Spearhead (1978-1981): Overview

Introduction Spearhead was a British television drama series. Produced by Southern Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of three series and 19 episodes from 18 July 1978 to 03 September 1981. It featured the daily lives of a group of soldiers in ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion Royal Wessex Rangers,…

Andrew Marshall
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Introduction

Spearhead was a British television drama series. Produced by Southern Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of three series and 19 episodes from 18 July 1978 to 03 September 1981.

It featured the daily lives of a group of soldiers in ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion Royal Wessex Rangers, a fictional British Army infantry regiment.

The series is regarded as an accurate depiction of life at that time for soldiers in the army.

Themes

The programme shows how, in the late 1970s, the British Army had the task of trying to keep the peace in Northern Ireland and also maintained garrisons in Germany and Hong Kong.

It also dramatises the inflexible class divisions in the army of the time. The ‘glass ceiling’ for even the most able soldiers of working-class origin, like Colour Sergeant Jackson, is shown to be a barrier to achieving advancement from non-commissioned to commissioned officer.

Early episodes of the series show the army in an unfavourable light; two episodes deal with a petty thief who has a gambling habit, and another deals with an enlisted man going absent without leave (AWOL), until Jackson gets him back. Particularly controversial is an episode set in Northern Ireland, where some soldiers are portrayed as advocating a less aggressive campaign against all hostile civilians (including women and children).

Some of the other tasks assigned to the army were in connection with industrial disputes, including fire-fighting with 1950s equipment and standing in for striking dustmen.

Through the run of the series, the Royal Wessex Rangers were posted to a number of locations, including Northern Ireland, West Germany with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and as the resident battalion in Hong Kong.

Spearhead Series

Royal Wessex Rangers

The Royal Wessex Rangers was a fictional British infantry regiment portrayed in the series. It is portrayed as a standard infantry battalion in the British Army during the late 1970’s. During the three-year run of the show, the regiment is shown in different roles on different postings; to begin with, the battalion is on an operational tour of Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles as light infantry, during which one of the sergeants of the battalion’s ‘B’ Company, Colour Sergeant ‘Jacko’ Jackson (played by Michael Billington) is chosen to become a platoon commander, even though he is only an NCO. Subsequently, the battalion is posted first as a mechanised infantry battalion to West Germany as part of BAOR, then as a resident light infantry battalion to Hong Kong.

The regiment is titled as a regiment of rangers; this distinguishes it from the majority of real infantry regiments in the British Army at the time (the only regiment of rangers at the time was the Royal Irish Rangers).

As the regiment has the geographical name Wessex in its name and Exeter castle on its cap badge, it can be assumed that it is from the west of England. As such, it may also be assumed that the regiment is part of the Prince of Wales’ Division.

Syndication

The series was screened on British movie channel Talking Pictures TV in 2016, with a further screening which commenced in December 2018.

Production & Filming Details

  • Creator: Nick McCarty.
  • Executive Producer: Lewis Rudd
  • Producer: James Ormerod.
  • Distribution: ITV Studios.
  • Released Date: 18 July 1978 (UK).
  • Running time: 60 minutes.
  • Country: UK.
  • Language: English.

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