Shropshire Star

Peter Rhodes: The broken hero

The humbling of a warrior, a strange assignment on the Rock and why there's little respect for the Lords.

Published
Defeated – Alexander Draymon as Uhtred

I WROTE last week about “the British Isles.” A reader says this term is no longer politically correct. My apologies. I was referring, of course, to the British / Irish Atlantic archipelago. That really trips off the tongue, doesn't it?

THERE are rare moments in TV serials when the usual drama of stereotypes gives way to a deeper truth. We want our heroes to be big, bold, bloody and resolute and so far Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) in The Last Kingdom (BBC2) has filled the role as tightly as a war axe embedded in a skull. But then he was captured, sold into slavery and abused for months on end. Anyone who has spoken to former PoWs knows what a harrowing, demeaning and dehumanising business it can be to be taken prisoner. The experience makes you question your bravery and even hate yourself. The uncertain future and the daily fear of death or beatings can eat away at your courage. This Uhtred was a lank, broken, silent husk, barely recognisable as a warrior. Here was post-traumatic stress, set in Viking times. My guess is that at some stage in the research someone spoke to a real soldier who was prepared to describe captivity it as it is, not how the legend-makers would like it to be.

BLAME human nature. If you offer people £300 a day to do nothing, they will take it. I doubt if anyone is surprised at the latest report showing some members of the House of Lords are filling their pockets simply by turning up for a few minutes. The Lords is too big, too lazy and far too undemocratic but it is also the ultimate old codgers' luxury club for MPs on the way out. They all have a vested interest, not only in keeping the Lords but expanding it, as we pay the bills. Ironic, isn't it, that in the bad old days when the undemocratic House of Lords was full of hereditary, unelected peers, it commanded far more respect than it does today?

MY recent item on Gibraltar takes me back to a strange assignment, videoing the lads of the Fusiliers as we all abseiled down the Rock. In those days video cameras were enormous and heavy, and filming required both hands. This meant I had to step backwards off the Rock with no rope to hold on to, and trust in the blokes above. They let me down without letting me down. I bet that doesn't easily translate into Spanish.

AFTER my item about theft from charity shops, I am reminded of a case many years ago when a crook crossed swords with the court. The magistrate described the crime as theft. “It's not theft,” the aggrieved defendant shot back, with great pride. “It's shoplifting.”

THESE days nobody, least of all the police, treats shoplifting as anything other than a misfortune, to be settled out of court with no fuss or publicity. The standard fixed-penalty fine for shoplifting is £80. It can be paid online, although you may have to nick a computer to do so.

PS: the minimum fixed-penalty for speeding is now £100. Driving at 34mph is now regarded as a greater crime than theft.