One of the things that I am happy about these days with regards to entertainment, especially when it comes to leading men is that we have some interesting actors playing them. Benedict Cumberbatch for one. But who else could play Christopher Tietjens? He is a character that is so galvanized by a sense of social responsibility and moral and intellectual superiority he makes his cruel wife almost understandable. But he is also sweet and naive and destined to get trampled (we might fear) like the young suffragette, Valentine Wallop he falls in love with. He is at times the perfect visual representation of the a twit so wonderfully skewered by Monty Python but it is his own painful awareness of the fact that makes us want to protect him. He really is a deer in the headlights except scathingly erudite. The other thing that makes his character compelling is he really is kind. "Soft" is the word he uses.  He may have a strict code of behaviour but he is not cruel in his intent.  Perhaps that is the dividing edge for the main characters, cruelty as opposed to kindness and what excuses they make for either.

Parade's End is funny and painful, a difficult and uncomfortable combination at times but it is NOT Downton Abbey, though visually just as stunning. I read a review that said it was boring at times. Some of it was hilariously funny. I liked the gag about the sonnet.  Two twits suffering from shell shock with bombs dropping all around playing a game of "write a sonnet in under 2 minutes and then translate it into latin".

What happened to the psyche of the British after this war? I think the character was correct in saying that the first world war was the 20th century against the 18th century. Now that we as a civilization are on the brink of losing everything we "won" at cost in the last 100 years the 18th century is looking pretty pretty.

All in all I think it was time well wasted.

My y.s. who is someone who is good, really to his own determent at times I fear, watched it with me, well one episode of it.  No doubt he got the "path of love is not clear" aspect of it.  Gawd I would not be young again for anything.