Whose finger on the trigger?

by Ben Soton

Danny Boy: BBC2 2021; currently available on BBC iPlayer. Director: Sam Miller. Writer: Robert Jones. Stars: Toby Jones, Anthony Boyle, Alex Ferns.

One of the ironies of British imperialism is naming a checkpoint in southern Iraq after an Irish folk song. The irony being that Ireland was the first acquisition of the British Empire and Iraq one of the last.
     The ‘Battle of Danny Boy’ took place close to the city of Amarah in southern Iraq, on 14th May 2004, between British soldiers and about 100 Iraqi militiamen of the Mahdi Army. Some 28 Mahdi Army militiamen were killed in the fighting. Some of the British troops were wounded but none were killed in the action. Brian Wood, who led a bayonet charge during the battle, was awarded the Military Cross.
    The battle is named after a local British checkpoint in Iraq called ‘Danny Boy’. Its repercussions are the subject of the BBC2 drama of that name that was shot nearer to home in fields made to look like the Iraqi desert just outside Watford while scenes set in Turkey were filmed in a Turkish restaurant in north London.
     The question of what constitutes a war crime is a touchy subject for the ruling class. The trial of two former British paratroopers accused of killing an Official IRA commander in 1972 collapsed after the judge found that the soldiers’ statements were inadmissible because they had not been cautioned while campaigners argue that the new Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021 risks undermining key human rights obligations that the UK has committed itself to respect. Now a coroner’s report has concluded that all those killed by British troops in the 1971 Ballymurphy massacre in northern Ireland had been innocent and that the killings were "without justification”.
     Danny Boy is set in the more recent conflicts in the Gulf. It focuses on the decorated soldier, Brian Wood (played by Anthony Boyle), who is accused of war crimes and a human rights lawyer, Phil Shiner who is played by Toby Jones.
     Wood is portrayed as a family man suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder; although it shows the guilt of a man who should have realised that the Arabs his men mistreated were not insurgents but simply farmers caught in the cross-fire.
    Shiner is portrayed in a less sympathetic light although it is pointed out that he represented more soldiers than any other lawyer. What is interesting are Shiner’s motivations. He is no anti-imperialist. He simply takes the view that the British army should adhere to higher standards than other imperialist powers. War-crimes are something done by the Germans on the Eastern front, Japanese in Korea, the French in Algeria and obviously the Americans in Vietnam. The truth is what should we expect of an imperialist power in a foreign country fighting a population who don’t want them there?
    Former soldiers abandoned by the army often find themselves living on the streets or in prison. Some even say that soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, with horrific injuries and damaged minds are, in fact, victims of imperialism as well.
     The key word here is imperialism, which is a system. This raises the question of should individual soldiers be put on trial for what are after all crimes of that system. It could even be argued that the actions of the likes of Shiner, who has since been barred from practising law for acting dishonestly, simply obscure the issue. 

     Although Danny Boy was first shown on 12th May it is available on iPlayer for the next eleven months.

Making the grade…

A review by Ben Soton 

 Semi-Detached:  BBC2, Thursdays at 9.30pm, also available on BBC iPlayer. Writers: David Crow and Oliver Maltman. Director: Ben Palmer. Stars: Lee Mack, Neil Fitzmaurice, Ellie White, Samantha Spiro, Patrick Baladi, Clive Russell, Sarah Hoare, Geoffrey McGivern and others.         

