A sprawling historical saga tracing the lives and friendship of two young men, one Jewish and one Gentile, from the 1930s to the post-war era.
In the 1930s, a deep bond forms at a British boarding school between Michael Jordan (Adrian Lukis), the son of diplomat Samuel Jordan (Anton Rodgers), and Joe Hirsch (Robert Reynolds), a Jewish refugee from Austria. As the Second World War looms, their paths diverge. Michael follows his father into the army and the diplomatic service, while Joe confronts the violent anti-semitism sweeping Europe and struggles with his identity. The serial charts their lives across several decades, detailing their complex romantic entanglements, particularly with the intelligent Rachel Lucas (Clare Higgins) and the socially ambitious Sally Raglan (Caroline Goodall), and the profound effects of war, class, and prejudice on their enduring but often strained friendship.
Written by the novelist and screenwriter Frederic Raphael, After the War was a drama of immense ambition. Constructed as a ten-part television novel, it used the lives of its two protagonists as a framework for a panoramic study of the British establishment before, during, and after the Second World War. The story’s central subject is the fragility of loyalty, both personal and political, in a society grappling with its own deep-seated class prejudices and latent anti-semitism. With its large cast and decade-spanning narrative, the Granada production was a significant piece of prestige television, aiming for a literary depth rarely attempted on such a scale.
Broadcast: ITV – Granada, 10 Episodes, 16 June – 18 August 1989
Written by: Frederic Raphael
Directors: John Madden, John Glenister, Nicholas Renton
Producer: Michael Cox
Main Cast: Adrian Lukis (Michael Jordan), Robert Reynolds (Joe Hirsch), Anton Rodgers (Samuel Jordan), Ingrid Hafner (Philippa Jordan), Clare Higgins (Rachel Lucas), Caroline Goodall (Sally Raglan), Susannah York (Irene), James Grout (Leo)
