Valentine’s Day 1981

Valentine’s Day 1981 is a turning point in Fern Woolbright’s uncertain attachment to Charlie Treadaway: she waits to learn whether he will choose her as his valentine or Fabiana, then passes through disappointment, anger, and a final, ambiguous gesture from him. Across the day and the following Monday, roses, a shared meal, and a pen-and-ink sketch make romantic attention tangible while leaving its meaning unsettled.

Anticipation and Romantic Gifts

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Fern is on tenterhooks over whether Charlie will choose her or Fabiana. Her friend Jill Miller is planning a Dinky Porsche for Rob and a new fancy bra and knicker set for herself; her confident talk about Rob’s fondness for her body contrasts with Fern’s anxious speculation about what men prefer. Fern wonders whether James Frobisher would regard stockings and suspenders as improper, and whether Charlie cares about such things at all. Charlie has told her that he likes her pale skin, unlike Fabiana’s olive complexion, and compares the women to lobster and steak. His ability to desire both leaves Fern unable to read his preference as a promise of choosing her.

Fern also helps Rob plan a Valentine’s meal for Jill. She recommends Jill’s favourite meat and potato pie with red cabbage, a Northern side dish that Rob, who comes from Kettering, does not understand, and insists that roses should accompany the meal. Rob leaves muttering about roses and red cabbage, carrying out a plan Fern has helped shape even as she waits for a sign of affection in her own relationship.

The Day Itself

On Valentine’s Day, a large red envelope postmarked Aldershot is left behind the front door. Its card shows a teddy bear holding a padded red heart, an image Fern finds hideous. Twelve long-stemmed red roses arrive a couple of hours later. The sender is not identified in the scene; Fern does not put the flowers in a vase, but leaves them in the kitchen and goes back to bed. The sequence offers romantic tokens without giving her the reassurance she wants.

The day is a Saturday, with no college, and Fern spends it sulking under the duvet, sleeping fitfully and dreaming that her flatmates Dee and Felicity have left their noisy vibrator in the kitchen sink with the unwashed utensils. That evening, the two go out dressed for a Valentine’s gay and lesbian fancy-dress disco in town: Felicity as Al Capone and Dee as her moll. Fern waves them off from the stairs. Rob’s meat and potato pie for two sends its smell up from the ground-floor kitchen, and Fern finds herself crying.

Later, Jill quietly leaves hot pot and a glass of red wine outside Fern’s bedroom door. Though Fern thinks she is too depressed to eat, she wolfs the food down. Jill’s gesture supplies the care that the roses have not managed to provide: a meal placed within reach, without requiring Fern to pretend that she is happy.

Charlie’s Visit and the Drawing

Late on Sunday night, Charlie comes to Fern’s door. She opens it only a crack and tells him to go away. He looks ashamed, with purple shadows beneath bloodshot eyes, and smells of Fabiana, musk, sweat, and marijuana. Fern’s rejection follows the apparent evidence that he has spent time with Fabiana; he leaves like an alley cat in disgrace.

On Monday night, after Fern returns from college, she finds another pen-and-ink sketch slipped under her bedroom door. It depicts her holding Charlie’s broken heart. The picture makes her feel fury and elation at once, registering both her anger at him and the force of his renewed attention. Rather than stay to meet him, she makes a noisy exit and goes with Jill Miller to the Scala cinema to see Xanadu, which they both consider dreadful.

Meaning of the Sequence

The episode sets public conventions of Valentine’s romance—flowers, a card, and a special meal—against Fern’s private uncertainty about whether she is wanted or chosen. The red roses remain unarranged, while Jill’s hot pot is eaten despite Fern’s conviction that she cannot manage food: the contrast makes practical friendship more sustaining than an unexplained romantic offering. Charlie’s Sunday appearance does not repair the hurt, and the sketch that follows changes the emotional charge without resolving the relationship. By ending with Fern leaving the house for a film with Jill, the sequence gives her anger an action while keeping Charlie’s broken-heart image, and what it means, open.