"The Monocled Mutineer" (1986) TV series

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Jim O'Brien

Writers:

William Allison (book) (1986)
Alan Bleasdale (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

31 August 1986 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot Keywords:

Mutiny | WWI

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Paul McGann	...	Percy Toplis (2 episodes, 1986)
Jane Wood	...	Annie Webster (2 episodes, 1986)
Dave Hill	...	Frank Webster (2 episodes, 1986)
Aran Bell	...	Fellows (2 episodes, 1986)
Terry Cundall	...	Bertram (2 episodes, 1986)
Peter Hutchinson	...	Norman (2 episodes, 1986)
Ted Richards	...	PC Fulton (2 episodes, 1986)
Richard Ireson	...	Inspector Ritchie (2 episodes, 1986)
David Miller	...	Spruce (2 episodes, 1986)

Runtime:

UK:75 min (4 episodes) | 310 min (DVD)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Wales, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Percy Toplis was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, on August 22nd 1896 and died, shot dead while on the run, on June 6th 1920. Accused of murder (1920), he was to be the first person in modern English history to be found guilty in his absence by inquest. he had his tongue cut out before burial, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Penrith's Beacon Edge Cemetery on June the 9th.

The reason why this drama is never repeated.

The reason this drama has not been repeated is that after the first broadcast the BBC came under fire from the government and were banned from screening it again. This was due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, i.e. Percy Toplis and the mutiny at "The Bull Ring", a harsh British Army training ground in Etaples, France. There is a lot of mist around Percy Toplis who was finally tracked down and killed some years after the end of the war. No one truly knows the events that transpired at the Bull Ring for certain and we won't know until 2017 when the files on the event will finally be released. Until then all we have is this drama and i think there should be a demand that it should be broadcast again, some 18 years on.