Hot TV CHOICE
Iain Glen, Tim McInnerny, Thomas Kretschmann and Romola Garai star in a seriously moving one-off drama tonight called THE WINDERMERE
CHILDREN (9pm, BBC Two). Set in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, and being shown to mark the 75th International Holocaust Memorial Day, it’s the true story of a group of youngsters who’ve somehow survived the Nazis’ death camps and who now find themselves in Britain, the Government having promised to take hundreds of them in.
The bunch who arrive at the Calgarth Estate, right next to Lake Windermere, will be there for four months, during which time a group of volunteers, teachers and psychologists will be doing what they can to help these children rebuild their lives. That, and to help them integrate themselves into British society, which in itself looks as if it may be a hefty challenge, given the less than warm reception they receive from some of the locals.
It’s a tough watch at times, and so it should be, but it’s also one hell of a rewarding and uplifting one. Stick with it to the end and I promise you won’t regret it. The final moments are particularly poignant, for reasons I’ll leave you to discover for yourself.
Straight afterwards, over on BBC Four, THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN: IN THEIR OWN WORDS (10.30pm) looks in closer detail at this groundbreaking rehabilitation project and hears from some of the people who were there, revealing where their lives went next. The survivors still meet up annually to this day.