Bodyline

It's been twenty years since I last saw this tour de force of war movies, and, having watched it again just last night, it hasn't aged one day. Sadly, I have. And when I was fourteen, in 1985, (when England had just regained the Ashes from the nice version of Allan Border and his chubby Australians) my love of the sport was far more pure and non-partisan. So it's through those youthful eyes, unsullied by nationalistic distortions, that I will rate this production as 'simply terrific', and for so many reasons: production standards, performances, faith to the sport, and editing are all of the highest calibre, all designed to grip and to entertain and never slipping into the badlands of the docu-drama. This is just great drama, dramatically portrayed, and edge-of-the-seat exciting in its frequent recreational sequences, and in its portrayal of the political and international tensions those sequences allegedly caused.

But what about now, twenty years on? Well, we've just won again, so I really don't care about the 'bias' or the occasional inaccuracies. In fact, upon watching it once more, I realised that perceptions are vital when it comes to representing your country in any sport, indeed in any situation: and the Australian perception of the ruthless Jardine and his foot soldiers at the time is, in fact, faithfully reflected. Of course, that gives the film a wonderfully juicy, ironic dimension in 2006: the all-conquering Australian superstars clearly learnt a lot from Jardine (took them long enough) about ruthlessness, while all we learnt from the Aussies of the same era was how to whinge. Although the worm seems to be turning - yet again...

To all cricket fanatics from opposite sides of the world, this is an absolute must-see, or 'must-see again' if you saw it when it first appeared all those years ago, as I did.

Bodyline is a 1984 Australian TV miniseries dramatisation of the Ashes Cricket series of 1932-33, starring Hugo Weaving as Douglas Jardine and Gary Sweet as Donald Bradman.

The Australian touring side won the previous Ashes series in England, with débutant Bradman the deciding factor. In order to counter Bradman, who was predicted to be the major stumbling block, the English team set about determining the tactics for the upcoming series. The miniseries, shows the early development of Bradman and Jardine, the analysis of Bradman's weaknesses by the English team and the development of countering tactics and then shows the result over the 5 Test series. The series uses reconstructions of Test matches played and focuses on the key players involved.

The Ashes contest was controversial at the time for the 'Bodyline' tactic which consisted of short pitched leg side bowling combined with a close-in leg side field and leg side boundary protection. The intimidation of the batsmen, who at the time were virtually unprotected, resulted in several batsmen being hit. This caused claims of unsportsman like behaviour, crowd uproar, press headlines and an international incident. The key thing was the win at all costs attitude of Jardine, which led to the development and use of Bodyline and caused controversy within the English team and in Australia.

The TV series was a success at the time, however it was criticised by those that participated and were still alive. While most of the facts are correctly depicted, some are not. There is also dramatic license taken with the underlying story behind the facts.

While I never saw the series on TV, as an Australian and a cricket fan, I was aware of Bodyline. While the series was well acted, I would recommend anyone watching the series, to research Bodyline and contrast the series with the reality.

Of note was the inability of the British public to fully appreciate the tactics used, and there was no live coverage of the games in Australia. Instead, the English team were able to argue they were using 'fast leg theory' and the British public were unable to distinguish this from leg theory - (an existing tactic involving leg side bowling). Eventually Bodyline bowling was agreed to be dangerous and while legal, not in the spirit of the game. The rules of Cricket were changed to reduce the number of close-in leg side fielders behind the stumps and umpires were also given discretion to prevent intimidatory bowling.

Also, the players were amateurs and had little protection against fast bowling. Intimidatory bowling is still a tactic in the modern game, however the players are better prepared and protected. And better paid!

Bodyline was a good TV film. It gave the Australian Film Industry the chance to celebrate an Aussie "legend" and paint the poms as mean , vindictive and unsporting in a story centred around the events of 1932-33 Ashes series. Ian Holts, Harold Larwood was great and the actor who played Eddie Painter was a stunning portrayal of an often forgotten English cricket hero.Capt Douglas Jardine was portrayed as a racist and a man who would bend the rules to win at any cost.Whilst Capt Bill Woodfield was the great noble battler trying in vain to play the game against unscrupulous opponents. Bradman (played by Gary Sweet) is the hero , as he is bowled out 1st ball and then proceeds to try and get into journalism so he can get a career.Bradman is swiftly brought back into line and then proceeds to score the centuries he was famous for. Though the producer or director didn't delve into Bradmans popularity with his fellow players...An Aussie will know what I mean.

Tempers fly and International recriminations dog the tour , also the Australian attempt at fairness was the portrayal of Guppy Allen who wouldnt bowl Bodyline , so that the viewer was assured that not all poms are bad.. The sick in the bucket moment was when one of the Aussie cricketers was comparing there experience to there fathers experience in Gallipoli and then urged his players "to kop it sweet". After all the justifiable criticisms , this Made for TV Film should be welcome to any English home , because we just love sentimental Australians.

This mini-series depicts the most scandalous portion of Australian sporting history; when the touring English cricket team employed controversial tactics in order to try and win back "the ashes"; the symbolic cricketing trophy between England and Australia. Australians play all the major roles, including those of Englishmen, showing that for 1984, Australian acting and cinema had come of age and Australians could portray other nationalities in their own films.

Of special note in "Bodyline" is the early appearance of veteran Australian actor, Hugo Weaving ("Priscilla; Queen of the Desert", "Russian Doll", "The Matrix" etc)as the fussy and feisty England captain, Douglas Jardine. Look also for pretty-boy Gary Sweet as the evergreen Australian cricketing hero, Don Bradman and the venerable Frank Thring as Lord Jackson, the English cricketing president.

Needs to be re-introduced. This is an excellent series, but unfortunately, not available on popular streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video. This series needs to be remastered and re-introduced to these streaming platforms!! If not free then at least with a paid option. It will be very popular in cricket playing countries like India, UK, Australia, Pakistan, etc. The current generation needs to view and familiarise themselves with the history of leg theory and the legacy of the great Don Bradman. It is available on YouTube, uploaded by some fans, but the quality of the video is poor. And they are unofficial versions.