It is a little-known fact that although 800,000 British children were evacuated from British cities during the War, two million stayed put as the bombs fell, said James Walton in The Spectator. This “riveting” BBC2 documentary is about those children.
Made to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the end of the Blitz in 1941, it features interviews with the last survivors of that cohort, many of whom are in their 90s or older, and who tell their stories with “extraordinary vividness”. This is the type of programming that shows the BBC at its “still considerable, even nation-unifying best”.
A “huge story is told via dozens of tiny, shattering personal reflections”, said Phil Harrison in The Guardian. Liverpudlian Ernie Gaskell remembers his father’s reassurances that the slate tiles on their roof would be strong enough to protect them. They weren’t. Jean Whitfield recalls the day her mother was killed by a bomb as she hung out her washing in Sheffield. Afterwards, a neighbour plied her with freshly baked lemon tarts. It’s more than just a story about this war; it gives insights into the impact on children of any war, and it’s “priceless”.
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The stories are so moving, “varied and vivid” that the 90 minutes “goes by in a flash”, said Ben Dowell in The Times. Many of the interviewees talk about the resilience of the age. Others worry about new wars coming. The final word, though, goes to Patsy from Belfast, who we learn died earlier this year, and who is seen dancing in her kitchen to the strains of “Oh, You Beautiful Doll”. “What a luminescent moment that was.”