 Christabel Bielenberg s historical memoir, "The Past Is Myself," looking back on the years 1932-45, was the source for this depiction of life in Germany during Hitler s rise. Daughter of middle-class English-Irish parents, Christabel became a German citizen in 1934 when she married German law student Peter Bielenberg of a prominent Hamburg family. The couple raised their two sons amid Germany s shifting political climate. In 1939, as the situation became acute, Peter joined a military organization planning to remove Hitler from power. Dennis Potter chose to dramatize their story because, "One, it s a celebration of married love, and, two, it s the perfect answer to the idea of collective guilt. They were confronted with this raving maniac and yet managed to emerge without doing anything degrading."