#TheLastPost #BBC #ChrisReilly The Last Post Starring Mover and Shaker Chris Reilly by the BBC Makes Its Debut October 1, 2017 in the UK: A close up view of army life set in the heat, glamour and extreme danger of Aden in the 1960's @chrisreillyreal @BBCOne
Jessie Buckley (War and Peace), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife), Amanda Drew (Broadchurch), Ben Miles (The Crown) and Stephen Campbell Moore (History Boys) star alongside newcomer Jeremy Neumark-Jones in The Last Post, a sizzling six-part drama series set in the swinging Sixties.
Mover and Shaker Chris Reilly shares with Whom You Know: "The Last Post is Drama on a massive scale, but with characters you are going to really care about."
Of course we wanted to know why the bread was on the front of the Jeep (we haven't seen The Last Post because we're American and no one here can see it now.) Chris's character Alex Baxter is making egg sandwiches for the lads, he says.
Written by BAFTA-winner Peter Moffat for BBC One, The Last Post is based on childhood memories, his father's career as an officer in the Royal Military Police and his mother's struggle between being what the army required her to be and what she felt like being. The Last Post is a close-up view of army life set in the heat, glamour and extreme danger of Aden in the 1960's.
Peter Moffat says: “Young married couples in the heart of the Sixties living in extremely close proximity in a very alien and dangerous environment has always struck me as ripe territory for drama. Men full of vim, vigor and a desire to be heroes in a situation where that isn't always possible; alongside young women who are starting to feel the emancipation of the Sixties and a sense of new freedoms but who are living in a constrained setting where their role is supposed to be merely supportive.
"Throw in tumultuous love stories alongside the unexplored territory of this period in our history and you have a pretty heady mix. This was my parents world and one I have wanted to write about all my career.”
Set in the shimmering heat of Aden (Yemen), the drama centres on a unit of Royal Military Police officers and their families. Their job is two-fold: half soldiers and half policemen who face constant insurgency and threat. Danger is everywhere. Hand grenades, mines and sniper attacks are a constant threat.
But life and love must continue. The Sixties are starting to swing: sexual liberation, polka dot bikinis, new music and prized copies of Vogue have reached the sun loungers of the glamorous BP Club. Dashing, newlywed RMP Captain Joe Martin (Neumark-Jones) and his wife Honor (Buckley) arrive dressed like JFK and Jackie, full of excitement and ambition about the start of married life. A big new adventure. But how well does Honor know the man she’s just married?
Feisty Alison (Raine) couldn’t be more different. Direct, funny, a woman ahead of her time, she feels cooped up and claustrophobic and ready to lead Honor gloriously astray. Alison’s husband Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite (Campbell Moore) is a progressive soldier, a deep thinker. The army doesn’t like this about him. Somewhere down the line Ed and Alison seem to have lost each other. Gin, red lipstick and other men give Alison what she feels she needs now. Can these two outsiders find each other again?
Mary Markham (Drew) is the embodiment of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’; she puts loyalty, service and discretion above all else. She’s the best possible officer’s wife – the one everyone goes to for help. Her inner strength will be tested to its limit by what happens to her husband and family.
Her husband Major Harry Markham (Miles) is the man in charge. He’s the CO. His greatest source of pride is that he’s never lost a soldier serving under him. Is this a record he can maintain? What will it do to him if he does lose any of the men he calls family?
As the insurgency takes a real hold and casualties mount it becomes harder for everyone not to start to ask the big questions. What are we doing here? Is it right? Is it right to ask is it right? As the old established order of the Fifties comes apart who will survive and who will flounder?
Also starring Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk) as Lance Corporal Tony Armstrong, Chris Reilly (Homefront) as Sergeant Alex Baxter and Essie Davis (The White Princess) as war reporter Martha Franklin.
The Last Post is made by Bonafide Films and The Forge Entertainment for BBC One and is executive produced for Bonafide Films by Margery Bone and Elwen Rowlands, and by George Faber and Mark Pybus for The Forge Entertainment. Lucy Richer is executive producer for BBC One. It is directed by Jonny Campbell (The Casual Vacancy) and Miranda Bowen (Women In Love). The Last Post is distributed by BBC Worldwide.
Cast
Major Harry... Markham Ben Miles
Captain Joe Martin... Jeremy Neumark Jones
Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite... Stephen Campbell Moore
Honor Martin... Jessie Buckley
Mary Markham... Amanda Drew
Alison Laithwaite... Jessica Raine
Martha Franklin... Essie Davis
Lance Corporal Tony Armstrong... Tom Glynn-Carney
Lance Corporal Paul Stoneham... Louis Greatorex
Sergeant Alex Baxter... Chris Reilly
Corporal Israel Orchover... Kevin Sutton
Corporal Chris Dimarco... Paul Tinto
George Markham... Toby Woolf
Yursa... Ouidad Elma
Dr Russel... Andrew Havill
Captain Nick Page... Joseph Kennedy
Harvey Tilbrook... Richard Dillane
Abdul-Kadir Hakim... Aymen Hamdouchi
Crew
Writer and executive producer... Peter Moffat
Executive producer/producer... Mark Pybus
Executive producer/producer... Margery Bone
Executive producer... Elwen Rowlands
Executive producer... George Faber
Executive producer... Lucy Richer
Co-producer... Claudine Sturdy
Director (Block 1)... Jonny Campbell
Director (Block 2)... Miranda Bowen
Writer (Episode 4)... Mick Collins
Director of photography (B1)... Tony Slater-Ling
Director of photography (B2)... David Luther
Production designer... Darryl Hammer
Casting... Robert Sterne
Costume designer... Kate Carin
Make-up and hair designer... Kerry Skelton
Composer... Solomon Grey
Locations manager... Edu Klarenbeek
Military advisor... Jonathan Walker
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EPISODE ONE in the UK only and when it is in the USA and elsewhere, when we know, you will know:
Confirmed for BBC One on 1 October at 9pm to 10pm
Ep 1/6
Sunday 1 October
9.00pm-10.00pm
BBC ONE
Landing in the deep heat of Aden, Royal Military Police Captain Joe Martin (Jeremy Neumark Jones) and his wife Honor (Jessie Buckley) are new to both army and married life. Joe will replace the outgoing and much loved Captain Page, whose farewell party the men are currently planning.
Page makes his own emotional goodbyes - to his lover Alison Laithwaite (Jessica Raine), the troubled wife of Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite (Stephen Campbell Moore).
Ed, meanwhile, airs his frustrations to Major Harry Markham (Ben Miles) about the treatment of an Adeni prisoner. When Markham insists he is simply following orders, Ed slips off to meet an NLF informant, who warns of an imminent NLF attack, directed at the RMP and spearheaded by new leader Abdul-Kadir Hakim.
Settling in, Honor is immediately drawn to the enigmatic Alison, despite Joe’s concerns about their husbands’ differing ranks. She is also welcomed by Mary Markham (Amanda Drew), mother to six year-old George.
But danger is never far away in Aden...
