Scrivener3000
Joined Jan 2005
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Reviews5
Scrivener3000's rating
Although "Fairly Secret Army" never got much attention, it was a delightful little series starring Geoffrey Palmer, with a challenging premise for a teleplay-writer in these modern times: Make an obscure, far-right, wonderfully stuffy retired British army major into a lovable, and even sympathetic and huggable, fellow. He tries to form a tiny army dedicated to something or other. It's never clear what. Certainly not the overthrow of the British government -- that's the very thing they oppose.
The series, which only ran to about a dozen episodes, was a spin off from the much better-known "Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin," in which Palmer played Reggie's wonderfully stuffy and perpetually unprepared Army officer brother-in-law, Jimmy (Major James Gordonstoun Anderson). ("Would you have any food, Reggie? Been rather a cockup on the catering front.") Palmer's Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott different name but obviously an extension of the same character -- tries to raise a small and fairly secret army, but has to settle for one adoring upper-class lady, a popinjay sergeant and his wife, and a half-witted corporal (Richard Ridings).
The secret army is soon recruited by a shadowy man from government to infiltrate a revolutionary cell that seems to be as lethal as it is secretive. Good stuff.
The series, which only ran to about a dozen episodes, was a spin off from the much better-known "Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin," in which Palmer played Reggie's wonderfully stuffy and perpetually unprepared Army officer brother-in-law, Jimmy (Major James Gordonstoun Anderson). ("Would you have any food, Reggie? Been rather a cockup on the catering front.") Palmer's Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott different name but obviously an extension of the same character -- tries to raise a small and fairly secret army, but has to settle for one adoring upper-class lady, a popinjay sergeant and his wife, and a half-witted corporal (Richard Ridings).
The secret army is soon recruited by a shadowy man from government to infiltrate a revolutionary cell that seems to be as lethal as it is secretive. Good stuff.
". . .the Stalin regime, for all its flaws, was a popular regime with the Russian people with astounding achievements to its credit. . ." wrote a previous reviewer.
How true! And much the same could be said for the Hitler regime, which was also a popular one, and had many remarkable achievements to its credit as well.
"With all its flaws." Yes, there were some unpleasant moments under Stalin: The reign of terror, the show-trials, the midnight arrests of dissidents, the mass deportations, the calculated murder by starvation of at least 10 million people, and the slave-labor camps. In the movie, these matters would have interfered with the pacing, editing, and overall thrust of the message, so they ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Still, as long as it was popular with the people, or at least with those who survived it, that's what counts.
--Scrivener3000
How true! And much the same could be said for the Hitler regime, which was also a popular one, and had many remarkable achievements to its credit as well.
"With all its flaws." Yes, there were some unpleasant moments under Stalin: The reign of terror, the show-trials, the midnight arrests of dissidents, the mass deportations, the calculated murder by starvation of at least 10 million people, and the slave-labor camps. In the movie, these matters would have interfered with the pacing, editing, and overall thrust of the message, so they ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Still, as long as it was popular with the people, or at least with those who survived it, that's what counts.
--Scrivener3000