Flambards
 1 9 7
8 (UK)
13 x 60 minute episodes
In 1978, Yorkshire Television adapted K.M. Peyton's Flambards
trilogy (Flambards, The Edge of the Cloud, and Flambards
in Summer) as a 13-part series for television. Both series and
books are a keen view of England on the eve of World War I.
Christina Parsons is orphaned and sent to live with an
innumerable series of relatives, until at age 16 she is sent to
live at her slightly mad Uncle Russell's crumbling Essex estate,
Flambards.
Uncle Russell shares the estate with his elder son Mark - a
bold, rude adventurous young man whose life is devoted to horses
and hunting - and younger son William, who is terrified of horses
and now lame from a fall at hunting. Three guesses which one
Christina falls in love with . . .
 Settling in at
Flambards, Christina discovers that William (who
loves aeroplanes) disappears daily on mysterious walks. Meanwhile,
debt-collectors gather regularly at the estate doors, Mark injures
Sweetbriar (Christina's favourite horse) in a hunting accident,
and her attempts to add some cheer to her first Christmas at
Flambards is met by indifference by everyone except Dick the
stable-boy.
When Uncle Russell orders that Sweetbriar be sent to the
slaughter house, Christina talks Dick into giving the horse to her
and William to hide at the home of Mr. Dermot, William's friend
who builds and flies aeroplanes.
 Mark later discovers Sweetbriar wasn't destroyed and Dick is
fired, leaving Violet as the sole means of support of their
invalid mother. When Christina visits the Wright's cottage and
finds them in dire straits, she tries to steal food from the house
to help them, but is thwarted by Mark.
Meanwhile, on the day of King George's coronation, William
takes his first trip in "Emma," Mr. Dermot's newest
flying machine, and Violet is now dismissed from Flambards also,
forcing Dick to join the army to survive.
Mark then enters the local point-to-point horse race on his
expensive new horse and Uncle Russell stakes a lot of money on
him, hoping to solve the Flambards financial troubles. The race is
ruined when William flies "Emma" over the course.
Uncle Russell is furious and plans to send William to his
brother in Canada, but he escapes, intending to look for a job
designing aeroplanes near London. Like all good romantic heroes,
he takes Christina with him . . .
Now Christina is stuck in Battersea at Aunt Grace's house while
William looks for work. Unfortunately, his bad leg and lack of
accreditation do not help matters.
 Meanwhile, Aunt Grace insists
that William get a job before Christina can even think of marrying
him.
Will eventually secures a job as a mechanic at an airfield
called Elm Park, thanks mainly to the efforts of Sandy, a friend
he has made. Christina meets Sandy's girlfriend, Dorothy, who is a
free-spirited young lady (Sandy is teaching her to fly).
To remain near William, Christina takes a job at the Chase
Hotel, in training to be a receptionist. William sees a doctor
about fixing his knee, meanwhile, as it severely restricts his
flying ability.
Mr. Dermot dies, and after attending his funeral, William is
turned away by his father when he tries to visit Flambards. He
returns to Elm Park in "Emma," which Mr. Dermot has left
to him in his will.
William has surgery to repair his knee and to
help pay the doctors bill, he and Christina fly a Bleriot to
France over the Channel.
 William brings back a magazine from France which describes a
spectacular flying stunt.
He attempts the loop-the-loop, and when
he is successful he persuades Mr. Adams to keep him as a training
pilot while Sandy becomes a stunt flyer, bringing in more money
for the Adams Flying School.
Mark interrupts the celebration of Will and Sandy's new flat
with the news that Uncle Russell has died.
Although Aunt Grace is disapproving when William doesn't attend
the funeral, she still gives William permission to marry
Christina. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the day William is to
exhibit his new plane, the "Dermot," to an aircraft
manufacturer, and Sandy is killed.
Following Sandy's funeral, and with the outbreak of WWI,
William joins the Flying Corps.
After 2½ years away, Will returns for some (long-overdue)
leave, only to learn that his brother Mark is missing in action
and presumed killed. William is then killed himself soon after
returning to duty.
 Now widowed (and pregnant) Christina makes a nostalgic visit to
a deserted Elm Park before deciding to return to Flambards and
restore the estate to working condition with her recently
inherited money.
Dick returns home, invalided out of the army by injury and
tuberculosis, and Christina offers him the job of running the
estate - a job he finally accepts.
Following the birth of daughter Isobel, Christina returns to
supervising the farm work, and with Dick's help, they celebrate
their first albeit small harvest with a joyous dinner - one that
is rudely interrupted by the return of Mark, not dead, just
released from a prisoner of war camp.
He and Dick immediately become enemies once more, and Mark's
proposes marriage to Christina. She turns him down, realising she
may have to leave Flambards if she wants to stay with Dick.
Mark's illegitimate child (Tizzy) sets the barn afire and Mark
and Dick fight side-by-side to save the estate.
Ultimately, Mark's lawyer reveals that Flambards is so deep in
debt that the only way to save it is for Christina to buy it and
own it outright.
 Christina marries Dick, Mark marries Dorothy (Sandy's ex) and
they all live happily ever after.
K.M. Peyton later wrote a sequel to the series, Flambards
Divided, dealing with the marriages of Christina and Dick and
Mark and Dorothy. For those who loved the romantic ending to both
series and trilogy, the sequel may come as a jolt!.
EPISODES
Arrival | The Blooding | Entry to A New World | Lady Bountiful
| Point to Point | The Cold Light of Day | Edge of the Cloud |
Flying High | Sing No Sad Songs | New Blood | Prisoners of War |
What are servants for? | Inheritance
|
