A special screening of a film that honours the role of the Radstock and Midsomer Norton communities in the First World War is being held this month.
The award-winning television documentary Till the Boys Come Home is being screened at the city’s Little Theatre as part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s work to commemorate the centenary of the war. This is in association with Bath Film Festival.
It was originally broadcast by ITV West in 2005 and tells the moving story of how the people of Radstock and Midsomer Norton came together ten years ago to produce a play that honoured the part their communities played in the war.
The play was based on real-life accounts of local people that showed how everyday life in the villages was affected by the conflict.
The stories were gathered by author Chris Howell in his book No Thankful Village after the local communities were, tragically, not amongst those that were named Thankful Villages after seeing the safe return of all of their armed forces.
Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Economic Development, said: “This thought-provoking film weaves together scenes from the community play and interviews with those involved, including First World War hero Harry Patch who was then aged 105.
“It also includes filmed sequences re-creating the trenches, shot on location on the Somerset levels, and really brings home the impact of the conflict on our communities.
“We are delighted to have this special one-off screening as part of the Council’s remembrance of the First World War.”
The special screening of Till the Boys Come Home is being held at 8pm on Monday, 14 March, at the Little Theatre Cinema in Bath.
It will be followed by a short Q&A session with director Colin Thomas and producer Lee Cox.
Tickets are available from Bath Box Office by calling 01225 463362 or visiting http://bathboxoffice.org.uk/whatson/till-the-boys-come-home/
For further details of this and other WW1 Centenary event contact 01225 396455 or centenary_worldwar1@bathnes.gov.uk or visit http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/WW1centenary.
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‘Till the Boys Come Home’ won the Best Independent Production award in the Regional Royal Television Society Awards in 2006.
