First look at Deadline Gallipoli

Gallipoli is an eight-part Australian television drama series to be telecast on the Nine Network in 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign.

Snapshot ... Sam Worthington plays photo journalist Philip Schuler in Deadline Gallipoli. Picture: Matt Nettheim for Foxtel. Source: Supplied

IT'S the new affliction of the spoiled Australian TV viewer.

Satisfied by a steady diet of reality fare, no appetite for anything of real substance.

Just a few months into the centenary year of the Anzac legend, some have diagnosed it as "Gallipoli fatigue."

It first struck Nine's impressive production, killed off in the ratings battle after suffering from sheer neglect.

Approaching the premiere of another TV epic, Foxtel's two-part miniseries Deadline Gallipoli, the muttering has already begun.

We know this story, how it happened, how it ends. Why watch it?

Earnest ... NIDA graduate Joel Jackson plays eager-to-please reporter Charles Bean. Picture: Foxtel Source: Supplied

But then it begins, the retelling of a story so familiar to most Australians — at least it should be — it's like family folklore.

Only this time you start hearing a version of events not quite how you remembered it in school.

There's the confronting scene of yobbish Australian soldiers beating up locals in a Cairo marketplace, as a nearby brothel burns.

Bearing witness to this embarrassing snapshot at the start of an inglorious campaign for these particular troops is earnest Australian journalist Charles Bean (played poignantly by TV debutante and NIDA graduate Joel Jackson).

Brooding ... Sam Worthington in a scene from Deadline Gallipoli. Picture: Matt Nettheim Source: Foxtel

As preparations are made to transport the men to the Gallipoli Cove and reporters jostle for limited places aboard the battle ships, Bean follows orders and files an article designed to shame the men and send the message back home this type of ugly tourist need not sign up for service.

While the story earns Bean his ticket to war, his has to battle to win back the confidence of the same soldiers he's then embedded with.

He sees action quickly, as all men are rudely awakened to the horror.

For Bean, the other war he fights is the race to get his stories out before the other writers, including British journalist Ellis Ashmead Bartlett (Hugh Dancy), an old fox who trips up the "colonial" rookie.

Joining them is photographer Philip Schuler (Sam Worthington), an Australian photo journalist who starts out staging his images like studio portraits — asking soldiers to mock up serious expressions but never too serious so as to scare the folks back home.

Shock ... Hugh Dancy plays British journalist Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, who tried to warn British officials the battle was an exercise in futility. Picture: Foxtel Source: Supplied

When the real advance on Gallipoli begins, there's no time for fake smiles as soldiers are peppered with bullets before they even have time to leave their boats.

The futility of the mission, led by the blundering British command, is at times just as frustrating for the viewer as the many mistakes of this mission are made clear, over and over again.

As Bean remarks to Keith Murdoch (Ewen Leslie), the fourth journalist who arrives to challenge the censored accounts of what is happening on the Turkish front: "this isn't war ... it's a slow death through negligence."

Fire ... Sam Worthington prepares for a scene in Deadline Gallipoli at Port Noarlunga. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: News Corp Australia

While the troops sacrificed wilfully "for God and Empire" remain the heroic heart of this miniseries, it's these four messengers who stay committed to telling the truth of events who bring fresh insight to this well-worn tale.

The small moments they share with the men in the trenches, before orders force them over the top and to a certain death, are tenderly observed.

Worthington in particular reminds us he's a seriously bloody good actor, not just cannon fodder for the paparazzi.

Granted, this is not easy viewing at times, with the truly gruesome impact of war hard to watch.

But being reminded of the horror, of the human sacrifice, even the value of a free press, makes it essential viewing.

Lest we forget.

Deadline Gallipoli airs 8.30pm Sunday, April 19 and Monday April 20 on Foxtel's showcase channel.

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