Love for Lydia [1977]

The lowdown: 'Love for Lydia' is a thirteen-part drama that was first broadcast on ITV1 from 9 September and 2
December 1977, and is based an a 1952 novel by H.E.Bates. Set in Northern England in the 1920s and 30s, the
central character is a young and beautiful heiress, Lydia Aspen (Mel Martin), who is courted by a number of young
men. When the series begins she is shy and socially awkward, but she becomes ever more confident as her social
life and her love life begin to flourish. Lydia uses her beauty to full advantage, toying with the affections of her many
male admirers, but she is more interested in living an extravagant and care-free lifestyle as a flapper than entertaining
a serious relationship. A newspaper reporter and aspiring young writer named Edward Richardson (Christopher Blake)
mets Lydia when he is sent to Aspen House to write a story about the death of the family's matriarch. He soon falls
in love with Lydia and is convinced that he is the right man for her, but she treats him just like all her other admirers,
who include Tom Holland (Peter Davison) and Alex Sanderson (Jeremy Irons). Richardson despairs of gaining Lydia's
affections and moves on with his life, but fate eventually brings them together again when Lydia becomes gravely ill.

Episode nine, from which the video clips on this page were taken, sees Richardson meet up with Tom Holland some
time after the funeral of his best friend. Holland now owns a farm and invites Richardson to stay with him. Neither
knows much about farming but soon learn with the help of a neighbour, Mr. McKechnie. The McKechnie family is very
religious, and Tom Holland is shocked to discover that the elderly farmer whipped his daughter Flora simply for getting
her hair cut very short. Meanwhile, Holland's sister Nancy comes to stay at the farm, and they decide to have a party
to celebrate her birthday. Nancy suggests names of people they could invite, and top of the list is of course Lydia,
resulting in a rather uncomfortable moment when Richardson is reunited with her.

The verdict: 'Love for Lydia' is an entertaining if somewhat slow-paced romantic drama that does a very good job of
capturing the spirit and style of the Jazz Era. The acting is generally superb, especially as some of the main actors
are in their earliest TV roles (notably Davison and Irons) - and it has to be said that Davison looks so very young here.
If you like this kind of drama you should find a lot to like about this one.