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Must Watch reviews: Helmand: Tour of Duty

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan Naga Munchetty to review the new BBC documentary Helmand: Tour of Duty.

Marking a decade since the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan, Helmand: Tour of Duty, tells the intimate, dramatic story of ten Welsh Guards deployed to the frontline of the war in Helmand Province in 2009.

It was the bloodiest summer the British armed forces had seen in a century - with many falling or suffering from life-changing injuries.

It’s an era marked in British national history and now for the first time on camera, the Welsh Guards have told their stories.

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Helmand: Tour of Duty Trailer (short)

Ten soldiers from the Welsh Guards share their stories from the front lines of Afghanistan

Naga: “Hayley, was it a Must Watch for you?”

It's about the human bits of war that you don't see on the news"
Hayley

Hayley: “It was definitely a Must Watch. It's about the horrors of war and what it does to the soldiers physically and emotionally rather than the glory of it.

“It's about the human bits of war that you don't see on the news. So it's about real grief rather than the stiff-upper-lip tradition or the tabloid version of it.

“It made me think of something, the other night I went and saw Deborah Levy speak at the Southbank Centre, and she said, 'if the upper lip is stiff, the bottom lip is quivering', and this documentary is basically about that.

“It's about what they felt and how they spoke about it when they no longer had to keep it together. And it's the first time many of them have spoken about their near-death experiences or the men they lost.

“It also features the wives reading out letters they were sent at the time by the men. So it's capturing thoughts that these guys might not have said to each other and could only say to their wives or someone far outside of the circle.

“Something I thought was really interesting was at the end. They were asking the wives and soldiers if any of it was worth it and the answers were all different."

Scott: “I thought this was fantastic too. I felt that this was looking into it in its complexity, but also creating a lot of context around what actually happens.

[It’s about] the very deep and complex bonds that you have with your fellow soldiers"
Scott

“Because as they pointed out, when they were in Helmand Province, it's not like a conventional battlefield where it's easy to know who the enemy are. The enemy could be the people who are just tending to their crops, and you think that they are just an innocent bystander, but then something happens.

“It looks at the psychological complexity of conflict, not only in of the trauma that Hayley was pointing out, but also the very deep and complex bonds that you have with your fellow soldiers.

“There's one person [in the documentary] - his wife was so relieved [when he came home from tour], even though she knew he was injured, only to then have him train back up and then go back out again because he felt that actually he still needed to go and help his comrades..

“That last ten-minute sequence where it looks at the fact that, of course, the Taliban are now in control of Afghanistan again, looking about that legacy. Essentially people were wondering, what was it all for?

“It allowed enough time for people to really explain their own point of view from all sides, whilst also introducing it to a lot of people who might have seen it only in the headlines at the time but may not have followed it closely - to now really see the whole story as a complete picture. I thought this was a fantastic bit of documentary making."

What do the Must Watch Reviewers think of Helmand: Tour of Duty?

Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell share what they think about Helmand: Tour of Duty.

Naga: “It is fantastic, definitely a Must Watch for me. It's an education as well. I think what was searingly honest was when you've got characters there going, 'it was great, we were there, it was chaotic, it was mad, I loved it, this is exactly what I wanted out of being in the military'. Then you slowly see the pressure and the weight of war and attacks and losses, you see them hit them and they fall.

This was a fantastic bit of documentary making"
Scott

“Do you know what it reminded me of? Because obviously, news is my main job, I've seen a lot of things like this and spoken a lot about this. I'm very interested in speaking to people who have served and who have come back and told us their stories. Did you ever watch Evacuation?”

Scott: “I did, yes it was on Channel 4."

Naga: “It was about the British Army and Air Force, and it was about them evacuating British port holders from Kabul when Kabul fell to the Taliban. It was completely different circumstances, but it reminded me of that, in of the insight you got from these soldiers, which you don't usually get because of this supposed bravado.

“But [it's the] family impact and the way they thought about it and reflected. You sit down and say, 'these things don't leave you, and they educate you and I'm all for that'."

Scott: “There's this one sequence towards the end where one of them talks about picking up their partner when they came back and the realisations on that drive home that this person wasn't the same person that they were when they first went out and how PTSD can manifest in so many different ways.

“But one person talked about how they were happy they had their breakdown because they got their breakdown out of the way, that they were still dealing with the consequences of that shadow. But the incident, they now see that as part of the past."

Hayley: “There was another one who said that he wasn't even sure if he had PTSD or if it was a brain injury…”

Scott: “But also that honesty on camera is incredibly hard to do. To it and to talk about very difficult parts of your life on a personal level. I mean, that is a great bit of filmmaking because it's the trust that you have to build with the subjects to go and talk about that on camera."

Naga: “And they all said they were worried about doing it, didn't they?”

Hayley: “Yeah and when they each started crying, there would be a look of slight panic. But also, the reading of the letters really got to me because that is hugely personal, that's something you wrote to your wife."

Naga: “And actually, one of the letters where he doesn't use her name, just because it's their way of protecting themselves all the time, isn't it?”

Naga: “So we're all yes?”

Scott: “Oh yes, I'd say the best thing this week."

You can get in touch with Scott and Hayley by email on [email protected].

You can watch Helmand: Tour of Duty on BBC iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on BBC Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed Ellis and Generation Z.

Your reviews

As always, we like to include your reviews - on shows you love, loathe or lament.

Message @bbc5live on social media using the hashtag #bbcmustwatch or email [email protected].

Rivals

Loads of you got in touch about Rivals, which Scott and Hayley reviewed a few weeks ago.

Mrya wrote to us all the way from Canada. She was encouraged to watch Rivals after we reviewed it on the show a few weeks back and also recommended a show for us to watch…

"Your review about Rivals encouraged me to watch-I had been dubious before I heard your reviews-but it was riveting! I lost the better part of my Sunday devouring it. And the ending!

"Have you reviewed Grotesquerie yet? It's on Disney here in Canada. Starring the fabulous Niecey Nash-Betts. Quite a departure from her comedy past. As a fan of The Boys (filmed in and around Toronto), this show takes the grotesque up a notch."

Susan from Seattle is clearly a big fan of Rivals and Slow Horses, two shows Scott and Hayley have reviewed…

"We’re laughing out loud at Rivals. My jaw dropped at the end of the last episode of Season 3 of Industry (Hayley, help!), Disclaimer feels nastier each episode, and we tell everyone we know to watch Slow Horses."

Andrew sent us his take on some of the best shows we’ve covered recently…

"I totally agree with your assessment of Rivals, it's a brilliant satire of the time... I do however find the sexual assault and then the rapid forgiveness very jarring but I guess that is kind of the point with this period piece.

"The Franchise, sorry Scott but you are wrong, Hayley is right. I don't have any affinity to comic books etc and I didn't think I was particularly missing out on any references. In contradiction to myself I have written a pilot for the BBC so have spent some time on a shoot.

"I get what you're saying about Disclaimer, but I absolutely love it. Maybe I'm too gullible after all."

And M. in Stretford has had fun watching Rivals…

"I binged Rivals this weekend. Omg.... what a delight! Hooked from the most hilarious opening of any show I've seen, right up to the end. 80's were depicted fantastically, it was funny, naughty and massively camp. Perfect weekend!"

Ludwig

We’ve had lots of reaction from across the Atlantic this week, and here’s another.

Scott told us how much he’s loving Ludwig - the new BBC drama from David Mitchell…

"I’m in Seattle, but you really should watch Ludwig. I hate detective stories but this one is simple, touching and fun to watch."