Private Peaceful – Episode 1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-1/z6jnxyc
Private Peaceful – Episode 1: synopsis
Each episode begins with a brief passage in which Thomas ‘Tommo’ Peaceful relates something of his present circumstances, before he begins to recollect events from the past. In the first of these we learn that he is young, is alone and that the night ahead is meaningful to him. For some reason he wishes to remain awake and alert.
After his brief opening reflection Tommo begins his recollection of his childhood, beginning with his first day at school. Throughout we learn about his family. Charlie, his older brother, protects and comforts him. Big Joe, his eldest brother, is cared for at home by his mother. We discover he is different in some way. Tommo describes his two contrasting teachers – Mr Munnings and Miss McAllister – and how he copes with his first day at school. The episode ends with Tommo’s description of the death of his father, for which he feels responsible.
Private Peaceful – Episode 2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-2/zhhry9q
Private Peaceful – Episode 2: synopsis
In the present, Tommo has food but doesn’t want to eat it. The uneaten stew becomes the springboard for further childhood memories…
We learn that Big Joe had meningitis as a newborn baby and that Joe has a very kind nature, loving everything and everyone, especially nature. We learn of the tricks the brothers Tommo and Charlie play on Big Joe and how Molly, a school friend, becomes like a member of their family. But the Peacefuls live in a tied cottage – tied to the job of the late Mr Peaceful – and now the Colonel, as the local land owner, can compel Mrs Peaceful to take a job caring for the Colonel’s wife up at the ‘Big House’. This will allow them to pay for their upkeep.
Grandma Wolf arrives to look after the three boys while their mother is out at work. Tommo tells us she is mean and cruel to them. And he feels that he is to blame for the sadness in his family because he feels responsible for the accident that killed their father.
Private Peaceful – Episode 3
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-3/zns9bdm
Private Peaceful – Episode 3: synopsis
Tommo in the present sees a mouse and memories of childhood continue…
He tells of the battle he and Charlie had with Grandma Wolf over mice in the house throughout the winter and of her cruelty towards the children. We learn that Molly is an only child and that her family are ‘god fearing and strict’ and that her father also works for the Colonel, as a groom.
Mrs Peaceful loses her job when the Colonel’s wife dies suddenly and for a time the family has no income and the children go hungry. Charlie decides they should do some poaching on the Colonel’s land, with Tommo and Molly standing guard. Tommo describes ‘the miracle’ of the Colonel giving Grandma Wolf her old housekeeping job back and of Mrs Peaceful being given some sewing work by him, enabling them to stay on in the cottage.
Tommo and Charlie form a close bond with Molly – and so they are deeply concerned when she falls ill with Scarlet fever.
Private Peaceful – Episode 4
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-4/zb4xjhv
Private Peaceful – Episode 4: synopsis
In the present Tommo reflects on God and the likelihood of an afterlife. His hope that ‘there is a heaven’ is clearly linked to his circumstances, but how is not yet clear.
Tommo then recalls an evening spent poaching: on this occasion Tommo falls asleep and so they are caught in the act by Lambert, the Colonel’s bailiff. Lambert marches the two boys to the Colonel and he, supported by Grandma Wolf, determines their punishment should be a ‘sound hiding’ followed by cleaning out the hunt kennels.
When Mrs Peaceful learns of the proposed punishment she speaks to the Colonel and persuades him not to beat the children. Instead they must clean the kennels every weekend until Christmas. However, the boys enjoy their time in the kennels and become fond of one foxhound in particular, called Bertha.
Molly final returns to them but she is different – pale, with short hair and more adult. Tommo tells us his love deepens for her.
Molly and Charlie leave school for jobs in the ‘Big House’ and Tommo is alone in the classroom. Tommo feels he is losing Molly and one day he sees Charlie and she walking, hand in hand.
Private Peaceful – Episode 5
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-private-peaceful-episode-5/zmp4382
Private Peaceful – Episode 5: synopsis
At the start of the episode Tommo refers to seeing larks over no-man’s-land and we learn for the first time that he must be a soldier in World War 1.
In Tommo’s next recollection the Colonel demands to know what Charlie has done with Bertha. Mr Peaceful negotiates with him and pays sixpence for the dog. However, Charlie is dismissed from his job and later he goes to work for Farmer Cox. As a result Tommo sees even less of him.
Molly stops visiting and Mrs Peaceful realises that her parents must be responding to malicious stories that Charlie is a thief. Charlie is determined to keep in contact with Molly and enlists Tommo as his go-between delivering letters. It is from Molly’s overheard conversations up at the ‘Big House’ that Tommo first hears of the impending war.
On returning home one day Tommo and Charlie discover Molly and her mother at the cottage. Charlie’s letters have been discovered along with their love for each other and their secret meetings. Tommo didn’t know of their meetings and feels betrayed by them both.
One evening Bertha goes missing and does not return. Tommo goes in search of her in Fords Cleave Wood and hears a shot ring out. He finds Bertha dead outside his father’s old shack with the Colonel standing over her. Charlie and Molly run from the shack. Their meeting place has been discovered.
