Testament Of Youth (1979) (Episode 5)

Part 5 of 5 of the 1979 period drama. The war is over, but Edward is dead and Vera has lost everyone she knew who went to fight in it. Tired of being at home with her neurotic mother and feeling aimless in her life, she decides to aply again for Somerville University in Oxford. Trying to make sense of the war, she applies to study history, only to find that it does not cover recent events. However, Miss Penrose advises her to apply for a specialist course, where she meets another student who will influence her life - Winifred Holtby. But things do not go entirely smoothly as Vera struggles to deal with the loss of her loved ones and the effects of the war... Starring Cheryl Campbell, Joanna McCallum, Emrys James, Jane Wenham, Rosalie Crutchley, Frances Tomelty, Denis Carey, Elizabeth Spender, Jill Cowles and Tony Brookes. The final episode deals with the aftermath of the war and Vera's efforts to make sense of her life as she finally gets to study at Oxford. It's a little more low key to the other episodes, though the meeting of her fellow student Winifred Holtby (played by Googie Withers' daughter Joanna McCallum) would prove crucial in her life: Winifred Holtby would later write the classic novel South Riding in 1936. As is Vera's speech to a group of old ladies about The League of Nations. Although brief, her message is as potent today as it was back then, and a reminder to today's spineless politicians of what it was originally founded for and it's ethics to respect all countries sovereignty and protect those in need. Lest We Forget.