I was very disappointed in this movie. I've read all of the published diaries and felt this was dull and lifeless compared to the portrayals in Nella's writing. It reflects little of her commitment to her wartime duties and dwells mainly on the saddest aspects of her marriage. There is little of her wit and none of her insights and commentary on the period, the world, and the future. If you want to know about Nella Last and life in and around Barrow-in- Furness during the war (and after) read Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace, and Nella Last in the 1950s. Her diary output was vast, but the writers chose the least interesting aspects of her life for the film, a real injustice to a fascinating, intelligent woman.

The 'plot' of this film is largely determined by the true story of Nella Last - although another reviewer has questioned how accurately the film reflects the content of her letters. The stories of the readers of Nella's letters at Mass Observation must be invented; but I enjoyed the counterpoint of those scenes.The real story of the film is interpersonal relations - within Nella's family, and with her neighbours. Emotion (love, arrogance, jealousy, cruelty) and lack of emotion are central. The backdrop of the war, and the fear (and actuality) of losing people raise the stakes for those involved. Nella breaks out from being a very timid, downtrodden woman to a more confident, opinionated person by the end of the film.I think that a lot of subtle jokes based on the mores, culture and politics of Britain at the time will probably have been missed - particularly if you're not from Britain.I found this film an accurate and moving picture of real people in the context of war. It was very well written and acted.I must take issue with the last reviewer on one point. It was made very plain that the film was set in Barrow, not London. Bombing raids took place all over Britain in the second world war. Barrow is 290 miles from London.

"Housewife, 49" is a remarkable film in how it captures a picture of life that commonly goes unseen. Victoria Wood, the star of the film, is quite good. She offers a performance that's very easy to get into, full of emotional complexity and human depth. I was quite impressed by David Threlfall, who plays Wood's husband here. He convincingly captures a certain generation and personality of man that you don't often see on film. Not abusive or offensive, but emotionally distance and overly self-controlled. Stephanie Cole is good, but she isn't given much to work with here. The script tends to wander a bit too much at times. The entire subplot revolving around people reading the letters seems tacked-on and ultimately unnecessary.I'm glad I saw this. It offers up a close human insight. The TV movie format holds things down a bit, but the best is made of it. "Housewife, 49" is a good film.

'Housewife, 49' is a very good period drama. It is well-written, well-acted and well above the standard of most other television productions.One note of caution, however. If you have seen this, don't think you have seen a true adaptation of Nella Last's diaries. Only a couple of the incidents dramatised here actually come from the book it claims as a source. It seems Victoria Wood started with the premise of writing the story of a downtrodden woman whose horizons were broadened by the emergencies of war. So much is true, Nella Last did seem to find a meaningful rôle in her voluntary work. However, Wood seems to have been so determined to bring out this aspect of the story other elements have been invented and changed.Most significantly, the diaries for the last part of 1943 and the whole of 1944 are missing. This is the period in which Nella's son Cliff was wounded and brought home for recuperation. In the film Nella visits Cliff and he rejects her. This makes for poignant drama but we have no evidence at all that this ever happened (Cliff died in 1991 so obviously couldn't advise on the production). There is also very little evidence from the diary that Cliff was gay (although he did have a friend, George, who was killed while serving in the Fleet Air Arm).Nella never went to her old home by mistake when she was on the verge of a breakdown, and she never walked out of her job in the Red Cross shop.Worse still, the personalities of other characters have been distorted. Her husband is particularly badly served. Will Last was rather dour and undemonstrative, but he was not the unfeeling man depicted here, dismissive and even resentful of Nella's voluntary work. Nella's sister-in-law of the diaries was not the rather vindictive person shown in the film.The look of the film is very authentic, and the air-raid scenes give a real sense of what life must have been like for ordinary people living in those claustrophobic conditions with no certainty they would live to see another day - a welcome change from the 'Britain can take it' tradition.So: enjoy the film on its own merits by all means, but read the book if you want to know the real Nella Last story.