Last Tango in Halifax

[Nick Armstrong]

Indeed... we lost the interest of her earlier conflicted reactions to the marriage, the newly-discovered son etc. when one wondered if she was not in fact a Very Nice Person but a bit of an old b-b-b-bigot!

[Anna]

Right from the beginning Anne Reid's character was shown to be totally self-centred and completely lacking in empathy for anyone, demonstrated vividly in her reaction to the combined events of Alan's unknown son and Caroline's wedding.

As to Lawrence - if you're a 15 year old boy and your father leaves your mother for an alcoholic, then your mother (who is also the Head of your school) embarks on a very public lesbian relationship and subsequent marriage (Oh the horror, the shame), so when that ends in the death of his mother's partner - surely his reaction is exactly as it would be in real life?

[eighthobstruction]

Indeed... we lost the interest of her earlier conflicted reactions to the marriage, the newly-discovered son etc. when one wondered if she was not in fact a Very Nice Person but a bit of an old b-b-b-bigot!

....well, she's from Yorkshire isn't she....

[Barbirollians]

Right from the beginning Anne Reid's character was shown to be totally self-centred and completely lacking in empathy for anyone, demonstrated vividly in her reaction to the combined events of Alan's unknown son and Caroline's wedding.

As to Lawrence - if you're a 15 year old boy and your father leaves your mother for an alcoholic, then your mother (who is also the Head of your school) embarks on a very public lesbian relationship and subsequent marriage (Oh the horror, the shame), so when that ends in the death of his mother's partner - surely his reaction is exactly as it would be in real life?

The embarrassment was plausible but there appeared to be no antipathy to Kate so his complete lack of sympathy for his mother when she died did not ring true at all to me .

[Nick Armstrong]

Right from the beginning Anne Reid's character was shown to be totally self-centred and completely lacking in empathy for anyone, demonstrated vividly in her reaction to the combined events of Alan's unknown son and Caroline's wedding.

As to Lawrence - if you're a 15 year old boy and your father leaves your mother for an alcoholic, then your mother (who is also the Head of your school) embarks on a very public lesbian relationship and subsequent marriage (Oh the horror, the shame), so when that ends in the death of his mother's partner - surely his reaction is exactly as it would be in real life?

Quite!

[Barbirollians]

Then again would there necessarily be such "horror and shame" in 2015 ? I don't find his lack of sympathy for his mother convincing when Kate died . I don't find the Josh and girlfriend and Calamity storyline at all convincing either and their proposed marriage too . There is something rather old fashioned about the plot points unlike the acting and characterisation .

[Anna]

Then again would there necessarily be such "horror and shame" in 2015 ? I don't find his lack of sympathy for his mother convincing when Kate died.

I think there would. A teenager really doesn't want to think about their parents having sex, let alone their mother having sex with another woman - particularly when she's Head of his school and his classmates, indeed the whole school, knows what his mother's been up to the night before when she addresses the morning assembly!! Much schoolboy sniggering ensues I imagine ....

[Barbirollians]

Fortunately a lot of schools have pretty firm policies about this nowadays although lots remain very much behind the times .

Leaving that aside being embarrassed at school about your mother's new relationship is one thing - showing no sympathy when Kate died is another entirely.

[Anna]

Leaving that aside being embarrassed at school about your mother's new relationship is one thing - showing no sympathy when Kate died is another entirely.

When a child’s parents divorce and one parent remarries, very often even though the ‘replacement’ parent is kind and loving, the wicked stepparent syndrome comes into play (wicked stepmothers are the staple of most fairy tales) and they are automatically hated. In the child's eyes how can anyone replace a much loved parent?

But in Lawrence’s case his dad's been replaced by a woman, so not only does he now have two mothers to contend with but his needy father, having shed alcoholic Judith, is still around and shows no sign of moving on to another relationship. In Lawrence’s eyes I'm sure he cannot comprehend why his mum should replace his dad with a woman in the first place (that is such a kick in the teeth to his dad), and he probably cannot see any reason why, now Kate is dead, that things cannot get back to normal and he can have two parents, a male and a female, the same as his mates.

I think you credit 15 year olds with far more emotional maturity than they actually have.

[Barbirollians]

When a child’s parents divorce and one parent remarries, very often even though the ‘replacement’ parent is kind and loving, the wicked stepparent syndrome comes into play (wicked stepmothers are the staple of most fairy tales) and they are automatically hated. In the child's eyes how can anyone replace a much loved parent?

But in Lawrence’s case his dad's been replaced by a woman, so not only does he now have two mothers to contend with but his needy father, having shed alcoholic Judith, is still around and shows no sign of moving on to another relationship. In Lawrence’s eyes I'm sure he cannot comprehend why his mum should replace his dad with a woman in the first place (that is such a kick in the teeth to his dad), and he probably cannot see any reason why, now Kate is dead, that things cannot get back to normal and he can have two parents, a male and a female, the same as his mates.

I think you credit 15 year olds with far more emotional maturity than they actually have.

Lawrence showed no sign of hatred for Kate . The idea he would not be upset at his mother being upset strikes me as very unlikely . He also shows no sign of wanting John back - remember how John left him alone in the last series ?



I was once a 15 year old boy by the way !

[Anna]

Lawrence showed no sign of hatred for Kate . The idea he would not be upset at his mother being upset strikes me as very unlikely . He also shows no sign of wanting John back - remember how John left him alone in the last series ?

I was once a 15 year old boy by the way !

As well, I'm never been a 15 year boy - so am obviously unfamiliar as to the ways and workings of the emotions teenage lads have!

Anyway, we've probably discussed the programme enough but I've seen that the story of Celia and Alan is based on Sally Wainwright's mother who, via facebook, met up with the love of her life, last seen at the age of 15. They met, married, and had 3 blissful years before her mother died. (Also, I remember At Home with the Braithwaites. That was also written by Wainwright, I really enjoyed it)