"Occupation" (2009) TV series

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 June 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Three ex-servicemen return to Basra, each for a different reason.

Cast

James Nesbitt	...	Mike Swift (3 episodes, 2009)
Stephen Graham	...	Danny Ferguson (3 episodes, 2009)
Warren Brown	...	Lee Hibbs (3 episodes, 2009)
Nonso Anozie	...	Erik Lester (3 episodes, 2009)
Lubna Azabal	...	Aliya Nabil (3 episodes, 2009)
Monica Dolan	...	Nicky Swift (3 episodes, 2009)
Emmanuel Ighodaro	...	Errol 'Bruno' Lloyd (3 episodes, 2009)
Yigal Naor	...	Dr. Sadiq Alasadi (2 episodes, 2009)
Stephen Bent	...	Mr Hibbs (2 episodes, 2009)
Anna Jaskolka	...	Mrs Hibbs (2 episodes, 2009)
Lewis Alsamari	...	Yunis (2 episodes, 2009)
Laura Donnelly	...	Katy Hibbs (2 episodes, 2009)
Adam Beresford	...	Richard Swift (2 episodes, 2009)
Khalid Laith	...	Abdel Allawi (2 episodes, 2009)
Greg Kelly	...	Spike (2 episodes, 2009)
Charlotte Wakefield	...	Jess Swift (2 episodes, 2009)
Omar Berdouni	...	Ahmed (2 episodes, 2009)

Country:

UK

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company:

BBC Northern Ireland

Trivia:

Shown on 3 successive evenings on BBC1, 16-18 June 2009.

Definitely good

Well made and quite gripping.

However, I thought it was totally unconvincing that Danny and Lester were capable of running a successful military contractor company. Danny was completely unstable and had no aptitude for business or level-headedness.

So Lester must have done all the organizing and thinking, though we never saw any of that take place. But why in the world would Lester trust Danny and think he was a suitable business partner?

Another thing that seemed unlikely: the Americans and Iraqis were easily able to understand the British characters' strong accents (Northern Ireland, Manchester, and Newcastle?). I had plenty of difficulty understanding what they were saying, and I'm British and sitting comfortably at home, and sometimes even rewinding it or switching the volume up.