The BBC’s latest idea for a daring comedy drama, featuring “bad language, sexual innuendo, sexism and childish banter” among a squad of British bomb disposal experts operating in … Afghanistan!<\/p>\n
Who needs Hollywood to launder one’s war crimes, when we have the dear old BBC. Here are some of the comedy gold moments we can look forward to:<\/p>\n
“One scene shows the group destroying a house containing an insurgent sniper and, in another, one of the unit … impresses his colleagues by shooting and killing an enemy combatant who is then seen falling off a nearby roof.”<\/p>\n
Yes, there have been complaints of bad taste – from some family members of British servicemen who were killed in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
But the show’s executive producer, Stephen McCrum, has been able to reassure them: “When we explained that we wanted to show the human dimension behind the job, the complaints disappeared. We set out to treat this difficult subject with respect.”<\/p>\n
And what about respect for all those Afghan children and wedding parties incinerated by British and US drones? But then again, I suppose they are not included in the BBC’s demographic.<\/p>\n