LOVE & MARRIAGE: A 20TH CENTURY ROMANCE: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD: SBS, 8.35pm
The final instalment of this striking documentary investigates marriage from the ’80s until today – so get set for some questionably frilly, bouffant dresses and some surprisingly touching moments. We may now live in “the age of divorce” but the recollections of married musicians Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are heartwarming (and likely to be nauseating to some). Married for 26 years, they are also frank about their struggles and secret concerns but, even now, Fripp fights back tears remembering their meeting, exclaiming that Toyah “stole my heart!” A series that neatly ties the knot.
[ News Source: Yahoo! Entertainment ]
The episode of the BBC series Love and Marriage in which Toyah and Robert Fripp featured is to air on Australian television on Friday (14th June).
The Sydney Morning Herald: Critic’s Choice: Love & Marriage: Friday, 8.35pm, SBS One
Subtitled A 20th Century Romance, this fascinating British documentary has traced the history of marriage over the past 100 years. In tonight’s concluding episode, it picks up the tale in the 1980s. As with the past two instalments, while a crisp narration provides important context, the real enlightenment comes from the frank, simple interviews with assorted spouses. I especially like the fact that everyone speaks as an individual, relating their own experiences. Not until the final frames do we see the people as couples – if indeed they still are. And we get that same wonderfully eclectic assortment of humanity. Fans of 1980s music may be particularly interested to see Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox talk about their 25-year marriage – its ups and downs, and how they managed to keep it together.
• Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald.
The full transcript of Toyah and Robert’s Love and Marriage interview, which aired on BBC4 earlier this month, is available at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive. The full episode is also available to view online at You Tube. (Thanks to Lärwi)
The BBC have released the official synopsis for episode three of Love and Marriage.
To Have and to Hold (Episode 3 of 3)
The effects of the sexual revolution, the empowerment of women and the growth of a global consumer society based on individual choice were only fully played out in the last decades of the 20th century, when the divorce rate increased to an all-time high of one in three marriages.
This final episode explores how marriage has adapted to these pressures by looking at the ups and downs of five couples whose relationships personify modern marriage. It looks at the mixed-race marriage of Mo and Ann Chaudry and their rags-to-riches journey which resulted in a millionaire lifestyle and a happy family. Kate and Harry Benson had a glamorous Lady Di-style wedding but their marriage almost followed suit, nearly ending in divorce. They both became marriage guidance counsellors and Harry now heads up the new Marriage Foundation.
Rock stars Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp reveal their romantic love story, their ups and downs and how they have kept their 25-year marriage strong.
• Continue reading at bbc.co.uk.
Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance: BBC4: Tuesday 2nd October: 9.00pm
Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance: BBC4: Wednesday 3rd October: 2.35am
Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance: BBC4: Sunday 7th October: 00.55am
To Have and to Hold. Three-part series which follows the ups and downs of marriage in Britain from the 1900s to the present day using the moving personal stories of couples – and their children – from all walks of life. The final part explores how marriage has survived, and for many got stronger, in the modern era from the 1980s onwards. Although the divorce rate increased, reaching an all time high in the mid 1990s, marriage has adapted to these pressures. The programme looks at the heartache – and joy – of five couples whose relationships personify modern marriage, and what it takes to make a happy marriage in today’s world. Punk rocker Toyah Willcox and her prog rocker husband Robert Fripp are amongst those who tell their stories.
A couple of news updates, direct from Toyah at Twitter.
• Toyah returned to the UK yesterday, from The Humans’ recording sessions in Seattle: “Just landed in UK. Raring to get going! Changeling Resurrection here I come :-)”
• Robert & Toyah will appear in the third episode of BBC4’s Love and Marriage series. This will air on Tuesday 2nd October (two weeks today) at 9pm. Toyah said: “It should be lovely“. The first episode premieres tonight.
The Love and Marriage series that Toyah and Robert Fripp participate in begins airing on ‘BBC Four’ next Tuesday.
This three part series follows the ups and downs of marriage in Britain from the 1900s to the present day using the deeply moving personal stories of couples, and their children, from all walks of life. This first film looks at the period between the 1900s and the late 1950s, an era when the ideal of romantic love in marriage had to withstand the harsh realities of a world very different to today.
Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance: BBC Four: Tue 18th September: 9.00pm
Three part series. This first episode considers the strengths and weaknesses of the Victorian marriage ideal. Despite mass unemployment and the tragedy of two world wars, most marriages not only survived, some became even stronger. Denise Robertson, Hetty Bower, Diana Athill and others tell their stories.
