Just watched episode 2 on youtube. Fantastic stuff. I think Mr Kemp will end up with one of those TV award thingies for this. He has kahunnas thats for sure (as i might add does the guy behind the camera)

Totally agree with you Tigs. I've never seen such 'live' action on TV, including the filmed stuff from Vietnam. Respect to RK and crew, and of course to the long suffering guys who were his hosts. They may have felt him to be a pain at times, under those conditions any passengers are liabilities, but they hid their feelings pretty well, and how else can 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' see what is being done in his name? If he doesn't agree with it he must surely respect the PBI who have to face such a determined foe whether they wish to or not. Pity it is not going out on a terrestrial channel. Every one who sends in a Tax Return should get a copy in exchange!

I found the documentary to be excellent and extremely down to earth. It showed it how it is, and it delivers the emotion brilliantly.

I find the televised commentary more revealing than the scripted stuff between shots. He's a bit stale when overdubbing as compared to when he does his stuff to camera. That's adrenaline for you! It's noteworthy that he went out there with his father's old regiment; like a pad-brat's version of 'who do you think you are'.

On the issue of educating the public. Perhaps a first, faltering step might be to run repeats of the BFBS Reports slots immediately following the national news?

I think some have been a little harsh towards Lou; he does have a point that today's society does tend to respond to any element of human crisis with a mass outburst of grieving/hysteria and the like.

However, what Lou possibly fails to realise (and has already been mentioned at least once) is that REMFs like myself are invariably invovled in the repatriation ceremonies. The effect this often has on servicemen, given our camaraderie, is that we relate the event to our own lives and families as well as imagine the grief of the deceased's family. I would argue that our unique understanding of the hardship of an OOA, coupled with the inherent risks, prompts tears on the part of many servicemen.

I will freely admit only vaguely knowing one person to die on operations but I will always have a manly tear in my eye on remembrance day as I reflect on those who have lost their lives. However, my tears are usually for those left behind as I can only try to imagine what my wife would feel if my name was added to the every-growing list.

Slightly more on topic, I have seen the first 2 episodes and found that my knowledge has definately increased. Well done to Mr Kemp.

Sat down and watched the first 2 episodes with the missus, and we both agreed the crew did a great job of bringing the reality of Helmland to Joe Public.

I think the fact that he was with his dads old regiment gave him some resonance with the young lads, and they trusted him.

P.S. As an ex truckie Glorified bus driver, and current overpaid civvie glorified bus driver, I hope Lou S doesnt work for my outfit, as he seems a complete tool.

NikNak just reminded me why I havent posted on Pprune for 2 years
:ugh:

Regards to all who know me in Wilts.

P.P.S Come on in, the water's lovely:ok:

Bet you've peed in it tho.....

:)

"Bet you've peed in it tho....."

Only if his bag has split...........bet he still drinks like a girl as well :E

Think they (finally) arrived during his time out there and were themselves a bit of an embuggerance to begin with too, but I, like your friend, am entitled to my view. :p
Never really liked RK due in no small part to the utter waste of tv airtime called "Eastenders". His trip East has changed my view though. Fair play to the bloke for putting his money where his gob is and getting his size 9s on the ground.:ok:

Oh and NikNak.........fcuk off........tw@t.

What an interesting thread, with the usual incisive posters, Tigs etc, you all know who you are.

Then there's NikNak, who presumes to post on a topic he clearly knows nothing at all about and therefore cannot possibly understand the mutual sense of pride and selflessness that exist in the military; all arms. He doesn't understand the enormously high standards and the determination not to let anyone down, and to carry on doing it despite lack-lustre support of the politicians who sent you to do their bidding. You nevertheless accept that because it's what you do, and you're far more of a professional than people such as he could ever be. That very selflessness, pride, mutual respect, are not easily understood concepts to people who have never experienced them, and will never experience them.

That's his loss.

In defence of my TV industry colleagues, all I can say is that shooting fly-on-the-wall documentaries is inevitably subject to the broader terms of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle - you can't observe something without affecting it. Most crews, especially in these sorts of circumstances, will be extremely aware that they are fundamentally an embuggerance and will bend over backwards to minimise it as much as they can.

