Bluestone 42

Bluestone 42 was a comedy drama series about a British bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick, first broadcast on 5 March 2013 on BBC Three. The comedy focuses on the camaraderie between the soldiers, situational comedy, bureaucracy, conflicts of interests and relationships, and is contrasted with the deadly situations the soldiers are required to defuse. The series was filmed in South Africa. The name of the show refers to the unit's call-sign, and as such is properly rendered verbally as "Bluestone Four-Two."

The third and final series began on 9 March 2015 and ended on 13 April 2015.

In July 2015, Carey and Hurst confirmed the show would not return for a fourth series. They cited BBC Three's impending move to online, and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as contributing towards the show having 'run its course.'

Plot summary

A major plot arc revolved around a will-they-won't-they relationship between the Captain Nick Medhurst, Bluestone 42's Ammunition Technical Officer, and Major Mary Greenstock, the Padre at Patrol Base Frost, the Forward operating base where Bluestone 42 is based. This involves Nick's repeated attempts at romance which are half-heartedly shrugged off by Mary. New character Corporal Gordon "Towerblock" House is introduced at the end of Series 1. His dislike of Nick for being of a higher social class than him leads to confrontations, with Towerblock labeling Nick a "Rupert" (a mostly derogatory term for an upper-class officer). This is soon resolved after a close encounter with the Taliban.