CHANNEL Nine’s Gallipoli is the first must-see TV event of 2015 — a stirring Aussie drama that doesn’t pull any punches about the courage, and human cost, of the battle that helped define our nation.
Gallipoli thrusts viewers straight into the heart of battle. The eight-hour miniseries starts with the ANZAC troops landing at Gallipoli as dawn breaks on April 25, 1915.
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Cannon fodder ... Sergeant Harry Perceval (Matt Nable) prepares to leap from the boat and lead his men ashore as Private Bevan Johnson (Harry Greenwood, left) looks on in the miniseries. Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied
Chaos swirls as Thomas “Tolly” Johnson (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and the rest of these young soldiers, including his brother Bevan (Harry Greenwood), hit the beach and are ordered up the sheer cliffs.
The first episode of Gallipoli solely concentrates on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign, which is seen through Tolly’s eyes.
The body count mounts quickly as the Tolly and his comrades, under the command of Captain Eric Taylor (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor), battle a well-armed Turkish force led by Colonel Mustafa Kemal (Yalin Ozucelik).
Defining moment ... Captain Taylor (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor). Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied
It doesn’t take long for things to go horribly wrong. The maps are inadequate, officers are killed or lost, and ammunition is fast running out.
Looking on from afar is Britain’s General Ian Hamilton (John Bach) aboard the HMS Elizabeth, totally oblivious to the carnage.
Smit-McPhee (Romulus, My Father) is superb as Tolly. A lot of the success or failure of this Gallipoli miniseries rests on his shoulders, and he easily carries the burden.
The young actor’s expressive face fully conveys the mix of courage, determination, horror, disappointment, and sheer terror a teenage soldier would experience in what quickly becomes hell-on-earth.
Tolly’s idyllic early life back home in Australia with Bevan and mum Noah (Justine Clarke) is shown in flashback.
Home front ... Mrs Johnson (Justine Clarke), Tolly (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Celia (Ashleigh Cummings) sing in church prior to Tolly and Bevan's departure for the war. Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied
Other standouts in episode one are Lindsay Taylor and especially Matt Nable as dogged Sergeant Harry Perceval.
The Brits — Hamilton as well as Chief of Staff Walter Braithwaite (Nicholas Hope) — are less subtly scripted. A subplot that centres on Tolly’s attraction to his brother’s fiance Celia (Ashleigh Cummings) feels contrived.
Episode two jumps forward one month. By then the Anzac troops are bunkered down in trenches surrounded by the stench of rotting corpses.
It is here that we learn more about Tolly’s digger mates — Bevan, Dave Klein (Sam Parsonson), and Cliff Sutton (Tom Budge).
Standout ... Tolly (Kodi Smit-McPhee) makes his way up the ridge, gun at the ready. Picture: Ben King Source: Supplied
Scenes of Anzac and Turkish troops burying the dead, during a brief armistice, are deeply affecting.
Later episodes will feature stars including Lachy Hulme as Lord Kitchener, Grant Bowler as William Malone, and Damon Gameau as war correspondent Keith Murdoch.
Gallipoli shows the bravery of the Anzac troops but it isn’t afraid to expose the high level stuff-ups that led to so many young soldiers being needlessly killed.
It isn’t jingoistic. There is an overwhelming air of sadness and futility as we watch these young Aussies fighting for their lives.
Gallipoli is inspired by Les Carlyon’s book of the same name and does justice to that acclaimed bestseller.
TV viewers are set to be swamped with Gallipoli-related programs in 2015. Nine’s Gallipoli will surely be one of the best.
Gallipolli, Channel 9, starts February.
OTHER GALLIPOLI TV IN 2015
Deadline Gallipoli (Foxtel) — four-part drama, starring Sam Worthington, told from the point of view of war correspondents Philip Schuler, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Keith Murdoch, and Charles Bean.
Gallipoli: The Power of Ten (Seven) — documentary series, hosted by Ben Roberts-Smith, which focuses on Victoria Cross recipients.
The First ANZACs (Ten) — mini-documentaries featuring the diaries and letters of Aussie heroes and heroines. Cast includes Kat Stewart, Peter Phelps, and Brooke Satchwell.
The Waler: Australia’s Great Warhorse (ABC) — documentary that looks at the fate of the thousands of horses that served ANZAC forces.
The Waves of Anzac Cove (ABC) — Actor Sam Neill’s great uncle, John Williams, was a soldier at Gallipoli. This is Neill’s personal account of the special bond between Australian and New Zealand troops.
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