Obviously I've no idea what specific issues anyone may have had with the team on this one but there is inevitably a certain amount of inconvenience involved - if you want it seen, you just have to put up with it.

No, your friend is bullsh!tting. I left theatre just before the RIP, and there was still no sign of the Junglies.
I can't see how RK could be an embuggerance to a RN crew with their non-existant helicopter.

Hi Phil

MGD

just had to comment after reading so many fine words and sentiments.
It is a fair time since I was in harms way, and the general public didn't care to much then either.
Well done Mr kemp for being there and listening.
Nik Nak...... We are special because we choose to keep you safe.
I have been both, serviceman and civilian. I now refer to myself as a retired serviceman, I will never be a civilian!!! To55er.

Phil R - Spot on. In an earlier fracas we always knew that seeing Kate Adie was a sure sign that the doodah was about to hit the fan. What we didn't have was the empirical evidence or the control sample to prove that she was actually the cause...

As to emotion, it was Donne who wrote "no man is an island: every man's death diminishes me". I can assue you that the wider "family" of defence including "REMFs"* civil serpents and contractors from the defence industry dwell a pause at the news of the loss of a British Serviceman or woman.

Anyone who doesn't is frankly not fit the breathe the free air that is bought at such high a cost.

Full marks to alcon.

UK Armed forces: ordinary people doing extraordinary things against exceptional odds.

(*- "REMF" is like "N*gg*r": the simple use of the word indicates a mindlessness which is probably beyond cure. For a proper understanding of the relationship between front line and support, cf F1. Lewis Hamilton impresses the socks off me not by driving quickly, or being successful at a young age, but by acknowledging that his sport is a team effort. A bit like warfare...)

Edited for rubbish typign

I met Mr Kemp a couple of weekends ago. Was standing outside a restaurant having a fag & he scrounged a light,so we got chatting. I was certainly a bit minging & think he may have been too. Just like to say he was a thoroughly likeable, normal bloke & I had no hesitation in thanking him for bringing a viewpoint of what's going on over there into our living rooms. Hopefully this will make people far more aware & therefore thankful for what everyone in Afghanistan (& therefore by default Iraq) is going through. I'd also like to take my hat off to him for actually doing the job. His training & preparation, both physical & mental,was minimal by the standards of the people he was with. He was out there by choice so what he did must have taken a fair amount of cojones.
Maybe we should bring back Pathe news!

Just watched the latest episode, and hats off to Ross Kemp.

Really moving series. :D:D:D:D

Yep. They should stick every MP in front of a TV and force them to watch this.

IMHO they should stick every MP in front of the camera out there, a la Mr Kemp, and then they might be a little more reluctant to vote through NuLabour's wars and a little bit more ready to properly provide the wherewithal to fight them. Nice bon-mot in West Wing the other day; "The Republicans would like to have a big army but not send it anywhere, the Democrats want an army as small as possible but to send it everywhere!" On that basis I suspect the next General Election will offer the choice of ending up with a government that is Democrat or .... Democrat!
Bravo RK, another impressive piece. I suspect the toughest part was the scene with the dead soldier's mum, Taliban and Sandy Places not withstanding!

Just watched the latest episode and thought it was excellent. Certainly making me pay attention on IRT at the moment! :ooh:

Having read the Sky blurb for the next episode, I suspect it is going to blow the previous episodes out of the water.

Well Done Mr Kemp, a bloody top effort to bring the war home.:D

Browne & Brown can't massage this one away; everyone I know is watching it & Sky are, quite rightly, ramming it down the throats of their viewers during commercial breaks all week.

Yes, the boy done good!

I have just read the synopsis for episodes 4 and 5. It looks like they will be tough, compelling viewing

Sorry to be posting about this so late but niknak...... you are a complete to$$er. There is a huge difference between being a civvy and being in the mob, apart from the obvious restrictions on family and personal life, there aren't many other jobs where you can be killed just by going to work. Perhaps you might remember that whilst you are sat at home with other people fighting to keep you and yours safe in the blissful ignorance you have displayed so well.

