Tom Grattan's War

Another quality offering from the golden age of teenage television drama, Tom Grattan's War was a period piece, set at the time of the First World War and told the tale of a 16 year-old London lad who is too young to help his country in the far off fields of Flanders, so is therefore set to work on a farm to help with the nation's food production. 

While Tom's father is fighting in Europe his mother is helping the war effort by working in a munitions factory. For his part, Tom is sent on a long journey to Yorkshire where he will learn the ways of the country. Upon his arrival at the Kirkby's moorland farm Tom discovers that it is situated near a prisoner of war camp where many German captives are put to work in the local quarries. It's not long before Tom witnesses a number of locals venting their anger on the prisoners and the youngster is faced with a number of moral dilemmas. Are the locals justified in their actions? Should Tom help these POWs when he discovers a planned attack in retaliation for the death of a local on the battlefield? 

Along with the Kirkby's daughter, Julie, Tom shares numerous adventures involving espionage, kidnapping and plain old skulduggery. For the last episode Yorkshire television pulled out all the stops to end the series with a spectacular plane crash.

Published on February 8th, 2019. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.