Soldier Soldier
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Soldier Soldier was a British television drama series. The title comes from a traditional song of the same name.
Produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 1991 to 1997. It featured the daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'A' Company, 1st Battalion The King's Fusiliers, a fictional British Army infantry regiment . Set in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, it is regarded as an accurate depiction of army life in the early to mid 1990s, when the British Army was undergoing significant change. This is perhaps best demonstrated during the third series, around 1994, when a significant number of real regiments were forced into amalgamations with each other due to downsizing of the army. In the world of Soldier Soldier, the King's Fusiliers are also forced to amalgamate with another fictional regiment, becoming the King's Own Fusiliers. At the time Soldier Soldier was broadcast, the fatality rate was low with most casualties were due to training accidents, suicides and alleged suicide as a result of bullying. The military as a whole was reduced to performing more peacekeeping missions than actually doing any fighting. As a consequence, the show served well to portray the army, despite the domestic problems that could occur, in a fairly good light.
Although many well known and not so well known actors appeared in Soldier Soldier over the period it was broadcast, perhaps the best known are Robson Green and Jerome Flynn, who portrayed Fusilier Dave Tucker and Sergeant Paddy Garvey respectively. It was their performance of "Unchained Melody" in an episode of the series that propelled them to stardom, giving them several number one songs and a best selling album. Both actors left the series in 1995, following which viewing figures began to decline, leading to the series being cancelled in 1997. Reruns currently air in Canada on digital television station, CBC Country Canada.
- Fictional Regiments featured in Soldier Soldier
- *The King's Fusiliers (later the King's Own Fusiliers)
- *The Cumbrians (Duke of Rutland's Own) - amalgamates with the King's Fusiliers
- *The Malvern Regiment - exercises with the King's Fusiliers during their posting to Hong Kong
See also
External links
- [Soldier Soldier] at [The Robson Green Web Site].
- [Soldier Soldier: Deliver Us From Evil w/Jason O'Mara - caps/script]
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