    Many British people live in semi-detached homes, or in the place referred to as suburbia, away from the inner-cities or sink estates but still not the countryside. Pete Seeger mocked this way of life with his folk rendition of Little Boxes in 1963. Manfred Mann did the same a few years later with his Semi Detached Suburban Mr James. Because suburbia covers such a wide and all-encompassing area it is so-easily ridiculed; but by ridiculing so much it becomes inoffensive.
    The semi-detached lifestyle is a step up for many who grew up on council estates or the inner-city, whilst a source of snobbery for the more well-healed. A suburban area of any town or city in Britain will contain those to whom it is a step up and some to whom it is a step down, as well as those who have always lived there. It is a great meeting place and for this reason a great theme for comedy.
    Suburbia is the theme of Semi-Detached, the latest BBC2 sitcom. The main character Stuart, played by Lee Mack, is a dysfunctional 50-something with chronic IBS who for lives with his younger partner in the same street as his politician ex-wife and her partner Ted. For Stuart, a DJ, this lifestyle is an upward move; whilst for his nemesis Ted, played by Patrick Baladi, it is a step down. The street is shared by the sexually liberated Barry and his partner, who are happy to share their sexual exploits with everyone, whether they are interested or not. Thrown in for good measure are Stuart’s brother, on the run from money-lenders, and his aging father who has recently come out as gay. This combination of insecurity, snobbery, envy and free-love leads to a chaotic environment.
    From the Adventures of a Taxi Driver and its sequels of the 1970s, the not-so-funny Terry & June of the 1980s to the Keeping Up Appearances series of the 1990s, suburbia has always been a source of amusement. Semi-Detached however, shows a different place. The earlier series showed an ordered setting, often upset by intruders. In the case of the Adventures films it was the working-class taxi-driver or plumber; whilst with Keeping Up Appearances it was Hyacinth’s less well-heeled relatives.
    In the past viewers were always asking the question, are these people as repressed as they are made out?
    Semi-Detached, however, shows suburbia in a state of complete chaos. Stuart’s father regularly brings in men he met on Grinder. His brother attempts to smuggle himself into France on a cross-channel ferry. Meanwhile Stuart puts up with continual abuse from the distinctly unpleasant Ted but gets his own back by being sick over him.
    I could be tempted to say that the series shows how suburbia has changed, but perhaps it was a place always full of insecurities and secrets.
    Think of the so-called swingers’ parties of the 1970s. What has changed is that today we no longer hide them behind net curtains. Either way, suburbia and the semi-detached lifestyle will be a source of amusement for a long time to come.

The seedy side of Georgian London

by Ben Soton

 Harlots}(2017–2019). Creators: Moira Buffini and Alison Newman. Stars: Lesley Manville, Kate Fleetwood, Holli Dempsey. BBC2, from Wednesday 5th August at 9pm, starting with a uble-bill. Series one and two will air back-to-back.

It is a common misconception that the past was more puritanical than the present. It may have been the case in the Victorian era and obviously the short-lived Puritan-led English Republic of the 17th Century but not Georgian London which is the setting of the BBC drama Harlots. This was Whig England. The Whigs, the principal supporters of the 1688 ‘Glorious Revolution’ were largely aristocratic land magnates, who had made their wealth from financial investments in land, tobacco, sugar and of course the slave trade. They opposed the excesses of absolute monarchy, which they saw as a hindrance on trade. They were in many ways the ‘extreme centre’ of their day.
    The theme of the drama is the sex industry. There is an ongoing discussion about the nature of prostitution and its role within capitalism. Some argue that it is no different than any other form of wage labour. However, when we sell our labour power, whether working as delivery drivers, nurses, construction workers or even entertainment correspondents we are selling something external to ourselves. This is not the same as selling your body.
    Harlots shows the multiple sides to prostitution in the Georgian era and is best be described as anti-prostitution and pro-prostitute. At one extreme Charlotte Wells, played by Jessica Brown-Finlay is the mistress of a wealthy aristocrat and Member of Parliament Sir George Howard. She gets him to pay off her gambling depts and buy her jewellery. At the other extreme Mary Cooper is found in the gutter dying of syphilis whilst the drama shows various degrees between the two extremes.
    Much of the plot centres around the rivalry between two rival Madams. Lydia Quigley, played by Lesley Manville plays an established Madam and is able to attract many of the Whig elite. Whilst Margaret Wells (Charlotte Wells’ mother), played by Samantha Morton is coming up in the world. Quigley makes every attempt to thwart her rise by trying to get Wells’ brothel closed down and even hiring a religious zealot to campaign against her; hypocrisy is not a new phenomenon. Wells is no saint either as she sells her younger daughter’s virginity to obtain the lease on a new property in Greek Street. This raises the question of who are we to judge? In eighteenth century London there were few other means of survival for these women.
    Full of sex scenes Harlots shows the sleazy and decadent side of Georgian London. It has the makings of a successful costume drama with an element of intrigue and a touch of tragedy. The characters come to life with strong acting. In a non-judgmental way, it gives us a limited insight into the period just prior to the Industrial Revolution.

Dreams of Gold in Victorian New Zealand

by Ben Soton

The Luminaries (2020), TV mini-series. Stars: Eve Hewson, Eva Green, Himesh Patel. Produced by: BBC Two, Southern Light Films and Working Title Television. Distributed by: BBC Two (UK) (TV) and TVNZ (2020) (New Zealand) (TV).

The BBC’s most recent historical drama The Luminaries is based on Eleanor Catton’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name. Set during the New Zealand Gold Rush of the 1860s, it combines mysticism, suspense and romance.

