Review: Redcap (season 2)
- Article 2 of 7
- Action TV, March 2006
Forget Morse. Forget Regan. John Thaw's best performance as a detective was as Sergeant John Mann in 'Redcap'. But unlike Thaw's more famous roles, Mann wasn't a police detective: he was a member of the red-bereted Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch - the CID of the army.
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The converse - that certain rules could bring harsher punishments than could be expected today - is also true. 'Paterson's Private Army' sees a corporal bullied by a group of privates who blame him for the deaths of some of their comrades, thanks to a botched ambush. The corporal fakes some additional acts of abuse in an attempt to get the group split up. But when Mann finds out, instead of breaking up the group, he sides with them, accuses the corporal of cowardice and tells him he needs to be stronger if he wants to command men.
While Redcap was brave for its facing of issues that the likes of Dixon of Dock Green were keen to avoid, it still wasn't capable of directly speaking about other issues, given the culture of the time. All the same, it was able to hint and circumlocute in ways that made it clear to the audience what was actually going on. A gay solider, desperate to repress his feelings and ensure others don't spot them, talks about “fearing women” - but not because he's shy. An abused soldier's wife who becomes an escort talks about “not always having to go home with” her clients.
While there are some standout episodes, most remain forgettable, however. Sometimes that's because the plots are so tied up in the culture and mores of the time that it's almost impossible to understand why there's a problem or why the episode eventually reaches its eventual resolution. At other times, it's because the story lacks any internal logic.
'Buckingham Palace', another of Kennedy Martin's, endeavours to explain why two particularly bad gamblers actually winning at cards for a change manages to lead to a professional gambler being able to photograph a top-secret installation. It fails because ultimately the plot is nonsense, albeit engrossing nonsense.
More often, though, it's because of the monotone nature of the show, with Mann uncovering crime with little humour or anything other than professional, respectful conversations with anyone. From the business-like montage of photos that make up the title sequence to the cold closing theme, the episodes are as matter of fact as an RMP investigation report. It's Dragnet, but with soldiers.
Overall, though, it's Thaw that sticks with you after the show's finished. Redcap may not have been the best show of the era, lacking the humour, plots or depth of character for it really to stick in the memory. But with Thaw, it had a superstar in the making.
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