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DVD Review


DVD cover

Our Girl
The Nepal Tour

 

Starring: Michelle Keegan
Distributor: Acorn Media International
RRP: £24.99
AV3410
5036193034107
Certificate: 15
Release Date: 13 November 2017


Our Girl was a BBC military drama, first broadcast in 2013, starring Lacey Turner as Molly Dawes. When Turner left the show, the central role was taken over by Michelle Keegan, playing a new character, Lance Corporal Georgie Lane.

Our Girl: The Nepal Tour (2017. 4 Eps x 59 mins approx.) continues the show into its third series, with a four-part story.

Its always going to be a difficult balancing act to keep both the portrayal of 2 Section’s work as a military unit, from disaster relief to combat missions and the more personal stories which snake through the narrative.

Lane, now a corporal, is sent to a remote Himalayan village to help the local military aid the locals following a particularly devastating earthquake. The squad’s makeup reflects Britain’s multiculturalism and there are enough diverse characters that there will be at least one which the viewer will latch onto, as they all get a satisfactory level of screen time.

To make Lane's job more difficult she has been told to mentor a new recruit to the unit, Maisie, played by Shalom Brune-Franklin. The two had previously briefly met in Afghanistan where Maisie failed to impress Lane. The two clash almost right away. Lane is all tidy hair and po faced professional, whereas Maisie is all passion and impetuosity. Because of the characters traits Maisie does often come across as abrasive with a childlike level of sulking. This can make her an unsympathetic character.

The story is split between two countries. In Nepal Maisie gets a lesson in taking responsibility for the things she says when one of the young girls, Tara (Salina Shrestha) takes her at her word that she can be anything she wants to be. The girl promptly takes off for England, a potentially fatal journey and a continual thread through the rest of the story.

For no apparent reason the section is then sent to Afghanistan to take part in a dangerous mission to capture a local war lord. There is a thread between the two locations as the driver, who originally takes Tara away, is also set to deliver weapons to the Taliban. The link felt forced and a little unbelievable that the courier should be working as a fake NGO in the same area as Section 2 were working or that the army had no one else to send. Given that the courier had seen all the squads faces it seem perverse to choose them for the attack.

The show has benefitted significantly from using overseas locations to give the sheen of quality. The battles are well choreographed, and the relationships are engaging, especially the work between Lane and Maisie where the two actresses really spark off one another.

Overall, the show is a successful drama, even if there is the need to check your credulity at the door and not just for the reason of sending Section 2 to Afghanistan. Given that the squad is either in battle or engaging in disaster relief, Michelle Keegan always has brilliant white teeth and not a hair out of place.

The show is presented on a single DVD. As well as the four episodes the disc contains a Deleted Scene (1 min, 17 sec), you also get Ottakes (3 min, 51 sec) with the cast fluffing their lines. You get a picture gallery with shots from the show and a behind the scenes gallery.

6

Charles Packer

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