Coming Home is a 1998 British serial

Serial (radio and television)

Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...

 directed by Giles Foster

Giles Foster

Giles Foster has been a British television director since 1975. He specialises in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and more recently in Germany. He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s....

. The teleplay by John Goldsmith is based on the novel of the same title by Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher OBE is a British author of romance novels and mainstream women's fiction. Early in her career she was also published under the pen name Jane Fraser. Pilcher retired from writing in 2000.-Early years:...

. Produced by Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...

, it was broadcast in two parts by ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 in April 1998.

Plot

The story focuses on Judith Dunbar, who is enrolled in St. Ursula's, an English boarding school, when her parents and younger sister move to colonial Singapore

Singapore in the Straits Settlements

Singapore in the Straits Settlements refers to a period in the history of Singapore from 1826 to 1942, during which Singapore was part of the Straits Settlements together with Penang and Malacca. From 1830 to 1867 the Straits Settlements was a residency, or subdivision, of the Presidency of Bengal,...

. She is introduced to a world of wealth and privilege by her classmate, Loveday Carey-Lewis, whose family owns the magnificent Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 estate known as Nancherrow. Although Judith enjoys the company of her doting Aunt Louise, who has been named her legal guardian during her parents' absence, she prefers to spend as much of her school holidays as possible with Loveday's parents and siblings, who welcome her as one of their own. When Aunt Louise is killed in an automobile accident, she leaves her considerable estate to Judith, who will be independently wealthy for life if she handles her inheritance wisely.

Judith becomes increasingly attracted to Loveday's older brother Edward and eventually succumbs to his gentle seduction. When she realizes she was foolishly naive to think he was committed to a permanent relationship, she departs Nancherrow and enlists in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 at the onset of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The ensuing years wreak havoc on her life and those of the people she loves. Edward, blinded in battle, returns home and commits suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 rather than be a burden to others. When Loveday's fiancé Gus goes missing in action

Missing in action

Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...

 and she realizes she is pregnant with his child, she agrees to marry her friend Walter. Judith reunites with Carey-Lewis family friend Jeremy Wells, a doctor who has loved her since the day they met, but unexpected circumstances tear them apart. Further complications arise when Judith's sister Jess is placed in her care after the ship on which she and their mother were returning to England is bombed by the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese and Jess is placed in an internment camp. With their father missing and their mother lost at sea, Judith must learn to interact with a grieving young girl emotionally scarred by her wartime experiences.

Production

The serial was shot at numerous locations in Cornwall, including Godrevy

Godrevy

Godrevy is an area of west Cornwall, United Kingdom, found on the north coast within St. Ives Bay and is popular with both the surfing community and walkers. It is home also to some areas administered by the National Trust, and a lighthouse maintained by Trinity House.- Godrevy Head :The headland ...

, Lamorna

Lamorna

Lamorna is a fishing village and cove in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penwith peninsula approximately four miles south of Penzance.-Newlyn School of Art and the Lamorna Colony:...

, Lelant

Lelant

Lelant is a village in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the River Hayle estuary about 2½ miles southeast of St Ives and one mile west of Hayle....

, Marazion

Marazion

Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mount's Bay, two miles east of Penzance and one mile east of Long Rock.St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion...

, Penzance

Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...

, Porthgwarra

Porthgwarra

Porthgwarra is a small coastal village in the civil parish of St Levan, Cornwall, UK situated between Land's End and Porthcurno. Access to the cove is via a minor road off the B3283 road at Polgigga and leads to the car park in the village. There is a public convenience, public telephone and small...

, Prideaux Place

Prideaux Place

Prideaux Place is a country house in Padstow, Cornwall, England.For over 400 years, Prideaux Place has been the home of the Prideaux-Brune family. Completed in 1592, the house has been enlarged and modified by successive generations...

, and St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount is a tidal island located off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a civil parish and is united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water....

, as well as Wrotham Park

Wrotham Park

Wrotham Park, Hertsmere, Hertfordshire is a neo-Palladian English country house, designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral Sir George Byng, which remains in the family at the heart of a estate seventeen miles from Hyde Park Corner...

 in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

.

Cast

• Emily Mortimer
  Emily Mortimer
  Emily Kathleen A. Mortimer is an English actress. She began performing on stage, and has since appeared in several film and television roles, including Scream 3, Match Point, Lars and the Real Girl, and Shutter Island....
  
   ..... Judith Dunbar
• Peter O'Toole
  Peter O'Toole
  Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
  
   ..... Colonel Edgar Carey-Lewis
• Joanna Lumley
  Joanna Lumley
  Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
  
   ..... Diana Carey-Lewis
• Katie Ryder Richardson ..... Loveday Carey-Lewis
• Penelope Keith
  Penelope Keith
  Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
  
   ..... Aunt Louise
• David McCallum
  David McCallum
  David Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
  
   ..... Billy Fawcett
• Paul Bettany
  Paul Bettany
  Paul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...
  
   ..... Edward Carey-Lewis
• George Asprey ..... Dr. Jeremy Wells
• Heikko Deutschmann ..... Gus
• Patrick Ryecart
  Patrick Ryecart
  Patrick Geoffrey Ryecart is an English actor.Ryecart was born in Leamington Spa. He has predominantly acted on British television shows since the mid-seventies including Lillie, Romeo and Juliet, The Professionals, Minder, Rumpole of the Bailey, Lovejoy, Coming Home, and Holby City...
  
   ..... Tommy Mortimer
• Susan Hampshire
  Susan Hampshire
  Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
  
   ..... Miss Catto
• Brooke Kinsella
  Brooke Kinsella
  Brooke Kinsella, MBE is an English actress and author. A graduate of the Anna Scher Theatre School, Kinsella has been acting since childhood. She has had various roles on television and in film...
  
   ..... Jess
• Keira Knightley
  Keira Knightley
  Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
  
   ..... Young Judith
• Poppy Gaye ..... Young Loveday

DVD release

Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....

 released the serial in fullscreen format on DVD on 28 March 2000. It includes excerpts from a documentary about Rosamunde Pilcher.