Mark is a teenager living in the welsh town of Wrexham. Bullied by the neighborhood gangs on his regular paper route, he walks into the house of Mr. Novak, a polish veteran of the second world war. As Mark gets his wounds tended to and waits for a warm cup of tea and some cakes from Mrs. Novak, he gets a lesson in history that is at the essence of his identity and an insight into the discrimination he faces in a place he has always known as home. Novak and his brother Marek were strapping young men enjoying a carefree life when the dark clouds of war loomed over them. The playful Marek falls in love with Theresa and the couple wed in the presence of their parents at the local church. Soon, they are blessed with a child. But with the war upon them, the brothers enlist and become uniformed soldiers marching out of their hometown to join the war efforts. When his commanding officer falls to an enemy bullet, Novak unceremoniously steps up to fill in, taking charge of the unit and looking out for the safety of his men. At the Romanian Border, Novak asks Marek to leave the war and go home to his family. He tells Marek to sit the war out at home while he fights and that he has nothing to lose, whereas Marek has a lot. But an unwilling Marek stays by his brother’s side in the war.
Mr. Novak, Part 1 is a screenplay by writer Ian Davies, the first of ten episodes that tell the story of a group of neighbors bound by common circumstances stretching back to the second world war. Ian tells a story that takes us back to the crucial days of the war when the troops cross over at Normandy and effortlessly weave into it the story of two privates and brothers in the war. Ian uses everyday events from the lives of the regular folk of the countryside to shed light on the changes a war brings about in the world. He weaves his story around the concept of refugees and of people who leave behind their everything when they are displaced by war. He highlights the facts that no matter how far man has progressed, the stigma and distrust of outsiders is always with us to stay.
Mr. Novak is a promising series for those who love a bit of history in their stories. It is also the perfect raw material for a visually thrilling storytelling extravaganza that any production designer worth his mettle will die to work for. The attention paid to the details in the script will be a starting point for a historically accurate visual treat that reminds us of the hardships that come along with wars.
