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The Crimson Field
Aug. 15th, 2014 07:45 pmThe Crimson Field is a 6-episode series set in a fictional British field hospital in France in 1915, and is part of BBC One's WWI Centennial lineup. (And as far as I can tell, the only one with multiple major female characters, much less focused on women.) Doctors, nurses and patients are all pretty heavily featured, but the ongoing storylines primarily revolve around several of the nurses, with the episodic "horrors of war" plotlines centering around the soldiers they're treating.
When the series opens, Lt. Col. Brett (played by Matthew Crawley's draft-dodging valet in Downton Abbey, which amuses me), who runs the camp, has recently promoted Sister Grace to Matron of the nurses over her mentor, Sister Margaret, who most had expected to get the position, a decision regarded as very controversial by many in the camp. Sister Grace is well respected and competent, but not considered as good a candidate and Sister Margaret, who is pretty much a war hero to most, and there's gossip that Brett may have chosen Sister Grace because they're a little too close, and Sister Margaret-apparently a very devoted nurse, but a rather awful person otherwise, with a few exceptions-feels betrayed by both. On the heels of this change, three V.A.D.s-Kitty, Rosalie and Flora-also arrive at the camp, along with Joan, a civilian nurse. Kitty and Rosalie volunteered partially to escape personal issues in England, Joan requested to be sent to France because of a dangerous secret, and flora is a teenager who lied about her age to be able to become a nurse. (So, yeah, the only new arrival who is there for purely selfless reasons-not that the others don't also genuinely want to help people-is technically breaking the law to be there.)
There's plenty of Drama, but it's much more subdued than that in most period dramas, and I confess to thinking of it at times as "Oona Chaplin, Hermione Norris, Suranne Jones and a bunch of other people in costume." I doubt I'll like other installments in the Centennial lineup as much as I liked this, unless there's something really interesting sounding coming that I haven't heard of yet. It's set up for a second season, but most things are pretty well resolved, which is good, as it was cancelled. Because BBC hates me, sometimes Basically (unless things have changed in the last few days) BBC hasn't cancelled it, but the actors' contracts have expired. So it may still be renewed, but will likely have changes made to the cast (which wouldn't be unexpected anyway, given the setup) unless it just so happens that no one gets a new gig before then.
A few warnings:
There's very little onscreen violence, but there is fair bit of blood onscreen, and numerous gross wounds are shown.
A lot of in-period dismissal of shell shock and PTSD as cowardice and/or weakness, but primarily by the higher-ups and examiners who visit the camp, not from the main characters. Also some mild (as such things go) homophobic comments. Neither the able-ism nor the homophobia is supported by the narrative, though.
There's a scene with domestic violence, though it ends before there's physical violence, though there is physical intimidation. Basically, there's a scene with one of the nurses and her estranged husband and it's clear he's done some very awful things to her in the past, but in this case, someone interrupts before he's able to do much more than frighten her (though he mostly hadn't moved on much because he was enjoying the mental torment). Still a very disturbing scene, though.
When the series opens, Lt. Col. Brett (played by Matthew Crawley's draft-dodging valet in Downton Abbey, which amuses me), who runs the camp, has recently promoted Sister Grace to Matron of the nurses over her mentor, Sister Margaret, who most had expected to get the position, a decision regarded as very controversial by many in the camp. Sister Grace is well respected and competent, but not considered as good a candidate and Sister Margaret, who is pretty much a war hero to most, and there's gossip that Brett may have chosen Sister Grace because they're a little too close, and Sister Margaret-apparently a very devoted nurse, but a rather awful person otherwise, with a few exceptions-feels betrayed by both. On the heels of this change, three V.A.D.s-Kitty, Rosalie and Flora-also arrive at the camp, along with Joan, a civilian nurse. Kitty and Rosalie volunteered partially to escape personal issues in England, Joan requested to be sent to France because of a dangerous secret, and flora is a teenager who lied about her age to be able to become a nurse. (So, yeah, the only new arrival who is there for purely selfless reasons-not that the others don't also genuinely want to help people-is technically breaking the law to be there.)
There's plenty of Drama, but it's much more subdued than that in most period dramas, and I confess to thinking of it at times as "Oona Chaplin, Hermione Norris, Suranne Jones and a bunch of other people in costume." I doubt I'll like other installments in the Centennial lineup as much as I liked this, unless there's something really interesting sounding coming that I haven't heard of yet. It's set up for a second season, but most things are pretty well resolved, which is good, as it was cancelled. Because BBC hates me, sometimes Basically (unless things have changed in the last few days) BBC hasn't cancelled it, but the actors' contracts have expired. So it may still be renewed, but will likely have changes made to the cast (which wouldn't be unexpected anyway, given the setup) unless it just so happens that no one gets a new gig before then.
A few warnings:
There's very little onscreen violence, but there is fair bit of blood onscreen, and numerous gross wounds are shown.
A lot of in-period dismissal of shell shock and PTSD as cowardice and/or weakness, but primarily by the higher-ups and examiners who visit the camp, not from the main characters. Also some mild (as such things go) homophobic comments. Neither the able-ism nor the homophobia is supported by the narrative, though.
There's a scene with domestic violence, though it ends before there's physical violence, though there is physical intimidation. Basically, there's a scene with one of the nurses and her estranged husband and it's clear he's done some very awful things to her in the past, but in this case, someone interrupts before he's able to do much more than frighten her (though he mostly hadn't moved on much because he was enjoying the mental torment). Still a very disturbing scene, though.
