Joe Barton's drama involves a scenario memorably explored in films such as KING AND COUNTRY (1964) in which a deserter is about to be executed by a firing-squad during World War One. The only difference here is that attention centers on Paddy Kennedy (Luke Tittensor), one of the soldiers nominated to be part of the firing-squad.
The drama begins with Kennedy talking to Father Brookes (Stuart Graham), the night before the execution is due to take place, about how he (Kennedy) actually got there. The remainder of the action comprises a series of flashbacks looking at how he joined the army in the first place and fought at the Battle of the Somme.
Director Ben Chanan focuses our attention on the conflicts in Kennedy's mind between loyalty to his "pals" - his workmates in Manchester whom he joined up with in the first place - and loyalty to his commanding officer (and by extension, the British cause). Often Kennedy is forced to set aside personal feelings and simply go on fighting, even though he sees his friends falling down beside him during a series of skirmishes. In the theater of World War One, the equation is simple: you either kill or be killed - there's no time or place allowed for reflection.
On the other hand, Kennedy is enough of a human being to realize that what he is doing is not right - especially when his platoon has to follow the advice of a sergeant (Paul Popplewell) with little or no idea of what's happening around him. This knowledge casts a shadow on Father Brookes' claim that it is only the Professional soldiers that know how to fight a war "properly," whereas the "boys" (like Kennedy) that joined up in a fit of patriotic pride have no clue whatsoever. In Kennedy's view the pros are in fact more clueless than the boys, because they always insist that they are right, even when palpably wrong.
The production achieves much of its effect through versatile camera-work (by Stuart Bentley): during the battle-sequences a hand-held camera focuses on the soldiers' faces, and restlessly tracks them as they move into battle. There is a clever use of a repeated shot - at the beginning we see Paddy's friends in civvies, pointing their training rifles at the camera; later on the shot crops up again, only this time it is Paddy alone that hold the rifle. Everyone else has been slaughtered.
As with previous episodes in this series, Chanan uses contemporary popular songs on the soundtrack to create the mood. This strategy works especially well at the beginning when we hear a song about teenage dreams as the workmates all join up together. Such dreams were doomed to fail, despite the boys' obvious enthusiasm to fight on their country's behalf.
The drama begins with Kennedy talking to Father Brookes (Stuart Graham), the night before the execution is due to take place, about how he (Kennedy) actually got there. The remainder of the action comprises a series of flashbacks looking at how he joined the army in the first place and fought at the Battle of the Somme.
Director Ben Chanan focuses our attention on the conflicts in Kennedy's mind between loyalty to his "pals" - his workmates in Manchester whom he joined up with in the first place - and loyalty to his commanding officer (and by extension, the British cause). Often Kennedy is forced to set aside personal feelings and simply go on fighting, even though he sees his friends falling down beside him during a series of skirmishes. In the theater of World War One, the equation is simple: you either kill or be killed - there's no time or place allowed for reflection.
On the other hand, Kennedy is enough of a human being to realize that what he is doing is not right - especially when his platoon has to follow the advice of a sergeant (Paul Popplewell) with little or no idea of what's happening around him. This knowledge casts a shadow on Father Brookes' claim that it is only the Professional soldiers that know how to fight a war "properly," whereas the "boys" (like Kennedy) that joined up in a fit of patriotic pride have no clue whatsoever. In Kennedy's view the pros are in fact more clueless than the boys, because they always insist that they are right, even when palpably wrong.
The production achieves much of its effect through versatile camera-work (by Stuart Bentley): during the battle-sequences a hand-held camera focuses on the soldiers' faces, and restlessly tracks them as they move into battle. There is a clever use of a repeated shot - at the beginning we see Paddy's friends in civvies, pointing their training rifles at the camera; later on the shot crops up again, only this time it is Paddy alone that hold the rifle. Everyone else has been slaughtered.
As with previous episodes in this series, Chanan uses contemporary popular songs on the soundtrack to create the mood. This strategy works especially well at the beginning when we hear a song about teenage dreams as the workmates all join up together. Such dreams were doomed to fail, despite the boys' obvious enthusiasm to fight on their country's behalf.
