It was the last episode of the first series. At dinner with actor Guy Slater and the writer Cary Harrison, (son of Rex Harrison – star of ‘My Fair Lady’), Guy announced that the BBC had just called and asked him to make a second series. Cheers all around till Guy said he wanted to start the series with doing the unforgivable, and kill the baby. Would Cary write it and would I direct the three episodes. Darned right I will.
Sadly during those years babies often died. We discussed how the baby should die. All sorts of diseases were discussed getting more and more unusual. I said why not just ordinary gastroenteritis. They had not invented penicillin then or at least they had but did not know how to use it. I know because my bother James had died of gastroenteritis aged five in 1947.
They gave him penicillin but in one large dose. It did not work. As we now know it has to be a course of treatment and not just one dose. I described how it effected my mother, my father and myself. The matter was left at that.
I had just got into bed when the phone rang. It was Carey, “Would you and your family mind if I based the three episodes on your brother’s death?” I said I would talk to my mother who was living in Gozo, even though she would probably never see it as she had no TV. She said, yes, if I was directing it. So that is what we did. I spent a weekend with Carey discussing the real events and the casting of my mother, father and self.
While shooting there were two moments that caused problems. My mother was not allowed to go near or even touch James as he was in isolation. She just had to watch him as he slowly died. She left the hospital and alone walked home, 13kms. To show this half conscious women treading slowly step by step over that distance I created a very long tracking shot with Anna Cropper playing mother staring at nothing, moving mechanically and way beyond tears. The head of BBC drama told me the shot was far too long and that nobody would do that. “My mother did !” “OK then”.
Another moment was when mother still dumb with shock was burning all James’s toys, books and teddy bear, everything of his was on a bonfire in the garden and myself standing aside watching. When we came to shoot this I got a deputation from the make-up and costume departments saying this was going too far. I had to explain that in the 1940’s it had to be done to sterilize every thing in the house. One of the teddies she burned was mine, but I never told her.
When the scenes crew were digging his grave the police suddenly arrived wanting to know what on earth they were doing digging a grave. A local woman putting flowers on her family grave had seen this strange gang of men digging away and reported them.
In the story the family Nanny was with were wonderfully mad. He was local Norfolk with a strong accent and an inventor. Everything in the house was automatic and didn’t work. There was a scene of wonderful spontaneous singing of old Norfolk songs with the family in the local pub which when shooting became a real ad lib event, not an acted one. The whole studio burst into applause at the end. I shot it in one take.
Michael Custance
