All the King's Men (TV programme)
Encyclopedia
All the King's Men is a feature-length World War I
drama by the BBC
starring David Jason
, first broadcast on Remembrance Sunday
, 14 November 1999. The film derives its title from a line in the Humpty Dumpty
nursery rhyme and is based on a book by the film's co-producer, Nigel McCrery
.
which included men from the King's
estate at Sandringham House
. These were grouped in a "Sandringham Company", following recruiting practices of the period which sometimes attempted to keep "pals" of similar background together in the same unit.
The battalion suffered heavy losses in action at Gallipoli on 12 August 1915 and a myth grew up later that the unit had advanced into a mist and simply disappeared. The film dramatises these events and the origins of the myth back home, in the process following an investigator sent after the war on behalf of the Royal Family to find the truth about the company's fate. As represented in the film, after becoming separated from other British troops and suffering heavy losses the remnants of the Sandringham Company were taken prisoner by Ottoman
soldiers and then massacred. One survivor wakes in a German military hospital and is told by a doctor that he was fortunate to have been found by German troops accompanying the Turkish forces.
The scene in which prisoners are killed as they tried to surrender was criticised by both the Turkish Ambassador in London as being unsupported by evidence and by a descendent of the central character Captain Frank Beck.
However, the suggestion in the book is that, based on evidence from the time, the Turkish soldiers struggled with the concept of taking prisoners as opposed to a deliberate extermination policy. The Germans are said to have had problems getting the Turks to understand that they needed enemy troops alive for intelligence information.
The film does go beyond the book in the way it portrays a larger group of men taken prisoner being deliberately executed. This is both questionable in terms of the portrayal of the Turks and in terms of recognising the fight the troops put up. From the accounts of the time, as related in the original book, it would seem that far from being tamely slaughtered as prisoners, most of the men who died did so in heavy fighting, either being killed outright or dying from the wounds suffered. The unit had advanced beyond other units in the line and as a consequence had found themselves isolated some distance behind Turkish lines. Ultimately a group of anything up to 200 men had been surrounded at a farm house and wiped out during the fighting. In the fate of Captain Beck the film makes assumptions as well. The last sighting of Beck was by one of the survivors, who saw him slumped under a tree with his head to one side, some time before the end of the battle; they couldn't be sure that he wasn't already dead at that point.
and elsewhere in Norfolk
, with Andalucia in Spain serving as Gallipoli.
The rendition of the Norfolk dialect
in the film was criticised by the Friends of Norfolk Dialect, formed to preserve and promote the proper recreation of it; "All the King’s Men from Sandringham assembled proudly, then marched into the same old murky Mummerzet
waters.".
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
drama by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
starring David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
, first broadcast on Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
, 14 November 1999. The film derives its title from a line in the Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
nursery rhyme and is based on a book by the film's co-producer, Nigel McCrery
Nigel McCrery
Nigel Colin McCrery is an English screenwriter and ex-police officer.-Early life:Because of his father's RAF service, Nigel spent much of his early childhood travelling around before finally settling in Toton, Nottinghamshire...
.
Plot
The film was based on the story of the 1/5th (Territorial) Battalion of the Norfolk RegimentRoyal Norfolk Regiment
The Royal Norfolk Regiment, originally formed as the Norfolk Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the British Army. The Norfolk Regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as the county regiment of Norfolk...
which included men from the King's
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
estate at Sandringham House
Sandringham House
Sandringham House is a country house on of land near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The house is privately owned by the British Royal Family and is located on the royal Sandringham Estate, which lies within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.-History and current...
. These were grouped in a "Sandringham Company", following recruiting practices of the period which sometimes attempted to keep "pals" of similar background together in the same unit.
The battalion suffered heavy losses in action at Gallipoli on 12 August 1915 and a myth grew up later that the unit had advanced into a mist and simply disappeared. The film dramatises these events and the origins of the myth back home, in the process following an investigator sent after the war on behalf of the Royal Family to find the truth about the company's fate. As represented in the film, after becoming separated from other British troops and suffering heavy losses the remnants of the Sandringham Company were taken prisoner by Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
soldiers and then massacred. One survivor wakes in a German military hospital and is told by a doctor that he was fortunate to have been found by German troops accompanying the Turkish forces.
The scene in which prisoners are killed as they tried to surrender was criticised by both the Turkish Ambassador in London as being unsupported by evidence and by a descendent of the central character Captain Frank Beck.
Background to claimed massacre
The book itself only hints at the possibility that a proportion of those who died were "executed" after being captured. The Reverend Pierrepoint Edwards, who discovered the mass grave, was reported to have revealed, much later, in a private conversation that the bodies he'd found had been shot in the head. The veracity of that claim has remained unresolved, the suggestion being made in the film that it was not revealed at the time to protect the feelings of the King and Queen and relatives of the deceased. There is stronger evidence though in the form of the account of one survivor, (Private Arthur Webber of the Yarmouth Company), taken prisoner during the battle. He was wounded to the head and claimed to have both heard other wounded being bayonetted and shot by Turkish soldiers; and to have been attacked in the same fashion himself but was saved by a German officer. In addition at least one British officer was seen being taken prisoner during the battle but was not heard from again.However, the suggestion in the book is that, based on evidence from the time, the Turkish soldiers struggled with the concept of taking prisoners as opposed to a deliberate extermination policy. The Germans are said to have had problems getting the Turks to understand that they needed enemy troops alive for intelligence information.