The main character Anna Wetherill (played by Eve Hewson) arrives in New Zealand to make a new life for herself.  She finds herself cheated and forced into prostitution and opium addiction by Lydia Wells (played by Eva Green), a brothel madam with a side-line in fortune telling.

I was expecting a poorly lit, barely audible drama, rather like the adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn a few years ago. Instead I was pleasantly surprised; a multi-layered plot is emerging based around the lives of the settlers with some reference to the native Maori population. Like any historical drama, it raises several questions.

It raises the question of different models used by British imperialism in the 19^th century. The Indian model was used in places of high population with high levels of economic development; local elites needed to be co-opted as well as forced into accepting Imperial domination. Both India and later Egypt had established textile industries, which were later destroyed in order to protect British industry. This resulted in a native population ruled over by a British administration with varying degrees of collaboration by the local elite.

The alternative was the Australian model applied to areas of low economic development, consisting of hunter gatherer or primitive agricultural societies. This model resulted in the settlement of large numbers of British or Irish migrants, and the displacement of or even genocide against the local population. This resulted in Anglophile colonies such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand that were largely loyal to the Mother Country and were the first parts of the British Empire to achieve self-government.

New Zealand contained elements of both. The Treaty of Waitangi (1840) was signed between Maori Chiefs and the British Government, and today elements of Maori culture have been integrated into New Zealand society. A famous example is the country’s All Blacks national rugby team chanting the Haka, a Maori war dance. But out of a population of around five million, over 70 per cent is of British and other European descent and the Maoris remain second-class citizens.

The drama also exposes the myth of the Gold Rush. Successful prospecting requires economies of scale and large quantities of equipment and capital, making success for the individual prospector unlikely. As Anna is told in Episode One, few made money from individual prospecting, the most successful are those who provide services for the prospectors such as the selling of mining equipment, opening guest houses and the provision of food, drink and entertainment, including prostitution.

The Luminaries goes some of the way to exposing the human misery that entwined 19^th century capitalism – in particular, the role of the sex trade and the treatment of women.  The racial angle concentrates on the position of Chinese labour, which shows the link between opium trade and British imperialism. We see this as Anna’s life goes from bad to worse, whilst hoping to be rescued from her sorry state.

 

Summer of Rockets

Review

by Ben Soton

Class, Race and anti-Semitism set to the backdrop of the Cold-War underline BBC2’s latest Wednesday night drama.

Summer of Rockets gives an insight into 1950s Britain centred on the Petrukhin family. Samuel Petrukhin (played by Toby Stevens) runs a business making hearing aids and is in the process of developing what he calls the staff locator, an early form of pager. Meanwhile he and his wife are keen to get their daughter introduced into upper class circles. In the first episode she is introduced to the Queen as a debutante.

Their Russian Jewish ancestry holds them back however, it was this that prevented him from fitting Churchill’s hearing aid during the war. Meanwhile Petrukhin insists on arriving at Ascot in a Rover 90, a car more associated with suburbia than a stately home, whilst the other participants drive Daimlers or Bentleys. He continues to turn heads when he brings his West-Indian foreman, Courtney Johnson, to the event. Johnson, played by former EastEnders actor Gary Beadle is unperturbed by the hostile stares from other racegoers. The idea is that Petrukhin, who still speaks with a slight Russian ascent, does not quite fit into upper class society. It is therefore the job of his children to complete the process.

There is a twist to the story when the Petrukhins are befriended by Catherine Shaw (played by Keighley Hawes) and her husband Richard. Richard Shaw is a Tory MP suffering from dementia. Keighley Hawes, who has over the last 20 years played a number of well-heeled figures, takes to the role well. In recent years she has appeared in a number of mid-20th century dramas such as The Durrells and Traitors. Petrukhin is asked to spy on Shaw, which he initially sees as a breach of trust but soon changed his mind when access to government contracts is threatened.

There are a number of potential twists to the drama. Petrukhin’s daughter Hannah is not really interested in the debutante scene and is more concerned about the threat of nuclear war.  This is the era of the Cold War. Are the intelligence operatives who recruit Petrukhin as a spy really who they say they are?

Summer of Rockets, which is loosely based on the life off the director Stephen Poliakov’s father, is one of my must views. Although the name of the drama alludes to the nuclear arms or space race there is little reference to actual rockets so far. Unlike Channel 4’s Traitors it contains little of that drama’s virulent anti-Communism. As a result, it is more a story about better-off immigrants gaining acceptance within upper-class society than about the international situation at the time.