Entrenched by drama
MARION McMULLEN discovers how arguments over the truth of First World War drama The Monocled Mutineer created a stir when it was broadcast 35 years ago
TRUTH or fiction? The BBC’s mini series The Monocled Mutineer divided opinion when it was broadcast 35 years ago.
The opening episode of the four-part First World War drama was shown on August 31, 1986 and the leading role of Percy Toplis was filled by a young Paul McGann.
The drama was written by Boys From The Blackstuff and GBH scriptwriter Alan Bleasdale and was adapted from a book by William Allison and John Fairley.
It told the story of Percy Toplis and of the British army mutiny that took place in 1917 at Etaples, on the eve of the Battle of Passchendaele.
However, claims that the drama was a true story were hotly disputed and led to accusations of left-wing bias that overshadowed the programme itself.
The row over the authenticity of the story developed after Julian Putkowski, an historical consultant on the programme, said it was full of errors and that there was no proof at all thatToplis had ever been involved with the mutiny.
Alan Bleasdale, inset left, responded by saying “I have said from the word go that my piece is a work of fiction”.
Meanwhile Bill Cotton, Managing Director of Television, said that The Monocled Mutineer illuminated “the greater truth about World War I”.
This last view was shared by many viewers, who praised Paul McGann’s outstanding performance as Toplis.
Paul, who went on to star in the movie Withnail & I with Richard E Grant, once said: “Telly is powerful, telly can be great, it can be the best medium of all. I think in England we should look to it because we’re really good at it.”
The strong cast for The Monocled Mutineer included Timothy West, Penelope Wilton and future Game Of Thrones actor Jerome Flynn.
Alan Bleasdale returned to historical drama in 2011 with Second World War series The Sinking Of The Laconia, which won universal acclaim for its accuracy in telling the story of a Germany U-boat which rescued passengers from a British troopship it had torpedoed.