'Housewife, 49' is a very good period drama. It is well-written, well-acted and well above the standard of most other television productions.
One note of caution, however. If you have seen this, don't think you have seen a true adaptation of Nella Last's diaries. Only a couple of the incidents dramatised here actually come from the book it claims as a source. It seems Victoria Wood started with the premise of writing the story of a downtrodden woman whose horizons were broadened by the emergencies of war. So much is true, Nella Last did seem to find a meaningful rôle in her voluntary work. However, Wood seems to have been so determined to bring out this aspect of the story other elements have been invented and changed.
Most significantly, the diaries for the last part of 1943 and the whole of 1944 are missing. This is the period in which Nella's son Cliff was wounded and brought home for recuperation. In the film Nella visits Cliff and he rejects her. This makes for poignant drama but we have no evidence at all that this ever happened (Cliff died in 1991 so obviously couldn't advise on the production). There is also very little evidence from the diary that Cliff was gay (although he did have a friend, George, who was killed while serving in the Fleet Air Arm).
Nella never went to her old home by mistake when she was on the verge of a breakdown, and she never walked out of her job in the Red Cross shop.
Worse still, the personalities of other characters have been distorted. Her husband is particularly badly served. Will Last was rather dour and undemonstrative, but he was not the unfeeling man depicted here, dismissive and even resentful of Nella's voluntary work. Nella's sister-in-law of the diaries was not the rather vindictive person shown in the film.
The look of the film is very authentic, and the air-raid scenes give a real sense of what life must have been like for ordinary people living in those claustrophobic conditions with no certainty they would live to see another day - a welcome change from the 'Britain can take it' tradition.
So: enjoy the film on its own merits by all means, but read the book if you want to know the real Nella Last story.
One note of caution, however. If you have seen this, don't think you have seen a true adaptation of Nella Last's diaries. Only a couple of the incidents dramatised here actually come from the book it claims as a source. It seems Victoria Wood started with the premise of writing the story of a downtrodden woman whose horizons were broadened by the emergencies of war. So much is true, Nella Last did seem to find a meaningful rôle in her voluntary work. However, Wood seems to have been so determined to bring out this aspect of the story other elements have been invented and changed.
Most significantly, the diaries for the last part of 1943 and the whole of 1944 are missing. This is the period in which Nella's son Cliff was wounded and brought home for recuperation. In the film Nella visits Cliff and he rejects her. This makes for poignant drama but we have no evidence at all that this ever happened (Cliff died in 1991 so obviously couldn't advise on the production). There is also very little evidence from the diary that Cliff was gay (although he did have a friend, George, who was killed while serving in the Fleet Air Arm).
Nella never went to her old home by mistake when she was on the verge of a breakdown, and she never walked out of her job in the Red Cross shop.
Worse still, the personalities of other characters have been distorted. Her husband is particularly badly served. Will Last was rather dour and undemonstrative, but he was not the unfeeling man depicted here, dismissive and even resentful of Nella's voluntary work. Nella's sister-in-law of the diaries was not the rather vindictive person shown in the film.
The look of the film is very authentic, and the air-raid scenes give a real sense of what life must have been like for ordinary people living in those claustrophobic conditions with no certainty they would live to see another day - a welcome change from the 'Britain can take it' tradition.
So: enjoy the film on its own merits by all means, but read the book if you want to know the real Nella Last story.