By The Sword Divided

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About the time I was proudly carrying a Cadbury's Fingers tin full of 1/300th ECW figures backwards and forwards to the school wargaming club there was, on BBC 1 on Sunday nights "By The Sword Divided". Adding fuel to my ECW fire, the timing was perfect.

Fast forward 40 years and I saw the complete box set on Amazon. Bought it expecting a good trip down memory lane. If you fancy a similar trip, be warned - it hasn't aged well: some wooden acting, a few flimsy sets, and the soft focus detract from an excellent script and plot. Historically fairly accurate, even if some facts are tweaked to allow the stories characters to be more involved.

And in case you watch it, and start wondering "I know that voice"... dashing young cavalier Tom will grow up to be David Archer from Ambridge.

Lady Anne looks familiar to those of us of a certain vintage, she was one half of the Nescafé Gold Blend couple (that's Taster's Choice for those of you from the colonies).

The second series has faired a bit better. Clearly the budget for this series was quite a bit bigger. Better storyline, acting and script too.



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