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Bloodyhell - missed out my all time favourite ever drama!How remiss - allow me to rectify :P
From the mid 80s - The Monocled Mutineer. The (mostly) true story of Percy Toplis, a first world war british army stretcher bearer turned mutineer and deserter, who masqueraded as an upper class officer and gentleman, scamming his way around Britain.
I say mostly true, because his involvement in the Bull Ring Mutiny has been disputed, as have some of his criminal activities (whether or not he shot the truck driver for instance). The general gist of it, however was true, he did impersonate an officer when on leave - he did desert after the war in 1920 and continued to play the part of an officer, using that identity to engage in confidence tricks and he did end up as Britain's 'most wanted' and his bloody end, shot down by police in a lonely country lane is well documented.
As far as his involvement in the mutiny - well, we may never know. His regiment was en route elsewhere at the time, but there is no record of him having arruved with them - and he was known to move around regiments, posing as an NCO or officer to scam food, gamble and engage in various black market activities. The records due for release ina couple of years mayhelp answer the question - but since the records ofthe Etaples enquiry were destroyed the chances are slim. He was convicted in absentia of the murder of a truck driver, but some say he was fitted up for that. We'll never know.
He may or may not have been as sympathetic a character as he was in the series. Differing accounts give a different picture. But Paul McGann's portrayal of him was beautiful. And I have been a fan of his ever since. In fact, it was him being cast as the doctor for the mid-90s revival movie that pretty much started my ongoing love affair with Doctor Who.
It's also one of the key reasons I ended up so interested in the history of British soldiers, and in particular deserters and criminality. Though somehow I ended up in the 18th and 19th centuries rather than the 20th ;p
A trailer from the time.
Cultural note: this was before BBC announcers were allowed tohave regional accents lol. I forgot how posh they all sounded back then. Very proper BBC English.
This is an extended scene from early in the series, before Toplis deserted. For a fairly low budget BBC production, they do a pretty good job of getting across the atmosphere and the sheer horror of the trenches.
What I haven't been able to find are any scenes thatget across the humour and barefaced cheek of his impersonations.
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