Rant over, but God I'm annoyed.

Ah NikNak, that well known and worthless piece of %$^* who believes that people who risk their lives saving others are 'fools' . Now why don't you go back to your sad little life and sod off! I have yet to read a posting of yours that is anything other than total rubbish and nonesence, do try and grow up man.

'What comes across in many different posts on this forum, is that there are some posters who genuinely believe that thay are entitled to some sort of cult status because they are or have been, in the services.'

No, it's not a 'cult' thing at all, its called having a pride in the fact that we have been prepared to offer our services to the safety and protection of this nation and others. I am proud of having done that, as I'm sure most are. Unfortunately, it is probably something that you and many other civilians cannot understand. Perhaps had you done a stint in any of the services you might have been able to understand it.

'Sorry to disappoint you, but you're no better than anyone before you and you're certainly in position to judge the public opinion'

Wrong actually - most of us are a great deal better thank you! A point clearly proven by your outspoken, misguided and pathetic posts on PPrune. So NikNak, you take yourself off there's a good chap, find a nice big rock to slide under and quietly rot and leave these big boys forums to the big boys (and girls) of our armed forces.

The Winco

hi guys

im not in the mil but 1 was civil air!

i note that niknak never posted again
what a ghastly post he made

i really wanna watch the ross kemp series was it bbc or itv
can you download it ?>
i dont have sky

sorry to ask obvious questions but i have horrendous flu at the mo and my searching capabilites leave me boss eyed LOL!

cheers chaps
'wake up england'
our forces give 110% and in these dangerous times they are the most valueable asset we possess
we are gonna need them big time in the not too distant future methinks
sad to say but its all goin tits up in the world

Lou, hope I never fly with you. CRM would be a nightmare you arrogent ****. Actually I dont think you are a pilot or have ever been to war. I hope you never meet me in a dark alley. Niknak is to be ignored.

I never really thought much of Ross Kemp.......I do now. Absoutely superb piece of Television. I was very lucky that I never went to war in my service life but my heart goes out to those lads. They are not fighting for Queen and Country, or the government but for each other. As a parent myself, I could not imagine the pain of losing your Son so far away from home in a war that has been forgotten by the British public and our Government.

I have a suggestion. Send all the low life drunks and druggies off to war and prehaps they will come back with some respect for human life.

Ross kemp Parody
 

Hey you guys gotta check out this trailer for a parody for ross kemp on gangs,
its the shiznit:D:ok:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d66dok8UF1Y

I would contend that this is a totally stupid comment. Britain today is not the Junkers' Germany of Bismarck.

We do not have an officer class nor a natural pool of licencious soldiery waiting for the Queen's shilling and the call to arms.

We have a citizenry that wishes to serve its country as a career. They are civilians. They volunteer. Many are rejected. Some are selected but they were still civilians first and will become civilians later, if they survive.

There is no 'your world' and a separate society although in some cities that may no longer be true. Many of the youth of today has the moral backbone to accept military discipline and let the military make men of them.

RK demonstrates just what right of passage they have to undertake.

D@mn

Most frustrating reading the comments on this topic. I don't have Sky!!! I hope that Sky sell it to one of the mainstream terrestrial channels or show it on one of the Freeview channels soon. Anyone know if it's going to be released on DVD?

And as for niknak, in the words of the great Flashheart - "What a kn0b!"

Problem is the RK program will have no effect on the general public.
We all can imagine what conditions are like.
As for protecting us civilians by whats going on in Afghanistan, i'm more likely to get blown up by my Muslim neighbour cooking up something in his kitchen here in England.

