Bloody Foreigners (2010– ) User Reviews

As docu-dramas go, not a bad show with an interesting bit of history

[escottf · 7/10 · 17 July 2014]

I've more than a passing interest in this subject - the Poles serving in the Battle of Britain - as I'm now living in Poland, and I've lived in London seeing multiple generations of Poles helping Britain along the way.

This is a program long docu-drama about the Polish squadron in the Allied air force vs the Nazis in WWII. As docu-dramas go, it's not too bad - neither the usual over-dramatisation (if anything, by the standards of Battle of Britain dramas massively little sadness - which given the attrition rate is quite something) nor over-stretching for dramatic effect, it pretty much uses the actors to give a little humanity to the plain (accurate) story of Polish participation.

From the time when they struggled to be recognised, to when they were finally let into the air and performed fantastically (they did - as did the NZers...something else I can be proud of), and finally to them being swept under the carpet to avoid offending Stalin, it tells a fairly basic story and tells it well.

Not necessarily a must-see unless you have an interest in the subject but worth a watch.

History abused to create propaganda

[YohjiArmstrong · 26 October 2011]

BLOODY FOREIGNERS is a docudrama series that claims to uncover the forgotten (or hidden) role of immigrants at key moments in British history. Each episode covers a different topic. I watched two of them.

The first was about the role of Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain. This is hardly unknown as they made a starring role in the epic 1969 war film of the same name. They're also exiles not immigrants.

The second was about the role of (the relatively small number of) foreign sailors who served in the Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar. This is an interesting subject but unfortunately there is very little information available, which meant that the programme was rather flat.

Even worse, the evidence was manipulated for political purposes. The episode culminates in a talking head telling the audience that the Royal Navy of the time was "multicultural". That is either evidence of stupidity or a brazen lie. The Royal Navy was multi-racial and multi-national (many navies are) but it was never multi-cultural: there was one law, one language, one religion and one culture on board ship. Nelson didn't do Kwanzaa.

Regardless, these are not very good programmes. Docudramas are notoriously hard to pull off because they are neither one thing nor the other. These programmes prove that: the live action is largely used as wallpaper for talking heads to talk over (without plot or character there is no drama), whilst the docu aspect is constantly interrupted by dramatic scenes (which prevents a narrative or argument being built up)

The result is a series of extremely mediocre programmes pushing a political agenda by twisting history. If you're interested in the role of immigrants in British history, then there are many books which would prove a much better source than this series.