By Brad Newsome
Source: The Age
This year, more than any other, the sheer volume of television commemorating the Gallipoli campaign was bound to exceed the viewing public’s inclination to commit to new retellings of a familiar story. This inevitable exhaustion of interest seems to have set in early, with Channel Nine’s impressive drama Gallipoli proving a flop in the ratings. It would be a great pity if Deadline Gallipoli was to meet the same sort of indifference. It’s a powerful and poignant piece of work that, for many viewers, will cast events in a slightly different light. At first glance, the idea of telling the Gallipoli story through the experiences and actions of a handful of war correspondents might seem unpromising – journalists, after all, are chiefly of interest to other journalists. But these were remarkable men who endured much of what the soldiers endured, and two of them – against all odds – helped bring about the evacuation of the peninsula and preventing an even greater disaster. After the haunting opening credits and a glimpse of the horror that will unfold on the morning of the Gallipoli landings, we’re whisked back eight weeks earlier to meet the first of these men, the upright Australian Charles Bean (Joel Jackson), in Cairo. As Australian soldiers drink, riot and contract venereal diseases, Bean is a model of concerned rectitude, and Major GeneralWilliam Bridges (Bryan Brown) soon agrees to let him join the invasion fleet. Bean’s polar opposite is British reporter Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett (Hugh Dancy), a hedonistic sort of fellow who nonetheless has connections in high places. Then there’s the gruff but thoughtful Philip Schuler (SamWorthington), journalist for The Age and a man with a friendly sort of relationship with British General Ian Hamilton (Charles Dance). Keith Murdoch (Ewen Leslie) arrives in tomorrow night’s concluding instalment. The scripts (tonight’s by Jacquelin Perske and Shaun Grant) are immediately compelling, director Michael Rymer (Hannibal, Battlestar Galactica) is equally at home with action sequences and emotional drama, and the whole ship steers largely clear of sensationalism and sentimentality. The main cast is terrific, and Jackson’s assured debut stands comfortably alongside the performances of his more experienced castmates.There are also well judged turns from actors in supporting roles – Rachel Griffiths, Anna Torv, James Fraser and Dan Wyllie to name a few – and everything from costume design to the score by composer David Bridie makes a real contribution to a fine piece of work.