We're seven hours in- looking good so far. There were tears after an hour, more after two but we're plodding on. Watch this space. The Doctor is pretty pleased- must dash- in for the next few hours again now.
A week today, when all the furore has ebbed and the markets have bottomed out, our nation will awake to the sounds of bugles and church bells as we commemorate 100 years from the start of the Battle of The Somme. I am an historian by background, and the Somme for me is emblematic of a human tragedy that need never have happened. My reading of it is this: we began a war from a variety of odd alliances and murky motivations, capped off finally by a sense that no-one had the will to stop it. In order to give the war effort impetus, posters, propaganda began to be bandied around about the enemy, about what they would do to children and how they needed to be stopped. It worked as a recruiting effort- young men, boys, and women all joined the war effort. They joined as an act of patriotism, tinged yes with fear, but also a sense that it might be the right thing to do. They joined from across the country- but at the heart of the front line forces were thousands and ten of thousands...
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I hate to be the moaning minny- I mean clearly it's still the best TV around- but this series doesn't have a patch on the others- DESPITE some great plotlines- the writing seems sloppy in comparison to Mr.Sorkin's- the acerbic wit has vanished and the characters (especially Donna, Leo and Bartlett) seem to speak with a different voice now- i know that's a patently obvious and inevitable thing but it means that their characters have changed and that's a bit sad.
But flippin hec it's still a great watch...and I will be indulging MORE tonight...