony on the East Coast and finds that his son is about to go away for the weekend with his girlfriend, Jenny. Jenny gets on well with Sefton and is puzzled about the tension between him and Tony.moreless - Ep 3A Lesson in War11/25/70
This episode takes place in the Western Desert in April, 1941. It concerns Phillip Ashton and his relationship with a polish soldier called Stashek. Stashek, being Polish naturally enough takes a harsh view of the Germans. He and Phillip are thrown together by chance, and during the episode they capture a German soldier. Through this, Phillip learns about war.moreless - Ep 2I Can Be Happy, Can't I?11/18/70
Margaret finds another man and becomes pregnant by him. Sefton starts scheming to keep majority control over the estate when Mother dies.'' - Ep 1The Other Side of the Hill11/11/70
The episode begins with the Ashton family celebrating Christmas 1940 and then the New Year. Edwin is offered a manager's job with one of Sefton's business competitors, Dennis Pringle and Sefton realise how much they need to keep Edwin at the works. David is chatting up a girl near his RAF camp while Sheila waits for his phone call at home. Robert comes home on leave unexpectedly and almost misses seeing his mother who has been called away to see her sick mother.moreless
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Season 1
- Ep 13The End of the Beginning8/4/70
It is Christmas and their is much dissension in the Ashton family. An incendiary bomb has landed on the roof, revealing amongst the wreckage caused in the bedroom, a copy of Jean's Mothers will, which upsets Edwin. Jean is furious with him for signing papers allowing Robert to go to sea. Freda is unsure of her feelings for Owen who has arrived for Christmas, Tony comes home on leave and finds Sefton ill with flu and more difficult than usual. Margaret is finding the strain of the situation unbearable. The episode is mainly about the changes the war is causing in the family.moreless - Ep 12If It's Got Your Number On It7/28/70
Freda has to work late, and on the way home meets an Australian airman, Owen Thomas , in a public air raid shelter. She goes out with Owen for a week and is discovered with him one night by her childhood boyfriend, Peter Collins. A fight ensues. At the end of the episode Peter is killed by a bomb. Phillip is home on embarkation leave.moreless - Ep 11Brothers in War7/21/70
Robert, the youngest son is home from Nautical college. His mother will not be accept that he is now grown up, as this only means he will be called up. Peter Collins meets Freda again and we sense that she is not particularly keen on seeing him. David and Phillip meet in a pub with Susan present - it becomes obvious that Phillip is more Susan's type, but when David discovers that Phillip is going away,, probably to the Middle East he gives way.moreless - Ep 10One of Ours7/14/70
David Ashton is the navigator in a Wellington bomber crew in a raid over Germany and the aircraft is hit on the return home. Fred Ashton is angry about Sheila's relationship with Bob O' Connell. - Ep 9The Night They Hit Number Eight7/7/70
A night of bad air raids on Liverpool - David and Sheila's children can't be found.The local policeman brings a lost boy for the Ashton's to look after. Margaret gives birth to a son. - Ep 8For Strategic Reasons6/30/70
Excerpts from episodes 2, 3, 4, & 6 showing how Phillip Ashton came to be in Guernsey. - Ep 7The War Office Regrets5/26/70
The Ashton family is still waiting for news of John Porter. Sheila has taken a job at the Naafi. David come home on a 48-hour leave and Sheila asks him if he knows a girl called Peggy (she has received an anonymous letter). Harry Porter has received a letter from the war office saying that John is missing, presumed killed and after keeping it to himself for two days, takes it round to the Ashtons.moreless - Ep 6The Breach in the Dyke5/19/70
Tony Briggs agrees to help find a flat for Margaret and her baby. After an argument with Mrs. Porter, Margaret moves back home. John Porter is fighting in France, gets separated from the rest of his division and is hit by a lorry on the road. - Ep 5The Gate of the Year5/12/70
Margaret is feeling the strain of living with John's Mother, and decides to pop home for the evening, as she has done often in the past. John gets an emergency posting overseas and has two hours before his train leaves. He arrives home after Margaret has gone out and because his mother pretends not to know where Margaret is goes abroad without seeing her and it is Edwin who tells him that Margaret is expecting a baby.moreless - Ep 4The Summer Before the War5/5/70
Margaret is busy evacuating schoolchildren and John is drafted. David now in the Airforce, meets a local girl, Peggy, whom he gets pregnant. Sheila decides she can't bear to have her kids evacuated - much to the family's disapproval. Relations between Sefton and Tony become more strained. In the final scene we hear Chamberlain's speech announcing the outbreak of war.moreless - Ep 3Lines of Battle4/28/70
June 1939: Margaret Ashton marries John Porter. Gwyn Roberts is in trouble. - Ep 2To Die For Spain4/21/70
Philip Ashton decides to return to Spain to rejoin his old brigade in the Spanish Civil War, much to the dismay of the rest of his family. After some time in Spain he is wounded and returns home. - Ep 1The Facts of Life4/14/70
The episode begins with Edwin and Jean Ashton's wedding anniversary. David Ashton is expecting to be given a job in the printing works, but Sefton promotes his son to manager instead of Edwin, and, in desperation David joins the RAF. Philip Ashton is anxious to get back to war in Spain, and Margaret Ashton brings home John Porter for the first time.moreless
