Glamour, secrets, sex ... this army drama was Dynasty in the desert
Abored military wife and the intense heat of the desert made for a heady, dangerous cocktail in The Last Post (bbC1 Sunday).
The first of a six-part series, the drama focused on a group of royal Military Police stationed in Aden, one of the last outposts of empire, on the Arabian Peninsula in 1965.
Captain Nick Page was being reassigned much to the disappointment of the troops who loved serving under him. He was brave and fearless on the battlefield and boozy and bawdy in the barracks.
Particularly sorry to see him go was Alison Laithwaite. Her husband, Lt ed Laithwaite, had been expected to land Captain Page’s job but was overlooked due to her unbecoming conduct.
Played by Call The Midwife’s Jessica raine, Alison spent most of the day with a glass of gin in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She teased the troops by hanging her frillies on the washing line and was openly having an affair with Captain Page, by whom she had become pregnant.
replacing Captain Page was Captain Martin, a wet-behind-the-ears officer who travelled to Aden with his drippy new wife. ‘This isn’t Aldershot,’ he observed as he gazed out at the scorched landscape.
Meanwhile, Alison’s cuckolded husband was trying to foil a plot by
KITCHEN SINK DRAMA OF THE
WEEK: The latest series of Cold Feet gets worse by the week. The storylines are ridiculous and the characters unlikeable. In fact the only reason to tune in is to admire Adam and Tina’s fabulous designer kitchen. rebels to attack the base. He failed and later Captain Page was ambushed and killed on his way to the airport.
With glamorous women, macho men and sordid secrets, The Last Post was a bit like dynasty in the desert. Anyone hoping for a history lesson would have been disappointed, but for a piece of Sunday night escapism it did the job. Far more torturous to watch was
The X Factor: Bootcamp ( ITV Saturday). The hopefuls had been narrowed down to 124 and were sent off to bootcamp at Wembley for five days of humiliation before a third of them were packed off home.
Now in its 13th year, The X Factor is struggling to attract viewers who have, no doubt, grown tired of the same old pantomime and fakery.
Producers are left to scrabble around for ever more inventive ways of ramping up the drama.
This year at bootcamp we had The Wall of Songs — where contestants had to race towards a wall and grab a card containing the name of a song they wanted to perform. It was all over in 30 seconds and had about as much drama as doing a crossword.
The contestants all sang in front of the judges, who looked like they’d rather be anywhere but Wembley listening to a bunch of people shouting into a microphone and mangling the lyrics to Let It be.
The problem with X Factor is that it’s now become so scripted and formulaic that nothing about the show seemed natural.
every year there is a contestant who is dismissed by the judges, only for them to regret their decision and bring them back.
This year that contestant was Alisah, who messed up her audition, was told to go home and then belted out a song in protest. The judges gave her a stay of execution and then she brought the house down when she finally got to sing in front of a live audience.
A mother and daughter act were told they could only move forward as a solo act if the mother stepped down. Would the mother agree to go? oh the drama.
Contestants all spoke of giving everything from 110 to 500 per cent and Simon declared it the toughest year ever.
It’s no wonder The X Factor is struggling in the ratings. Audiences are 110 per cent bored of this nonsense.