I just watched the “Masterpiece Classics” (nee “Masterpiece Theatre”) production of “My Boy Jack.” The story centers around how Rudyard Kipling, full of alarm and patriotic fervor at the outset of World War I, conspires with his son Jack to get Jack into the service even though Jack can’t see much of anything without his glasses.

Daniel Radcliffe stars as Jack Kipling, and it’s a fine performance, serious and intense and quite different from Radcliffe’s better-known role as a certain teenage wizardry student. The elder Kipling is played by David Haig, who is absolutely excellent; nuanced and likable and sad in what could easily have been a one-note portrayal. Kim Cattrall of “Sex and the City” plays Carrie, Rudyard Kipling’s American wife. Her role is written in more of a stereotypical way, but she manages to rise above it.

The war scenes are heartbreaking.

In all, it’s a really worthwhile, meaningful production.