I think it’s actually impossible for James Nesbitt to do a bad job; perhaps someone should challenge him to a bet on it? But I suspect if they did, they’d lose. The man really is a chameleon. It doesn’t matter what he’s in and whether it’s drama or comedy, he’s utterly believable and he proved to be so as soldier Mike Swift in last night’s first installment of Occupation. Also doing a fine job were Stephen Graham who played Danny and Warren Brown as Lee.

The action began even as the opening titles rolled with Mike, Danny and Lee stuck in the middle of a tense attack by insurgents during which they rescued a little Iraqi girl who’d had a lot of her leg blown off during the attack. One of the first things that stuck me was that visually, it looked a lot like a real documentary; it was shot as if the cameraman was literally following the soldiers, as would a documentary filmmaker. It greatly added to the realism of that scene. Read more & comment »

Occupation is a searingly powerful drama starring James Nesbitt, Stephen Graham and Warren Brown and written by Peter Bowker that spans the five years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It follows the lives of three soldiers and friends, first during the battle for Basra, then as they struggle to adapt to life back home, then, finally, as very different forces draw them back to Iraq.

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Basra, southern Iraq, 2003. Crammed inside a Warrior armed troop carrier, bullets and RPGs exploding around them, three British soldiers head into a hostile part of the city – and a world descending into chaos.

When they emerge from their vehicle, their lives spiral out of control. Their fates – and the destiny of Iraq itself – become inextricably linked and, united in war, the three men, and their friendships, are torn apart during the peace that follows.

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