262:. David joins the RAF because he cannot find another job. He is married to Sheila, but he impregnates Peggy. Robert, the youngest son, wants to join the Navy. Margaret, the eldest Ashton daughter, marries John Porter, but she has a troubled relationship with her mother-in-law Celia. All these events take place against the backdrop of the political conflict leading to the Second World War, which will have a major impact on their lives.
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The families Ashton, Briggs, and Porter live in
Liverpool in 1938 and later. Edwin Ashton, the son of a mineworker, has moved up to the middle class by working for a printing company and by marrying Jean, the sister of company owner Sefton Briggs. The latter is a hard businessman who appoints his son
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The series was released in the
Netherlands in 2015 by Just Entertainment. Several brief scenes cut from the Acorn set do appear in the Netherlands set, such as the scene referenced above.
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for ITV. The original producer was
Richard Doubleday, and with 13 directors during the series. The series examined the lives of the lower middle-class Ashton family of the city of
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Fifty-two episodes were produced, all but eight of them in colour. Episodes numbers 25 to 32 were recorded in black and white because of the ITV
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Edwin and Jean have five children: Philip, David, Robert, Margaret, and Freda. Philip is a leftist who fought as a volunteer in the
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flying, slowly being approached by the encroaching tide, symbolic of a beleaguered
Britain standing alone in 1940–1941.
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Tony as the new manager of the workplace, rather than the experienced Edwin.
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238:. The programme opening titles show a scene of a beach with a child's
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in New
Zealand for violence, sex scenes and sexual references.
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from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by
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488:British English-language television shows
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443:1970s British drama television series
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478:World War II television drama series
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473:Television shows set in Liverpool
468:Television series by ITV Studios
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316:John McKelvey as Sefton Briggs
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95:Ralph Vaughan Williams
463:ITV television dramas
389:The series is rated
343:as Michael Armstrong
91:Theme music composer
211:Granada Television
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353:Patrick Troughton
260:Spanish Civil War
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109:Original language
101:Country of origin
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375:All episodes of
337:as Ian Mackenzie
331:as Doris Jackson
313:as Sheila Ashton
304:as Robert Ashton
298:as Philip Ashton
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219:Second World War
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302:David Dixon
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131:of episodes
437:Categories
341:Mark Jones
320:T.R. Bowen
244:Union Flag
184:1972-02-16
174:1970-04-14
147:60 minutes
139:Production
56:John Finch
53:Created by
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161:ITV
129:No.
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393:PG
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