“COMPROMISING POSITIONS”
(click for full summary)
Elsewhere, Bobby (Christopher Coghill) comes across a local thug, Sam (Matthew Hall) vandalising ambulances. He and Burnett (Damian O’Hare) escort him home but when they meet his aggressive stepfather, they’re concerned he’s being abused.
Tonight on ITV1, 7pm!
First really extensive review: The Independent on “Taking the Flak”, revealing some details about the character Damian plays.
Taking the Flak: Damian O'Hare as BBC cameraman Rory Wallace
The alternative title mooted was “The Calais Rules”, the supposed understanding among foreign correspondents that “after you cross the English Channel what goes on tour stays on tour”. This is explained to the hapless reporter, Margaret Hollis, by the producer, Jane Thomason (Smack the Pony’s Doon Mackichan), who is herself bonking the cameraman, Rory Wallace. She has had a recent fling with the roving chief foreign editor, David Bradburn (Martin Jarvis), who has a roving eye and abides by the tried-and-tested BBC “frisk meter” in sampling local totty. The local stringer, Harry Chambers, meanwhile, is having an affair with a hotel receptionist in an attempt to “build up contacts.”
Taking The Flak is, of course, a comedy. But just how close is it to real life? The characters are certainly recognisable as those you tend to meet in such places – the battle hardened, sardonic cameraman played by Damian O’Hare; Bruce Mackinnon’s stringer distraught at being “big-footed” (sidelined by the arrival of a senior correspondent); the local “fixers” observing the antics of the foreign journalists with wry detachment and the wonderfully vapid Sloane Ranger, Samantha Cunningham Fleming, engaged in aid work with child soldiers (”When they qualify they will run market stalls, just like in Camden” ), adorned with local jewellery and speaking pidgin Swahili: “Unless you tell me where my journalists are I’ll break every bead in your body,” says producer Jane to her at one point. Behind the wisecracks, it does give a glimpse of just how unpredictable and dangerous child soldiers can be, as some of us found to our cost in Sierra Leone and Somalia. One almost feels sorry for Bradburn when he is taken hostage by them.
There are questions in the programme about the nature of journalism in an age of trivialisation. A report about the crisis in Karibu is cut short to take in Nicholas Witchell at Boujis nightclub in Mayfair. The script also touches on the limitations journalists have in changing the narrative in a place of strife. One teenage child soldier wants to go back home to the family lost to him and whom he misses desperately. He asks Bradburn and the cameraman Wallace if they could help him go home. “But that is not what we do, you see,” says Bradburn uneasily. “But I know our coverage, the publicity, will help chaps like you.” “Yes,” says Wallace who has seen through the bullshit a long time ago, “eventually”.
The review of The Independent is, all in all, favourable, and answers the question “…is it funny?”
The main thing is that it is, mostly, very funny.
Judge for yourself – next Wednesday, 8 July, 9pm, on BBC2. Find all other dates and airing times on the Taking the Flak page on the website and related news here on the blog filed under the Taking the Flak tag.
“Taking the Flak” is getting serious: with the pilot less than a week away, previews and promotion start trickling in. I can’t keep track of everything and probably miss half of it, but here are some links for you:
“TAKING THE FLAK” on British Comedy Guide
Episode previews, an interview with Tira Shubart and lots of information. Also, I pilfered the following picture from them:
Damian O'Hare as Rory Wallace and Doon Mackichan as Jane Thomason. (c)BBC
There’s also an
OFFICIAL FACEBOOK FOR “TAKING THE FLAK”
I can see the entries and the pictures, so one obviously doesn’t need to have a facebook account to read the updates. Two thumbs up for that.
TV and Satellite Week runs a two-page spread of “Taking the Flak”, giving a short rundown of the plot and introducing the characters.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
Damian O'Hare as Rory Wallace in BBC2's new comedy "Taking the Flak." The cameraman's reputation in war coverage precedes him when he joins the team later in Karibu. To his right: Joanna Brookes as World Service reporter Margaret Hollis.
Seeing how he will “join the team later” it’s possible that Damian won’t be in the pilot, which was shot in Kenya (unlike the rest of the series, which was shot in Tanzania).
Can I be cynical here for a moment and ask why descriptions like “perennially single, and the foreign climate plays havoc with her toilet habits…” never apply for roles played by tall, leggy blondes?
For those of you who aren’t interested in “Taking the Flak” and ended up in this blog by accident: TV and Satellite Week also has a cover story featuring Torchwood.
“THE BEST OF INTENTIONS”
(click for full summary)
Damian O'Hare as Dr. Nick Burnett in "The Royal"
Dr Burnett races to save two schoolgirls who have fallen unconscious with carbon monoxide poisoning, while Susie has to think fast when Matron collapses during their picnic and ends up in hospital, giving the student nurse the chance to prove herself. Elsewhere, Weatherill gets to the bottom of a family problem involving a man training for the priesthood.
Don’t miss the drama – tonight on ITV1, 7pm!
BBC Radio 4: “Front Row” (audio – BBC iPlayer, also available outside of the UK)
The review by Kirsty Lang and Alex Thomson will give you an idea what to expect when tuning in to “Taking the Flak” on July 8. Overall, the review is positive, despite pointing out some lengths in the script. The portrayal of the characters is praised as being spot on and the way some serious issues (for example child soldiers) are dealt with works. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so please check the link for yourself.
Fictional war-shaken country “Karibu” is 38 times the size of Wales. Wales seems to be the mandatory surface measure for countries, just like time spans in documentaries are always measured in the number of minutes 27 piranhas need to skeletonise a cow.
We had tents for shade and atmospheric “bush toilets” under canvas for pit stops. But “Team Flak”, a unique blend of UK, Tanzanian and Kenyan artists and crew, had a supremely happy shoot. We hope viewers will enjoy the world of Taking the Flak as much as we did.
You hopefully didn’t notice, but last week the website was hacked.
Some idiot created two subfolders (I didn’t bother to check the content) and tried to link them from the front page. Luckily, the host noticed immediately that something fishy was going on, sent me an email and we managed to delete the poxy code. There was at no time a risk for you to catch a virus while surfing the website, so no worries. It was very likely not a specific attack on Ambarussa, either, because other websites were targeted as well.
To be on the safe side, I’ll upload the complete website from a backup, and I’ll use this opportunity to re-code everything to improve the access for screenreaders for the visually impaired. Being the html dinosaur that I am, I originally used the <b> and <i> tags for bolding and italics. However, screenreaders struggle with these tags, and so I’ll switch to <strong> and <em> instead. This might also solve some of the issues Mac users reported (I know, I’m a hopeless optimist).
As a consequence, you might encounter the odd 404 Page of Doom during the next days. Thanks for your patience.
Edit: And I have no idea why this entry disappeared for a day. Off to change my passwords now…
Just so you won’t miss anything of importance…
… there’s now a
where you’ll find, sorted by month, dates and times of Damian O’Hare’s appearances on TV, stage and the big screen. You can also see a quick link in the sidebar of this blog.