Private Peaceful – Episode 6
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-6/zkvw47h
Private Peaceful – Episode 6: synopsis
Tommo in the present sees a new moon rising and wonders if those back home will also be seeing it…
Tommo’s next recollection is how Big Joe goes missing following the shooting of Bertha. The whole village is alerted to Joe’s disappearance, including the Colonel up at the ‘Big House’. The Colonel calls in the police to assist and it is agreed that if anyone finds Big Joe the church bell will be rung.
All night the villagers search for Big Joe, dreading the worst. Molly thinks she knows where he is and directs Charlie and Tommo to search for him in the church bell tower – on the grounds that Big Joe appears to associate the tower with heaven.
Tommo finds Big Joe there asleep and Charlie rings the bell. The family and other villagers are relieved that Big Joe has been found.
Private Peaceful – Episode 7
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful/zhrmwty
Private Peaceful – Episode 7: synopsis
Tommo thinks of the church steeples no longer standing in the battlefields where he is and refers specifically to the damaged steeple of the church in Albert. He thinks of the church again at home…
After Big Joe is found life is settled except for the talk of war. The Colonel speaks of horses and men being needed urgently. They hear of the terrible battle on the Marne. Meanwhile, on returning from their work, Charlie and Tommo find Molly in tears with their mother. Her parents have thrown her out as she is going to have Charlie’s baby. They are married – very quietly – and Tommo mourns the loss of his beloved Molly. He feels he must get away and spends as much time as he can away from home working for Farmer Cox.
On an errand to Hatherleigh he sees a military parade drumming up volunteers to serve in the War. An old woman pushes Tommo to join up and mocks his hesitation, calling him a coward.
At home later Charlie and Tommo talk to a tearful Molly. The Colonel has paid Mrs Peaceful another visit and if Charlie does not enlist they will lose their cottage. Charlie believes he must agree and Tommo says he will join him in volunteering. Molly is full of fear and asks Tommo to look after Charlie. Shortly after they take their first ever train ride when they go to Exeter to enlist.
Private Peaceful – Episode 8
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-8/zjs8rj6
Private Peaceful – Episode 8: synopsis
Tommo checks the time on his watch, wishing time would stand still. He thinks back to his army training and the bullying he and Charlie sustained at the hands of Sergeant ‘Horrible’ Hanley.
Tommo recounts the process of joining-up: the uniforms that don’t fit, the boots that are too big. He sees many of the lads he grew up with at home. Their training at Salisbury Plain is full of marching, stitching and polishing. As they train with rifles they hear guns sounding from over in France and are afraid.
Tommo and Charlie suffer seasickness on the journey to France and are met by scenes of the injured on the quayside when they arrive.
At Etaples they meet Sergeant ‘Horrible’ Hanley who targets both boys. When Hanley realises Tommo is underage he bullies him. Charlie challenges Hanley and is arrested for insubordination. He is given ‘Field Punishment Number 1’ by the Brigadier who warns him that ultimately insubordination is punishable by death. Charlie is lashed to a gun wheel as the others march past. Tommo thinks of him as Jesus on the cross and sings a hymn to himself as he marches.
Private Peaceful – Episode 9
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-9/zh9t7nb
Private Peaceful – Episode 9: synopsis
Tommo regrets falling asleep and the precious lost time. He finds himself singing ‘Oranges and lemons’ like Big Joe to stay awake…
Tommo recalls leaving Etaples to move up to the front line. The soldiers begin to see the evidence of war for the first time: shattered villages, field hospitals and empty coffins. Captain Wilkes, once a choir master, is kind and considerate and treats the men well. Letters arrive from home for Tommo. At a final night in the local pub Tommo meets Anna – the daughter of the proprietor – and she reminds him of home and Molly.
The next night they march to the trenches seeing soldiers returning the other way. Together Charlie and Tommo are on sentry duty and are disappointed to not see any enemy. Tommo recounts patrols in no-man’s-land and their mission in to enemy trenches to capture a prisoner. The Captain – ‘Wilkie’ – is shot and carried by Charlie to safety, despite the shells falling on them.
Later Tommo and Charlie go to visit Wilkie in hospital but discover he has been sent back to Britain to recuperate. He has left his gold wrist watch for Charlie as a gift for saving his life.
Private Peaceful – Episode 10
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-10/zdvj92p
Private Peaceful – Episode 10: synopsis
Tommo in the present reveals that he has just turned down offers of help from other soldiers and the padre…
Tommo thinks back to the second time they went up to the front line at ‘Wipers’ (Ypres). The constant bombardment and loss of Wilkie as leader lowered morale. The new trenches were in very poor condition – and they could smell the stench of death all around and see the abandoned corpses in no-man’s-land.
The constant bombardment terrifies Tommo and he is actually relieved when it is time to go ‘over the top’ led by a new officer – Lieutenant Buckland. Tommo is deafened by the shells and loses sight of Charlie during the attack.
Later, back in the trench, Charlie does not return and Tommo assumes his brother must be dead. He imagines Charlie telling him not to fall sleep on sentry duty as he could be shot for it. Charlie suddenly appears in no-man’s-land and falls, injured, into the trench. Charlie’s foot has been wounded and Charlie knows he’ll be sent home to recover.
