From Sir Denis Forman's childhood memoirs Son of Adam, published 1990:
Whereas my father's life centred around the office my mother was mostly to be found in her bed. When not lying in bed in a dim light my mother was always at the centre of Craigielands conversation.

As a teacher my mother was bright and encouraging for the first five or ten minutes, but she was no stayer. As a music teacher she was at her worst. Her main preoccupation with music was as a composer. Her taste was for light music and music for and about children. She composed at the keyboard and as the days passed one could hear a work progress from an opening snatch of melody to a complete song.

When World War I broke out, my father organised the collection and despatch of sphagnum moss for field dressing. This was his moment of glory: his organising powers were considerable and soon he was organising sphagnum moss for the whole of Scotland. Nothing he ever did in his life before or after was so practical or successful.

The first thing I saw of my father each day was when he visited the nursery, redolent of sphagnum moss, just as we were finishing breakfast. He rubbed his beautifully shaven cheek against mine as he made his way around the table and growled at each child.

[Growling was not confined to the home... Once Adam took two of the boys out for lunch. At the gents this incident happened:] As Michael slipped in on the right hand side of my father a very small man slipped in on the other. Patrick remained outside. On shaking off the last drops and commencing his cotton wool routine my father, thinking he was flanked by his two sons, turned to his left and omitted a reverberating growl. The very small man was frightened out of his wits, and regardless of the fact the he was in mid exercise, started away from the urinal in dishabille and rushed into a closet where he locked the door with a crash and could subsequently be heard panting.

To play this kind of father, who alternately spend his days barking like a dog and inventing some remarkable gadget, the filmmakers chose Colin Firth. Hugh Hudson: "Colin brought a sense of youth and impetuousness and delightful eccentricity to the role. He's a very intelligent man and that comes off on screen - but he also played the role as a child, which is what Edward is: child at play in the adult world."