Glorious 39

Come on, Glorious!

- How does Wilfred fit into it?

- He always wins.

He will never beat Wilfred!

Wilfred the Great!

Princess Celia! Fat Men dancing!

Thin Men dancing!

That is what we call them

because that is what they do!

En garde! Voil!

Victory for me!

Victory, victory, victory!

Come on, Glorious.

- Yes?

- Hi. It's Michael. Michael Walton.

- Is Mr. Page there?

- Which one do you want?

Both, if possible.

Come up, Michael.

Come in.

I am Walter, this is Oliver.

And you are our cousin Michael.

Yes...that's me.

I believe we met once

when you were 6 months old.

I am sure he remembers it vividly!

Have some cake.

Delicious cake.

Is that the 2 of you?

It is indeed. As I am sure

you've guessed, I am the baby.

You do have a lot of radios.

They're from our childhood.

Would you like to hear one?

It'll take a moment to warm up.

What do you want to ask

both of us, Michael?

Right, yes...

I've just got one question, really.

I'm interested in history.

Family history.

And you're the only ones left

from that time.

Yes.

- My grandmother.

- Yes, Celia. Of course.

I just wondered...

What happened to her sister, Anne?

She was an actress.

She was indeed.

She made some films.

She played the best friend

or the school teacher.

That's her, up there.

Anne was the oldest.

She was adopted, of course.

As frequently happens,

they were desperate for children.

But they didn't think

they could have any,

and so they adopted one.

And then, lo and behold,

along came the babies anyway.

They were all very close.

You didn't think it would work.

Let's see if we can find

something more appropriate.

What happened to her?

Tell me.

It's not always a good place

to go, Michael - the past.

This is a little bit better.

Let's see if we can get

a clearer signal.

It had been a fantastic summer,

that summer of '39.

The most glorious summer

most people could remember

for a very long time.

The year before, it had seemed

war with Germany had been averted,

the policy of appeasing Hitler,

of reasoning with him,

really had worked.

And even now it seemed

it might still work.

Your grandmother,

and Anne and Ralph,

had grown up

in a most beautiful house

with an even more beautiful garden.

It was a very exciting time.

Ralph was doing well

at the Foreign Office,

Anne had a part she was

pleased about in a new movie.

It was your

great-grandfather's birthday,

and they had prepared

the most wonderful table for him,

or rather Anne had,

because she was in charge

of most things.

The Fat Men on the march. It's one

of your very best tables, Anne.

I like your friend.

The other one's a little dotty.

Maybe a little,

but he can be great fun.

Anne, he is beautiful.

Why all the knights?

What are they up to?

It's...it's something

we started as children.

Perhaps I'll get to take

one of these home.

They're absolutely everywhere!

Do you want to see?

It's all her fault!

Anne started it,

and then we all did them.

We call them

"Fat Men dancing".

This reminds me of someone

I used to work with.

And now there's no escaping them!

That's George.

His sister, Sonia,

disappeared a few days ago,

so he's a little upset.

Were you allowed to put them

everywhere you wanted?

Almost everywhere!

We were not allowed in those.

This is the shell line.

We were not allowed to cross it.

Those buildings were stuffed with

Papa's papers he used for his books.

- I bet you did cross it, though.

- No, never needed to.

We never have.

Even now, none of us.

There were so many

other places to play.

Do you want to see

where it all started?

We have time to go, don't we, Anne?

Please? Say yes.

Yes. If we're quick.

Mr. Speaker!

Marvellous place to come

to rehearse one's speeches!

Point of order, Mr. Speaker!

The Honourable Member

must retract that immediately!

Both the 1st part

and the 3rd part.

So this is where it all comes from,

the stories we made up

about chubby men

doing heroic things!

They were all deeply flawed,

our knights,

overweight and lazy.

- We liked them like that.

- But they could be very brave

when we wanted them to be.

They slaughtered anyone

who dared attack them!

Your father made terrific speeches

in the House of Commons.

It's a pity he speaks

so less often now.

Well, his health

has always been delicate.

That's why he takes

more of a back seat now.

I've heard a lot about your papa.

Heard he's the most charming man

in England.

Which makes me rather nervous.

What if he doesn't like me?

Hello.

Happy birthday.

My, my, my!

What a glorious homecoming!

Anne, you've surpassed yourself,

absolutely surpassed yourself!

You all have.

Henry, you've met, of course.

This is Joseph Balcombe,

a colleague of Henry's.

Joseph, these are my children.

It is a delight to find

it is your father's birthday.

- Happy birthday, Papa.

- Thank you.

- Your mother is still getting ready?

- Naturally.

- She did all the flowers, of course.

- Hector! Good to see you!

- Happy birthday.

-Thank you.

- And you must be Lawrence.

- I am.

It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.

And happy birthday.

Thank you. You certainly live up

to Anne's description of you.

Papa!

There is no easy reply to that.

Did he say he is one of the cleverest

people in the Foreign Office

and I had better watch out?

Because that is the truth.

Why are you here

in these parts, Mr. Balcombe?

A little fishing. I was determined

to get in some fishing somehow.

- How very sensible.

- And coming here

to such an ancient place, it's...

Well, it's quite possible to think

that all is right with the world.

But it isn't, is it?

We're not sleepwalking

towards disaster.

We're going up to it,

welcoming it with open arms.

I've certainly been known

to do that in my time.

Precisely in what way

are we doing that?

I will tell you precisely.

We're not content with letting Hitler

march into Czechoslovakia

and Austria.

Now we're saying, "That's all right,

old chap. Take some more countries."

- Are we saying that?

- Yes, we are.

Hitler wants to take over Europe,

and we are letting him do it

so long as he doesn't bother us.

That can't be allowed.

Forgive a statement that's obvious,

or what I think is obvious,

but evil has to be stood up to.

But one has to be

in a position to do that.

- One has to have the means.

- We've got the bloody means!

Even if we have let Germany re-arm,

we mustn't exaggerate

how strong she is!

Under this current government of

Mr. Chamberlain, my own leader,

we are behaving as if

we have to avoid war

at absolutely all costs.

So every day we do something

that makes the situation worse.

Do you really think that is true?

What did you have in mind?

To give you one example,

I've heard rumours.

I've heard the most

extraordinary rumours

that we are trying

to interest the Nazis

in accepting a gigantic secret loan,

which we will negotiate for them

on the international markets,

so they might turn their armament

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