Figure 1.--Here we see a new student from Germany arriving to be enrolled. I think the clothes are meant to show he was from Germany, but stripped kneesocks were not common in Germany. The boy's double breasted short pants suit and uncuffed knee socks with a stripe around the calf is a bit out of fashion in England and dramatizes his foreignness. The boy's name is Ulrich Meyer. He is a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany where his father, a shopkeeper, has been dragged into the streets of Munich and kicked to death. He turns out to be one of the more gifted boys at Banfyld.

"To serve Them All My Days" is a R.H. Dealderfield (1912-73) novel set in a British public school. It follows life at a fictional public (exclusive private) school over the tears. The costiming is quite accurate. The younger boys wear shorts. A new headmaster from South Africa sets out to root out evil. A very nicely written and acted series. It was shown in the United States as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre series. This is a dramatization of R.F. Delderfield's final novel about a boy's boarding school in Devonshire, England, between World War I and World War II. Delderfield was a journalist and novelist who had served in the military. The fictional school is called Banfyld School. The boys wear uniforms consisting of blazers with the school shield on the breast pocket and gray trousers--shorts as well as longs. With shorts the boys wear the traditional gray knee socks. HBC archives made for TV films as movies. It is a little confusing how to archive these serialized dramatizations, but we generally have been archiving them in the TV section.

TV-ology

"To serve Them All My Days" is a R.H. Dealderfield (1912-73) novel set in a British public school. It follows life at a fictional public (exclusive private) school over the tears. It was shown in the United States as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre series.

R.F. Delderfield

This is a dramatization of R.F. Delderfield's final novel about a boy's boarding school. Delderfield was a journalist and novelist who had served in the military.

The Book

I haven't read the book, but British programs picked up by PBS are often quite accurte depictions.

Settng

The series is set in Devonshire, England, between World War I and World War II. The fictional school is called Banfyld School.

Cast

Figure 2.--This scene shows the boys gathered in chapel for assembly. Note that the boys are all in uniform, but some wear long trousers whereas others wear short pants with knee socks. The older boys from 16 to 18 seem to wear mostly long pants, but the younger boys, 13 to 15, wear both shorts and longs.

Plot

The plot is built around the career of David Powlett-Jones, a Welshman who is wounded in World War I and who comes to Banfyld to take up schoolmastering. At first he has trouble, but soon becomes a competent master. In time he rises to the headmastership of the school although he has a rocky path to the summit because of his socialist politics, his lower-class origins, the sudden death of his wife and twin daughters in an auto accident, and various other troubles including the hostility of a new headmaster, who runs the school with cold efficiency, martinet disciplinarian policies, and no concern for the deeper emotional needs of the boys. (This is ratgher a basic rehash of "Goodbye Mr. Chips" in many ways. His second marriage to an upper class woman who initially disapproves of the classism of British Public Schools also complicates his life.

Jewish Refugee Students

The shows a Jewosh refugee boy at the school. I'm not sure how common it was. Britain did not allow many Jewish refugees in during the 1930s. The exception was Jews with notable reputations, such as scientists and artists. I think money was another factor, although I do not have details here. The largest group of Jewish refugees taken in by the British was the Kindertransport children. Here only children who had someone to sponsor them and guarantee their support were allosed in. Some of these children had affluent supporters and were sent to private schools. I do not know of any private schools which sponsored the Jewish refugees out of charity, but I do not know for a fact that this did not occur.

Costuming

The costiming is quite accurate. The younger boys wear shorts. A new headmaster from South Africa sets out to root out evil. A very nicely written and acted series. The boys wear uniforms consisting of blazers with the school shield on the breast pocket and gray trousers--shorts as well as longs. With shorts the boys wear the traditional gray knee socks. HBC archives made for TV films as movies. It is a little confusing how to archive these serialized dramatizations, but we generally have been archiving them in the TV section.

Created: March 15, 2004
Last updated: March 15, 2004