Tommo is shocked at the departing of his brother and feels abandoned. He meets Anna – the girl from the pub – and they talk of the War and home and share a brief kiss. For a moment all is calm. On returning to camp Tommo learns that the new sergeant is to be ‘Horrible’ Hanley, hated more even than the enemy.
Private Peaceful – Episode 11
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-11/z7cxjhv
Private Peaceful – Episode 11: synopsis
Morning arrives for Tommo. Someone is going to lose their life but it is not necessarily clear who…
Tommo’s thoughts return to the front line where it has become quiet. The threat of a gas attack is ever present and when it comes Tommo is full of fear. As he tries to escape the cloud of gas his mask comes off and he breathes the gas. A German soldier discovers him but allows Tommo to escape. In hospital he sees the bodies of those who did not survive.
Letters arrive for Tommo. He reads them aloud to Pete because he has no letters. One, from Tommo’s mother, gives the news of the baby’s arrival. The child is named Tommo. Charlie is with them on leave but has clearly not spoken of the horror of the War to them. Pete is disgusted by this and feels betrayed. The second letter is from Charlie and Molly. In the letter Charlie explains his reasons for hiding the truth about the War from the family.
On a night of leave from the front line Tommo returns to ‘Pop’ and looks for Anna. He discovers she has been killed by a stray German (‘Boche’) shell. He visits her freshly-dug grave. Charlie returns from leave and in the trench everyone feels safer that he is among them again.
Charlie meets Hanley for the first time since his return. To Tommo Charlie talks of the two different worlds: life in the trenches and life at home. The constant shelling returns and despite the soldiers’ attempts to cope with it Tommo loses control and screams in terror. Charlie comforts him and sings ‘Oranges and lemons’ to calm him.
The company goes over the top again and Tommo suddenly feels a pain in his head. He falls to the ground believing that he is dying…and relieved to be doing so.
Private Peaceful – Episode 12
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-12/zftcvk7
Private Peaceful – Episode 12: synopsis
Sixty five minutes remain and Tommo questions what he should do with the time time. We learn from him for the first time that a Private Peaceful will be shot for cowardice at six o’clock that morning: 25th June 1916…
Tommo’s recollection returns to the frontline where he fell. He realises his head is wounded and that he is lying in no-man’s-land buried beneath the earth where no-one has seen him. He struggles but cannot get free and fears he will die until hands dig him out. He hears Charlie’s voice. The company shelters in a nearby abandoned dugout in the middle of no-man’s-land.
Charlie knows they are pinned down by enemy fire and wants them to stay put. But Hanley is also there and demands the men continue the attack, despite almost certain failure. Tommo knows he can’t go on and Charlie argues with Hanley about the futility of an attack; but Hanley is adamant and threatens Charlie with a court martial. Charlie insists he will stay to look after Tommo whatever. Then Hanley and the others attack in a hail of bullets, leaving Charlie and the injured Tommo in the dugout.
Charlie talks to Tommo about the chance of him not making it home. He makes Tommo promise he will care for Molly and his child. He gives Tommo the wrist watch.
Tommo wakes later to see Hanley has made it back to the dugout. Many others do not return from the fighting. Slowly they make their way back to the trenches. Tommo sees his brother arrested and taken away. He doesn’t see him for the next six weeks.
Private Peaceful – Episode 13
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/english-private-peaceful-episode-13/zm23nrd
Private Peaceful: Episode 13 – synopsis
Tommo’s recollection of events from the past have all but caught up with his reflections in the present. Tommo reveals he only knew the day before of his brother’s death sentence…
Tommo is given twenty minutes for a final meeting with his brother. Charlie insists on reading a letter to Tommo from Molly about little Tommo and Big Joe. It is clear she doesn’t know about the court martial or Charlie’s death sentence.
Charlie insists Tommo must tell the truth of what happened when he returns home. He explains the injustice of the court martial, with no witnesses called in his defence. Charlie says the history of his insubordination and being shot in the foot has gone against him (soldiers were accused of shooting themselves in the foot as a way to be sent home injured). Charlie is resigned to the outcome and comforts Tommo. They spend time talking about home and the promise Tommo has made regarding Molly and the baby.
The time draws near for Tommo to leave and Charlie passes him letters for home. They hold each other, humming ‘Oranges and lemons’, then sing louder. Charlie says he’ll be singing the tune as he stands before the firing squad. Their time is up and Tommo must leave.
Tommo returns to the camp and discovers Hanley has died in a freak training-ground accident. He is relieved at the justice but the camp is subdued.
Wanting to be alone Tommo goes to a barn to spend the night – the same barn from which he has been making his recollections. Tommo sees the time moving to six and plans to go outside so he can sense the world alongside Charlie at the end. At one minute to six the past finally catches up with the present. Tommo thinks of the proud way he knows his brother will face the firing squad. Tommo hears the volley of shots and knows it is over. As he returns to camp all the soldiers are standing to attention.
Tommo collects Charlie’s things and visits his burial place. Shortly he will be going to a new ‘push’ on the Somme…but he is determined to survive because now he has promises to keep.