WHAT TO WATCH

MY GRANDPARENTS’ WAR: TOBY JONES

Channel 4, 8pm

It strikes us as extraordinary today how little past generations spoke of their experiences during the Second World War. It’s a subject that the actor Toby Jones ponders deeply in this edition, while looking into the fascinating histories of his beloved maternal grandparents Reggie and Doreen “Dorki” Heslewood. Jones uncovers previously unknown information that he describes as “mind-blowing” – of Dorki’s experiences in France as a 21-yearold actress with the Entertainments National Service Association (sharing a stage with Gracie Fields, no less) and evacuation from

Boulogne. And of Reggie’s rather darker experiences of jungle warfare in Burma, fighting with the Indian army against the Japanese in “hellish conditions” and his key role at the Battle of

Imphal in northeast India.

Fortunately, the military record-keepers, private diarists and photo-takers of the world were quietly working away as always, allowing the programme’s researchers to piece together a fascinating story that both sheds light on some of the less appreciated heroics of the war, but also on a loving bond, forged in conflict, that lasted a lifetime.

Gerard O’Donovan