I've been watching and been very impressed by the series. I've never seen Ross Kemp before so I'm not sure how he's qualified to present the programme but he's articulate and seems very genuine. My only teeeny-weeny concern as I watched last night was that the slick, pacy title sequence comes across as the start of an action movie, so viewers need to be reminded that they are watching real life, with real people in real danger. Ross Kemp does this very well, but at the end of the day he's a professional actor and/or celebrity, and I do wonder if some people (without close connections to the services) just watch it as another action movie. With the recent Commando series, you were always aware that they were filming real life - and they managed it without having to put a celebrity in front of the camera.

Eyesfront - apart from his somewhat dodgy character acting in a popular soap, and a fictional special forces 'drama', RK has gained a reputation for presenting a realistic series of documentary programs on gangs (as in armed thugs) from the less salubrious parts of the World.

Good training for his current output, perhaps?

As yet another ex-Mil rather than "civvy", (although only recently ex), I was pleasantly surprised by RKs frank and honest assessment of his experiences.

I would never wish it on anyone, but I was glad to see that he was indeed crapp1ng himself while the proverbial was hitting the fan, and was not trying to make himself out as some Rambo type figure. This sort of TV can only be a good thing for the AF in which I am proud to have served.

I have not yet had chance to watch Ep3 as I am no longer resident in blighty, so have to rely on torrent sites for my UK TV 'fix'. I will hopefully download and watch it tonight. I stand by to be impressed further.


To chappie;

Although not in UK, rest assured that myself and my ex-Lye colleagues did remember your brother and his colleagues with a drink or two. I sincerely hope that you may, one day get your wish and celebrate your daughters birthday the way you want to.

Out of sight, but never forgotten.

Humbling is all I can say. Makes mere civi's like me very frustrated to see great men like this - I wish I could do more - ideas anybody?

Other than stick £200 behind the bar of my local squaddy boozer

Young lad there earning £250 a week and getting shot at whilst his peers are claiming the same in benefits spraying graffiti and wearing hoodies

Its a crying shame that this isn't on BBC1 where more people would be watching it, cynically I suspect that many politicians are happier that its on Sky1.

Would just like to say that I wish all the lads over there the very best and for gods sake stay safe and for all those people who read this who are involved (or have been) in the provision of CAS for these lads - thanks very much.

Kid yourself all you like, one is inevitably linked to the other all be it by a very long chain, as TB radio chatter* in Helmand will testify.

*In plain English with a Bradford or West Brum accent.:rolleyes:

Ross Kemp in Afghanistan
 

Well done Kemp :D - awesome show and the bar in the mess has never been so full on a Monday evening with people who have come to watch !! I know we all take the piss but he is out there unarmed and risking his life to make people in Britain more aware of what is happening out there.

For those who dont have SkyOne or have missed it, all three episodes are on YouTube !!

Thanks to Ross Kemp and Sky for putting it on screen and to Oddball71 for putting it on YouTube for those of us without Sky to see it. :D

Wow, i've always thought NikNak was an ar$e, now i know he is!

As for RK on Sky, hats off to the guy, absolutely fantastic and un-missable TV. Seeing the guys watching the repatriation ceremony for a mate was one of the most moving things i've ever seen on TV.

Shame it isn't available on terrestrial telly as well.

I attended the Repatriation ceremony in KAF of the 3 men killed in the CVRT incident in summer 1996 and it was very moving. A truly sad day and whilst I confess that I knew neither of them I was truly choked and struggle to understand how that sort of event would fail to move any normal human being.

I agree that showing the series on Sky only is a let down and would hope that either the BBC or ITV could show the series upon completion of its run on Sky.

niknak and the other t1t, whatever his name is are just jealous as they're not half the men shown in this program and never will be. D1ckless walts trying to portray themselves as tough men and bask in the reflected glory of others. We all know the type, may well have served but never came into contact with anything more dangerous than a cookhouse fork. Talks a good war. :rolleyes:

As has been mentioned these fine programes are available on youtube but you do miss out on the fact they were shot in HD. So if you want to see them in high quality you can find them at mininova. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about google bit torrent.:D

Stop! STOP!!!! I can't stand it. :ugh:

I can't get it but it sounds great. I like Ross Kemp, who is doing more for the guys in harm's way than the government do. They should be ashamed.

:{:{