There is something that is just too small scale about Danny Boy and it never came alive as it tried too hard to be even handed to all sides.
In 2004, Sergeant Brian Wood (Anthony Boyle) and his unit in Iraq were ambushed. He was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery as they held off the militia.
Some years later, Wood and his men were accused of unlawfully killing and torturing Iraqi detainees at The Battle of Danny Boy.
Wood argued the Iraqis they encountered were soldiers and not farmers as now claimed.
Leading the case against him was human rights lawyer Phil Shiner (Toby Jones) who had earlier been successful in the Baha Mousa case.
Wood was a technical advisor in this drama. It was more successful in dealing with his trauma and reconnecting with his family. His bewilderment at being abandoned by the army when he was charged for war crimes.
As for Shiner who later was struck off as a lawyer and his firm went bankrupt. He seemed to have been treated more lightly in this drama.
Shiner might have had cause to investigate any alleged abuses by British soldiers. However he also smelled money hence why Shiner having to admit that he paid an Iraqi middleman to find suitable victims. It turned out that the farmers were indeed militia.
Somehow it was too dry for my liking. Apparently this was meant to be a two parter with courtroom scenes but instead it was made into a cut down television movie.
