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Soldiering on

Episode 1.05
Writer: Ashley Pharoah
Director: Adrian Shergold

THE ONE WHERE Tom bimbles onto a military training zone and saves the life of a female soldier who is then accused of desertion at a court martial. Meanwhile Mrs Sherringham’s memories of her dead husband are stirred up when his brother starts appearing around town.

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VERDICT As we move towards the end of the series, momentum is gathering towards the end game, but it’s difficult not to feel it’s too little too late. Zak’s history as a World War I soldier is moving and well-played, and even makes the slightly cheesy flashback forgiveable in trade-off for the beautiful shot of Zak and Tom in the field of poppies – although frankly nothing is making up for Mrs Sherringham’s drunken rendition of “Whiskey In The Jar”.

The slightly ropey plotlines are, as ever, sured up with strong performances. Samuel West and Tobias Menzies make worthy adversaries, and Mrs Sherringham being haunted by her past gives Orla Brady a chance to flex some acting muscles, cringeworthy singing interlude aside.

While the court case of the week being a court martial is an interesting change, the resolution of the mystery ending with Tom having a cheesy Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em style chase through the barracks and then landing on an unexploded mine takes suspending your disbelief to a whole different level. As we come to the series finale, the angelic storylines remain much more interesting than any attempts to impact on individual people’s lives. I’m not sure that really bodes well for humanity...

LAW 101 Hannah is going to be Zak’s assistant on the case of the week, despite working for a completely different legal chambers. Is that standard practice?

HE’S EEEEVIL Not only is he taunting Mrs Sherringham with images of her dead lover, but Richard is smoking while he does it.

BEST DIALOGUE
“New underpants for Mr Greening.”

Narin Bahar

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