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The Monocled Mutineer : The Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set)
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £7.37 (subject to change)
Brilliant - we more like this to be prodcued today
Review date: 2008-03-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
Like other reviewers I was glad this came out on DVD (I also have the video tape version). One reviewer sated that it was not like the book, which is partially true. However, it does reflect the times and the circumstances of that rebellion at Entaples (which is still shrouded in mystery). The programme itself is brilliantly acted and the story entertaining and credible. I think it captures the period during and just after the First World War. Alan Bleasdale has done a good job of dramatising this. I certainly did not find it boring as one reviewer did. True, it does not have constant action and violence but the story is told well and not only entertaining but edifying as well. It certainly does not rely on special sound effects or slick and 'clever' camera tricks that mar so much of contemporary television.
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Reviews
Don't bother with it
Review date: 2008-01-22 Rating: 2 out of 10
Thought i would get this as my next rental dvd and now wish i hadn't bothered. watched about an hr of it and then might as welll fall asleep as i got so bored waiting for something to happen. When it didn't well back to amazon it went. Dissapointing, bored if you want action or a story don't bother with this.
Travesty
Review date: 2008-01-05 Rating: 2 out of 10
I first read the book through when staying in Etaples in the 1980's. It was the set English book for the local schoolchildren and I was asked to review it for them. It was an amazing story and the memory of that has stayed with me. I looked forward to the TV adaptation and was bitterly disappointed. The script was written through the eyes of someone who had their own political agenda and it was a travesty of the spirit of the book. I will never watch it again.
Why did we have to wait Twenty Years ?
Review date: 2007-10-12 Rating: 10 out of 10
Why did we have to wait Twenty Years ?
The first episode was transmitted on the 31 st of August 1986 by the BBC and was split into four episodes and if you have never seen it then you are in for a Huge treat.
Yes I appreciate that although it was claimed at the time to be ' 100 % accurate ' that it may or may not be as accurate as Claimed.
The political crisis that was caused by the BBC's broadcast of Alan Bleasdale's adaptation, "The Monocled Mutineer" was fuelled by the British press and its denouncement of the factuality of the series, retired staff of the British High Command sent letters to newspapers angrily refuting that there had ever been a mutiny by the British army in 1917.
The true account of Percy Toplis' involvement in the very real mutiny by the conscripted soldiers in the training camp (known as The Bull Ring) at Etaples will perhaps be made a little clearer in 2017 when the official military files concerned will be released into public domain.
Even when the official papers are released in ten years time will we be any the wiser as there is bound to be a bit of spin put on it .
Really I doubt if we will ever know the full truth but one thing is for ' certain ' its taken over twenty years to reach DVD and with out a doubt it has to be Paul McGann's best work.
Entertaining
Review date: 2007-09-26 Rating: 10 out of 10
I have just finished watching this now, over three evenings and enjoyed it as much as I did so many years go. I think this is the best thing Paul McGann has done except for 'Withnail and I'. Philip McGough who plays the secret service officer determined to track Percy Topis down, is also very good in a quiet, understated way.
It is all very well acted and there is a fair amount of humour. Toplis comes across as a bit of a rogue, reluctant to be a hero.
It is now debated whether Toplis was at Etaples. Paul McGann is quoted as saying "I don't think he was at Etaples. The units that he served in and was attached to simply weren't around. At the same time, given the fact that he came and went, that he was a bit of a loner, and moved between people and places, it is not inconceivable that he was there". Apparently we may know the truth in 2017 when the files are opened.
A number of the scenes, especially towards the end do faithfully match what is known about him.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Cherie Lunghi
Timothy West
Jerome Flynn
Philip McGough
Paul McGann
Creators:
Paul McGann (Primary Contributor)
Cherie Lunghi (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503248529
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-08-27
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 311 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)