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Bluestone 42?

I think they've captured the essence of everything really well.

Sure, they've got details wrong, and there's some stuff that's truly unforgivable... Rotating charging handles, anyone?

But on the whole I don't have a problem with stuff being wrong, really. Most people watching don't know any better, and it's not like it takes anything away from the actual content of the show.

 
My buddy was originally set to work on set with Bluestone 42 but got another gig in the US, the MOD wouldn't play ball , its filmed in South Africa (funny enough so is Our Girl for the scenes mean't to be afghan )

 
It's a comedy, look at it like that. Yes they should be a bit more accurate but it is a comedy not a documentary.

After all, Friends seemed to do ok and there was no way they could, on their jobs, afford an apartment in upstate New York.

But Our Girl is crap and that is down as a drama so should be right. Plot lines you can see a mile off eg clear that the capt will shag the girl even though in reality it would destroy his career etc.

 
well it wouldnt as hes an officer and so is she, Padre's are commissioned officers. i watched some of Our girl and thought it was crap. propagandist psch about a girl trying to make it in this mans army and prove to them shes worth and earn their respect! Snore same story different war.

 
Considering casualty has been running since 1863 on "prime time telly", they still manage to consistently muck up the most basic of factual references and continuity issues.

 
I know next to nothing about Brit kit, so I'm happy in my ignorance when I watch this - I actually think it's quite good compared to most of the crap on BBC3.

 
Snowdrop said:
Plot lines you can see a mile off eg clear that the capt will shag the girl even though in reality it would destroy his career etc.
Click to expand...
Happens all the time on tour mate and as long as no one to far up the chain of command fines out more often than not gets swept under the carpet when the tour ends.

 
I learned recently that Godfrey from Dad's army was actually a bit of a hero. He was badly injured with bayonet wounds to his left arm and groin, shrapel wounds to the legs and head injuries while serving on the Somme. This left him with a left hand he could not use and prone to blackouts. He was discharged on medical grounds from the army in 1916. In 1939 he enlisted again and went out with BEF as a conducting officer showing newspaper reporters around during the phoney war. He returned to England on the last destroyer to leave Boulogne. On his return he was discharged again due to medical reasons. Then he joined the Home Guard reaching the rank of Major.

 
Not bad going when you think that he first enlisted for the Battle of Hastings!

 
Its kinda funny but with everyone going on about 'should be wearing this & should be wearing that'. When I was in theatre, sure we had our issued kit but there was a hell of a lot of non standard kit about to. If I look back at some of my photos, I'm sure people would say "oh but he's wearing that wrong" or "he's not suppose to be wearing that".

What I'm saying I guess is, its ok if they got some of the stuff wrong in Bluestone 42 because when you're on ops we all get it 'wrong' to :)

 
I liked it alot, there were points that I was dying of laughter. And yes they are wereing the wrong camo but who cares as long as the show is good at what its meant to be good at...A comedy...Not a real life documentary about soldiers.

 
I thought Bluestone 42 was a bit poor to be honest, the humour was fairly childish and it had a very predictable script. More akin to a student film rather than a professional BBC production. But as far as inaccuracies in technical details and equipment go, that sort of thing may bother those who think that everything in the text books is how it actually is in reality, but it very rarely is, especially when abroad where supply logistics can often be a problem. And as others have pointed out, it's meant to be entertainment, not a documentary, so I think we can let some technical detail inaccuracies slide too.

In any case, there are loads of examples of people using non-standard issue gear or modifying equipment in the field during times of war: Battle of Britain pilots painting their Mae Wests with yellow dope so they'd stand out if they bailed out into the Channel. M113 APC crews putting flak jackets on the floor of their vehicles to increase the armour, and knocking up steering handle extensions so they could sit on the roof to drive and avoid being killed if a track went over a mine. Soldiers in Afghan and Iraq buying their own boots and wearing keffiyahs (before they were issued). Vietnam war door gunners spot welding an empty rations peach can onto the side of their M60s to make the rounds feed into the breech better. M79 Blooper gunners removing the front sight from the weapon so it didn't catch on bushes and aiming by guessing the tilt angle instead. F86 Saber pilots in Korea removing the lead computing optical sight from their aircraft and replacing it with a piece of well chewed gum stuck in the middle of the windscreen. Soldiers in tropical and dusty climates dropping their M16A1s and using AK47s instead the moment they could get their hands on one. Kriegsmarine Uboat crews in WW2 wearing British Army Battledress tops from captured stockpiles in France. Huey crews in Vietnam painting their (white) issued helmets green. Israeli pilots flying Avia S99 (Messerschmitt bf109s) fighters in the war against Egypt. Egypt using the C47 transport aircraft as a bomber against Israel. Red cross and Red Crescent medevac vehicles mounting guns, despite this being against the Geneva Conventions etc, etc, and I'm sure you can all think of many more examples.

Non-standard stuff and modified equipment is really quite common on the front line, so unless an anomaly in a movie or TV show isn't blatantly stupid, patently impossible or obviously anachronistic, then we can't really say it is inaccurate.

 
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