AUSTRALIAN
viewers will climb to the bridge
and then descend to the bowels
of a Royal Navy frigate when
watching the ABC television
series Warship. And along
the way they'll undoubtedly get
wrapped up in the emotional
entanglements of the ratings and
officers who live and work on
HMS Hero.
Like
most BBC made dramas, the
characters are varied and mostly
credible, and their ups and
downs will probably become far
more important to the average
viewer than the naval exercises.
This fictional version of a ship
and its company is one of the
truest portrayals of nautical
life, according to many sailors.
For example, at the helm is the
gentle, compassionate Captain
Edward Kelvin Holt — played by
distinguished Shakespearean
actor Derek Godfrey — Hero's
Commanding Officer. He is the
former CO of a polaris
submarine, HMS Renown, is 43
years old, stable, intelligent
and sensitive but apparently
rather shy. He would never go
knocking on the wardroom door
without invitation, for example,
yet he's totally professional
and up-to-date on all the latest
naval developments. However, the
burly dark haired captain also
nurtures a sad and lonely past
— stemming from his
estrangement and divorce from
his wife and family during his
post on the Polaris subs.
Immediately
under him is the debonair Lieut.
Commander James Napier, played
by slim, handsome and rather
boyish-looking Robert
Morris. Napier and Holt could
not be more different in
personality. While Napier has
steadfast work-ethic values,
Holt regards the navy as the
"best club in the
world". He stays in the
service because he simply enjoys
the life. He is an excellent
seaman and a natural leader and
this has got him to his high
status at such a young age —
34 — though, in other ways, he
is very flippant about rules
that he considers are
irrelevant. He also has a real
eye for the ladies, which he
puts to good use whenever
possible, using a slick brand of
charm.
The
series of 13 programs began with
Hero sailing in the far east,
and much of the filming was done
on location in Hong Kong. The
action on Hero is particularly
believable because it is often
"non-action'', highlighting
the sort of peace-keeping and
rescue roles modern navies are
so much involved in. Women don't
often star in Warship —
they're kept for cocktail
parties and landlubbing forays,
except for one attractive blonde
journalist, Zoe Carter, played
by Prunella Ransome. The
intricate and often subtle
verbal battles that take place
on the bridge, in the wardroom
and below decks go to make up
most of the action. Forced, as
they are to live so closely, the
sailors — officers and ratings
alike — learn by trial and
error what makes each other
tick, and what are their own
possibilities in conditions of
stress and relaxation.
There's
tragedy, humor, excitement,
boredom and sometimes jealousy
on board HMS Hero — a
no-nonsense glimpse of what it
could be like to answer the
"ship ahoy" call.
