Episode #1.5 (21 Sep. 2012)

1917;- Christopher,McKechnie and Perowne have all been sent to fight in the trenches,surrounded by carnage and madness. When Bill,the commanding officer,suffers a breakdown from stress ... See full summary »

Director:

Susanna White

Writers:

Tom Stoppard (screenplay), Ford Madox Ford (based on the novels by)

Stars:

Roger Allam, Elliot Levey, Benedict Cumberbatch

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Allam	...	General Campion
Elliot Levey	...	Colonel Levin
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Christopher Tietjens
Patrick Kennedy	...	McKechnie
Tom Mison	...	Potty Perowne
Adelaide Clemens	...	Valentine Wannop
Miranda Richardson	...	Mrs. Wannop
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	...	Captain Notting
William Ellis	...	Aubrey
Michael Shaeffer	...	RSM
Hugh Mitchell	...	Bennett 2nd Lieutenant
Steven Robertson	...	Bill CO
Frederik Lebeer	...	Duckett
Mathias Vergels	...	German Batman
Antonia Clarke	...	16 year old Schoolgirl

Storyline

1917;- Christopher,McKechnie and Perowne have all been sent to fight in the trenches,surrounded by carnage and madness. When Bill,the commanding officer,suffers a breakdown from stress Christopher replaces him. Back home Valentine,whilst advocating that her fellow teachers read Marie Stopes' 'Married Love',shocks her mother by admitting that she would gladly be Christopher's mistress. Meanwhile Sylvia meets Gerald Drake again,home on leave,and once more has sex with him. As the war ends Christopher returns to Groby but Sylvia's selfish attitude sends him down to London and Valentine. Initially unwilling to divorce Sylvia,when she falsely claims to be terminally ill,Christopher decides he has had enough of her and changes his mind. To mark the end of the war - and an era - he celebrates with Valentine and his old army comrades.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Release Date:

21 September 2012 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anchorage Entertainment, BNP Paribas Fortis Film Fund, Look Out Point

Did You Know?

Goofs

Mr Tietjens takes a matchbox to light a fire in the fireplace. The matchbox is cardboard, this type of cardboard didn't get into general production till the 1930s. As the scene takes place in 1918, the box should be wood.

User Reviews

Parade's End Episode #5

Who will Christopher choose the miniseries ends tonight. We start by learning Christopher will back to the front with two other men that he does not on with that much making an awkward situation. Back to England with my favourite character Valentine. Valentine is upset that her love is away and may never come back but she still believes that she can be with him all though he is married and it would be shameful to divorce his wife at this very time. I always forget that Valentine is old enough to be a teacher in a school as the actress just looks so young but the character is a strong woman who I love. Back to the war front and Christopher leading everyone must look at all these horrible events of death, violence and self sacrifice. Back to London and Sylvia getting a talk with her mother about how she is selfish woman who still never deserved Christopher to begin with. To the front and with explosions going off every minute the area is tense as ever. Sylvia continues her flirtations with every man to stay true to her godly believes as a wife in waiting. Christopher slowly is losing himself as he stays in the dirty world of the war thinking about which woman he will choose in the end. The dreams he has I believe are signs about who he should decide on. Christopher may be in a place of complete despair but some times he does get some moments are pure and quiet peace. Just when it seemed everything would be OK and explosion occurs killing several officers but Christopher sort of lives. The good thing about the explosion was that he know gets to go home because of injury. Sylvia meets again with the man that could have been her child's father to really make up for what she put him through. The war is over and life seems to go back to normal. Goodbye to our favourite tree and that was want kept him back to past life but she was finally able to push him over the edge causing him to leave her. Valentine comes back to Christopher but his wife will not leave without a fight for attention. Sylviadoes lose the fight for the man but at least she is not that bitter about it. This episode ends with a part thrown by the Tietjens dancing together to a montage of many moments including the ending of the War Parade of the first war and everyone seems to be the fight life. Excellent Miniseries, great production and some really memorable performances. With Cumberbatch standing out the most creating a man who was challenged between his faith or his love. Newcomer Adelaide Clemens was the best female character as I felt her face expressed so much even if her speech did not. Rebecca Hall was also impressive playing the villain in my mind Slyvia, she made the women have some redeeming qualities. The direction and writing helped the story move long very well. The costumes were stellar but so was everything else.

EPISODE GRADE: A- (MVP: Benedict Cumberbatch)