Saturday, 8th May 2021 at 9:00 am
If you havenât heard of Irish actress Leah McNamara yet, youâll undoubtedly recognise her. She recently starred in Normal People, the record-breaking BBC Three adaptation of Sally Rooneyâs bestseller. McNamara played teenage queen bee Rachel Moran, the third point in a school love triangle with protagonists Connell (Paul Mescal) and Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones).
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Connellâs decision to take Rachel to the Debs (the annual school ball) instead of Marianne proved a watershed moment in their relationship, and a flash point for both readers and viewers alike. On Instagram, McNamara previously posted an image of herself and Normal People co-star Paul Mescal, captioned, âUnpopular opinion: Connell and Rachel at the debsâ¦â
Imagine then, the horror that ensued when, five years after the event, Brian and his fellow men received communication alerting them to the fact there would be a public inquiry into allegations of unlawful killing and ill treatment of Iraqi nationals by British troops in Iraq. This time the battleground was a courtroom, and with his mantra at the forefront of his mind, Brian and his men managed to clear their names, and the Al-Sweady inquiry was thrown out.
Brian’s book
Double Crossed: A Code of Honour, A Complete Betrayal, was a Sunday Times Bestseller which propelled him in to the public eye. Suddenly, this soldier from Hampshire was being invited to speak at events halfway across the world; and to share his story and the lessons he had learnt from his experiences. Now adding business owner to his list of accolades with his fitness clothing brand named after his ‘Keep Attacking’ mantra, Brian has never been one to sit still and is driven by a passion to help others, he
Anthony Boyle as Brian Wood in the forthcoming BBC drama Danny Boy
Credit: BBC
On May 14 2004, just outside of the Iraqi town of Amarah, a patrol of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was ambushed by a Shi’a militia group known as the Mahdi Army. The Brits called for support, which arrived in the form of members of the 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Regiment.
In what became known as The Battle of Danny Boy – named after a nearby checkpoint – the British soldiers saw some of the fiercest fighting of the entire Iraq conflict, with Sergeant Brian Wood leading the first bayonet charge in more than a quarter of a century. Wood was later awarded the Military Cross for his role in the battle. By the end of the engagement, 28 insurgents had been killed, while the Brits suffered only a handful of injuries.
Watford was transformed to look like an Iraqi desert for an upcoming BBC Two drama that depicts the realities and repercussions of war. The new feature-length BBC Two battlefield drama Danny Boy was shot in Watford, instead of Iraq, due to the travel restrictions enforced from the pandemic. Written by Bafta-winner Robert Jones (Murder, Party Animals) and directed by Sam Miller (I May Destroy You, Luther), Danny Boy needed a location a little closer than home to depict a warzone. “Sam’s done an incredible job of making it look like Iraq when it was some freezing pitch in Watford,” said leading actor Anthony Boyle, nodding to the director’s visual achievements.