Occupation

I have only recently watched Occupation, despite the fact that it came out in 2009, and I was pleasantly surprised. The drama certainly enthrals you from the first episode and is fast moving so it is almost impossible to be bored. The three main characters were played by James Nesbitt, Stephen Graham and Warren Brown. I thought that the performances from Brown and particularly Graham were brilliant and clearly showed the emotional strain on their characters but also how they coped with it so differently. On the other hand, I felt that the performance from Nesbitt was a little wooden. In fact, Nesbitt was completely eclipsed particularly in scenes played opposite Monica Dolan (his wife) who delivered a brilliantly heart-rending performance throughout. I would definitely recommend anyone to watch this but be prepared for some pretty emotional scenes.

Well made and quite gripping.

However, I thought it was totally unconvincing that Danny and Lester were capable of running a successful military contractor company. Danny was completely unstable and had no aptitude for business or level-headedness.

So Lester must have done all the organizing and thinking, though we never saw any of that take place. But why in the world would Lester trust Danny and think he was a suitable business partner?

Another thing that seemed unlikely: the Americans and Iraqis were easily able to understand the British characters' strong accents (Northern Ireland, Manchester, and Newcastle?). I had plenty of difficulty understanding what they were saying, and I'm British and sitting comfortably at home, and sometimes even rewinding it or switching the volume up.

This three-part war drama is definitely the best thing to come out of the BBC in years. Superb writing from Peter Bowker is what really drives it home. An incredibly powerful and original story, combined with Nick Murphy's clever yet subtle direction are a perfect combination.

Then there's the acting - perfectly executed. A great performance from James Nesbitt (as always) as well as Stephen Graham and Warren Brown, who deserves a special mention for some particularly emotional scenes - his agent's phone is going to be ringing off the hook now! The story seamlessly skips in time, often showing 'Three months later' etc. When this happens so often in shows, people can become confused and lose connection with story and characters. In OCCUPATION however, this is not the case. Rather than throwing layers of exposition and lesser moments at the audience, the story remains fast-paced throughout. At no point do you feel cheated in what you see, as the audience is given the freedom to resolve certain story elements for themselves.

It's a must-see for everyone (war fan or not). Packed with great characterisation, strong storytelling and powerful emotion, OCCUPATION is a landmark in British television. Hopefully there will be many more dramas like it in the coming years.

I missed this when shown on TV but caught up with it on demand. I only intended to watch the 1st episode tonight, but I am writing this having sat captivated for all 3 episodes. This is by far the best drama I have seen in years. The story of these 3 men is compelling and powerfully written. The acting is without fault, especially the three lead roles. You really get to understand these people and the journey they go through. If you ever get the chance to watch this drama series do so and very well done the BBC for getting this made. I challenge anyone to watch the whole series and not be challenged about what they believe about the impact on war on the soldiers serving and in particular the implications of the war in Iraq on that country and it's people.

So when does a topical drama go from being 'committed' to being 'shrill'? And when does 'covering many aspects' become 'cluttered'? This was engaged film-making of the Ken Loach style - you'll probably guess from that comparison what the makers' view of the Iraq war was. But even as someone who marched against the war, I found the film overwrought at times.

The sheer number of characters meant some of them were just cyphers, and you got the feeling the makers had tried to bung everything they'd heard about Iraq into the film.

... and yet for all that it was a passionate, 'big' work, well-acted and powerfully-scripted. The plot twists were cheeky, but it was easy to be carried along.

Oh and if you haven't yet seen 'Occupation', avoid the IMDb discussion page. Some numbskulls haven't quite grasped the idea of 'spoilers'!!