The film does go beyond the book in the way it portrays a larger group of men taken prisoner being deliberately executed. This is both questionable in terms of the portrayal of the Turks and in terms of recognising the fight the troops put up. From the accounts of the time, as related in the original book, it would seem that far from being tamely slaughtered as prisoners, most of the men who died did so in heavy fighting, either being killed outright or dying from the wounds suffered. The unit had advanced beyond other units in the line and as a consequence had found themselves isolated some distance behind Turkish lines. Ultimately a group of anything up to 200 men had been surrounded at a farm house and wiped out during the fighting. In the fate of Captain Beck the film makes assumptions as well. The last sighting of Beck was by one of the survivors, who saw him slumped under a tree with his head to one side, some time before the end of the battle; they couldn't be sure that he wasn't already dead at that point.
Production
Filming occurred at Sandringham, on the North Norfolk RailwayNorth Norfolk Railway
The North Norfolk Railway – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the coastal town of Sheringham and Holt, It cuts through the countryside to the east of Weybourne with views of its windmill and passes through the well preserved country...
and elsewhere in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, with Andalucia in Spain serving as Gallipoli.
Reception
David Jason won Best Actor in the TV Quick Awards for his performance.The rendition of the Norfolk dialect
Norfolk dialect
The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
in the film was criticised by the Friends of Norfolk Dialect, formed to preserve and promote the proper recreation of it; "All the King’s Men from Sandringham assembled proudly, then marched into the same old murky Mummerzet
Mummerset
Mummerset refers to a fictional rustic English county, and more commonly, the English dialect supposedly spoken there. Mummerset is used by actors to represent a stereotypical English West Country accent while not being specific to any actual county....
waters.".
Principals
- David JasonDavid JasonSir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
- Captain Frank Beck - the Sandringham estate manager - Maggie SmithMaggie SmithDame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
- Queen AlexandraAlexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom... - David TroughtonDavid TroughtonDavid Troughton is an English actor, best known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage.- Biography :David Troughton was born in Hampstead, North London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father...
- George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936.... - William AshWilliam Ash (actor)William Ash, is a British TV and film actor.-Career:His appearances include Making Out ,Mad About Mambo, Lilies, Burn It, All the King's Men, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Doctor Who and more recently Hush and Waterloo Road. He began his career in the ITV series Where the Heart Is...
- Sergeant Ted Grimes
Other
- Sonya WalgerSonya WalgerSonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:...
- Lady Frances - Stuart BunceStuart BunceStuart Alexander Bunce is an English actor who is best known for his portrayal of the First World War poet Wilfred Owen in the film Regeneration directed by Gillies MacKinnon.-Biography:...
- 2nd Lt. Frederick Radley - James MurrayJames Murray (English actor)James Murray is an English actor.-Early life :Murray was born in Greater Manchester; his great-grandfather, Richard Hollins Murray, invented the reflecting lens in 1927.-Career:...
- Pte. Will Needham - Ed Waters - Cpl Herbert Batterbee
- Tom BurkeTom Burke (actor)Tom Liam Benedict Burke is an English actor.-Early life:Born on 30 June 1981; Kent, England), he is the son of actor David Burke and actress Anna Calder-Marshall...
- Private Chad Batterbee - Ben CromptonBen CromptonBen Crompton is an English actor, best known as one of the stars of the BBC sketch show Man Stroke Woman. In addition he appears as Colin in the BBC Three sitcom Ideal with Johnny Vegas. He also appeared in the 2002 film All or Nothing , the TV series Clocking Off, and the TV movie Housewife, 49...
- Private Davy Croft - Eamon BolandEamon BolandEamon Denis Boland is an English actor.He has played Tony Walker in Casualty, Frank O'Connor in Coronation Street, Gerry Hollis in Kinsey, Jim Gray in The Chief, Phil Fox in Fox...
- Arthur Beck - Jo Stone-FewingsJo Stone-FewingsJonathan "Jo" Stone-Fewings is an English actor. He studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama and began his career in 1989. He has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1994...
- Lt. Alec Beck - James HillierJames Hillier (actor)James Hillier, is an English actor. In recent years he has played Sergeant Christian Young on the BBC police drama, HolbyBlue, and Damian, Roxy Mitchell's fiancé in BBC1 Soap Opera EastEnders.-Early life:...
- 2nd Lt. Evelyn Beck - Emma CunniffeEmma CunniffeEmma Cunniffe is a British film, stage and television actress.Her television credits include The Lakes , "Biddy" in a TV adaptation of Great Expectations, All the King's Men, Clash of the Santas, alongside Robson Green and Mark Benton, an ITV adaptation of Appointment with Death, Clocking Off ,...
- Peggy Batterbee - Adam Kotz - Oswald Yeoman
- Patrick MalahidePatrick MalahidePatrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
- Capt. Claude Howlett - Gaye Brown - Queen MaryMary of TeckMary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
- Phyllis LoganPhyllis Logan-Education:Logan was educated at Johnstone High School in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. After school, she graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with the James Bridie Gold Medal in 1977.-Career:...
- Mary Beck - Ian McDiarmidIan McDiarmidIan McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
- Rev. Pierrepoint Edwards - Danny Worters - Private George Dacre
- Laurence Dobiesz - Luke Grimes
- Roland Oliver - Mr Adams
- Jamie Beddard - Roland Adams
Crew
- Gareth Neame - producerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
- Ruth Maturuas - associate producer
- Nigel McCreryNigel McCreryNigel Colin McCrery is an English screenwriter and ex-police officer.-Early life:Because of his father's RAF service, Nigel spent much of his early childhood travelling around before finally settling in Toton, Nottinghamshire...
- co-producer - Rebecca Eaton, Hilary Salmon, Jane TranterJane TranterJane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
- executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
s
- Original Music by Adrian Johnston
- Cinematography by David Odd
- Film Editing by Chris Gill
- Casting by Maureen Duff and Gail Stevens