The Windermere Children: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Monday 27 January 2020, 17:12

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows alongside 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on The Windermere Children - a one-off drama based on the true story of children who survived the Holocaust who found a new life in the Lake District.

It's on BBC Two on Monday 27 January at 21:00 GMT.

Have you watched it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...

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(Photo: BBC/Wall to Wall/ZDF)

Scott says: "The most haunting and moving piece of TV I've seen for a long time"

“I think it’s the little details in this that are so haunting... you can tell from the outset that they’ve had their entire childhood taken away from them and they don’t know what’s happened to close members of their family.

"They are still incredibly scared and frightened about what might happen to them even though they are in England. There’s a scene where they all have breakfast supplies given to them in the morning and it’s pandemonium - all of the kids snatch the food and take it and hide it thinking it's under limited supply.

"The drama eloquently highlights the fact that they can do all they can to help them rehabilitate but this will be PTSD for the rest of their lives. It show just the sense of absolute horror that must’ve been for these young children in a way that doesn’t make it entertainment.

"There’s a scene at the end where each character is reunited with the person their character is based on, they talk about how Windermere helped them through that process. That three minute scene is one of the most haunting but moving piece of TV I’ve seen for quite a long time.”

(Photo: BBC/Wall to Wall/ZDF)

Hayley says: "It's a drama of quiet little details"

“That last scene really shows you, we hear statistics all the time but these statistics are people and they did go on to build lives in the UK and raise families and those families are still existing.

"This is the story of what happened after the liberation which is a much quieter story. I think the more well-known one is the Kindertransport which was the rescue effort before WW2 broke out, this is the one you don’t hear about so much.

"It's very affecting... it doesn’t really make for an action-packed movie, it's very quiet, nothing really happens, [but] that’s the whole point - recovery, regaining balance, and for the first time in years these kids got to experience nothing really happening at all, which is what you’re supposed to have a childhood full of.

"I thought this drama in it’s quiet little details, did it really well."