!!! Suggestive Spoilers !!!!
A few years ago I wrote a cursory view of this show based on memory . It was a good show according to memory but having recently seen the show in its entirety again I thought I'd give the show the respect it deserves because this remains 35 years after it was broadcast one of the greatest productions British television has produced
The title sequence sets out the tone of the series . Its impact is in its simplicity of editing archive war footage of bombs being churned out of a German factory, being loaded on to Luftwaffe aircraft and ultimately their destination on to the British mainland . What makes this title sequence so attention grabbing is the incidental music composed by Simon Park which mirrors the very best of an oppressive Wagnerian opera
Produced in 1979 when the war was still very much within living memory there might have been a danger of revisionism and rose tinted spectacles . Indeed since the 1950s we've all been accustomed to John Mills and the boys brewing up tea while giving those damn Nazis what for with fatalistic servitude . As historians are quick to point out the war wasn't any type of crusade against murderous fascism happily fought by democracy but was fought by countries forced in to it by Nazi expansionism and was reflected in the people who fought the war . From the outset this is mirrored by Brian Ash who finds himself conscripted in to the army and thinks his military career will be digging tunnels and building bridges only to be told his wartime service will revolve around bomb disposal
" Don't I have to volunteer for that ? "
" No " Replies his CO " None of us volunteered for it "
And the camera perfectly captures the shock and horror as Ash digests this news . His horror and fear is compounded by the fact that no one in bomb disposal has any formal training and it's a case of trial and error in surviving the job
There's a real danger of making Ash a hero . He is a hero but it doesn't make him a knight in shining armour and later in the show embarks on an affair with someone else's wife . This blurring of morality also extends to the rest of the squad where light fingered spivery isn't cured simply by sticking someone in to uniform . The characters are in the army because Hitler wants to conquer Europe , not because these characters want to be soldiers. It also makes subtle use of the painful class distinction Britain had at the time
Another great aspect to the writing is that scripts are built upon . A seemingly throw away scene where an officer chastises Ash for wasting food sets up an episode where the officer becomes company commander and takes a personal dislike to Ash . It's also a show not scared to kill off characters . A character is introduced in the second episode then as you think he's going to be a regular he's killed off . Despite having different writers and directors there's a continuity rarely seen in television at that time along with genuinely cinematic production values
Anthony Andrews was expected to become a major star after the series and despite being the lead in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED quickly disappeared from the radar . Two actors did become stalwarts of British television and film Maurice Roeves and Kenneth Cranham . Cranham especially is excellent as Jack Salt a likable but ultimately doomed and haunted character who has every right to feel hard done by destiny
So 35 years after it was broadcast DANGER UXB remains one of the greatest shows in the history of television . If you've any interest in military history this is a show to enjoy . In fact if you like television in general you'll still enjoy it
A few years ago I wrote a cursory view of this show based on memory . It was a good show according to memory but having recently seen the show in its entirety again I thought I'd give the show the respect it deserves because this remains 35 years after it was broadcast one of the greatest productions British television has produced
The title sequence sets out the tone of the series . Its impact is in its simplicity of editing archive war footage of bombs being churned out of a German factory, being loaded on to Luftwaffe aircraft and ultimately their destination on to the British mainland . What makes this title sequence so attention grabbing is the incidental music composed by Simon Park which mirrors the very best of an oppressive Wagnerian opera
Produced in 1979 when the war was still very much within living memory there might have been a danger of revisionism and rose tinted spectacles . Indeed since the 1950s we've all been accustomed to John Mills and the boys brewing up tea while giving those damn Nazis what for with fatalistic servitude . As historians are quick to point out the war wasn't any type of crusade against murderous fascism happily fought by democracy but was fought by countries forced in to it by Nazi expansionism and was reflected in the people who fought the war . From the outset this is mirrored by Brian Ash who finds himself conscripted in to the army and thinks his military career will be digging tunnels and building bridges only to be told his wartime service will revolve around bomb disposal
" Don't I have to volunteer for that ? "
" No " Replies his CO " None of us volunteered for it "
And the camera perfectly captures the shock and horror as Ash digests this news . His horror and fear is compounded by the fact that no one in bomb disposal has any formal training and it's a case of trial and error in surviving the job
There's a real danger of making Ash a hero . He is a hero but it doesn't make him a knight in shining armour and later in the show embarks on an affair with someone else's wife . This blurring of morality also extends to the rest of the squad where light fingered spivery isn't cured simply by sticking someone in to uniform . The characters are in the army because Hitler wants to conquer Europe , not because these characters want to be soldiers. It also makes subtle use of the painful class distinction Britain had at the time
Another great aspect to the writing is that scripts are built upon . A seemingly throw away scene where an officer chastises Ash for wasting food sets up an episode where the officer becomes company commander and takes a personal dislike to Ash . It's also a show not scared to kill off characters . A character is introduced in the second episode then as you think he's going to be a regular he's killed off . Despite having different writers and directors there's a continuity rarely seen in television at that time along with genuinely cinematic production values
Anthony Andrews was expected to become a major star after the series and despite being the lead in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED quickly disappeared from the radar . Two actors did become stalwarts of British television and film Maurice Roeves and Kenneth Cranham . Cranham especially is excellent as Jack Salt a likable but ultimately doomed and haunted character who has every right to feel hard done by destiny
So 35 years after it was broadcast DANGER UXB remains one of the greatest shows in the history of television . If you've any interest in military history this is a show to enjoy . In fact if you like television in general you'll still enjoy it