Very well executed

Just so...so bad

Dreadfully Boring

Charming and brutal

The Wipers Times is written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman and based on a true story when in 1916 Captain Roberts, Lieutenant Pearson and their men find and commandeer an old printing press and publish issues of a satirical magazine while under fire in the trenches from Harry Hun. The name of the rag is derived from Ypres which some of the troops could not pronounce.The satire is punched home by some sepia tinged sketches bringing a music hall feel. Just as in the film Good Morning Vietnam the superiors are not impressed by the anarchic humour especially against the officers who are sitting far, far behind the soldiers in the trenches.The only exception being the offbeat and shrewd General played by Michael Palin who recognises that behind the irreverent tone is courage, bravery and soldiers just making the best of the mayhem.This is a low budget made for television film starring Ben Chaplin and Julian Rhind-Tutt who act like they are free wheeling it in order to keep in with the satirical tone.It makes a change from the slew of films we have recently had about The Great War which has the theme of war is hell and so many young men died.

With the recent season of the BBC's satirical news show Have I Got News For You having ended,I decided to find out if lead star (and editor of the excellent investigating journalist/satirical mag Private Eye) Ian Hislop was working on any other projects.Originally expecting to just find a documentary series,I was shocked to find out that Hislop had co- written a WWI Drama about a satirical mag,whose airing I had sadly missed.Catching me completely by surprise,my dad revealed to me that he had actually picked up a DVD of the title recently,which led picking up my first issue of The Wipers Times.The plot:WWI:Ypres-Taking a look around a number of bombed out buildings in a city called Ypres,a group of British soldier's discover a printer in perfect condition.Planning to destroy the printer,the gang are stopped in their tracks by leading officer Roberts,who tells the group that the printer could be used for the publication of a satirical magazine.Initially feeling uneasy over Roberts plan,the gang soon find themselves getting in a grove over the writing of their satirical mag (named The Wipers Times) as they find themselves not only fighting against the German's,but generals who are determined to close the underground mag down.View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,writers Ian Hislop and Nickman strike a perfect balance of showing the heroic efforts that Robert's troop was involved in,whilst making sure that the movie never becomes over- sentimental,thanks to cutting away to the satirical bite of the mag.Giving the title a blissful flight of fantasy mood,the writers bring a number of the mags most famous sketches alive in dream style sequences,which brilliantly show the sharp created mind that each of the soldier's had,even as they were being shot at.Superbly filmed on location in Ireland,director Andy De Emmony mixes a raw,gritty appearance for the trenches with an unexpected surreal touch,as De Emmony uses B&W and a floating camera feel to bring The Wipers Times sketches vividly to life.Leading the gang in their underground publication,Ben Chaplin gives a wonderful performance as Roberts,with Chaplin showing Roberts eye for satire to be something which helps him to survive the chaos taking place around him,and makes this issue of The Wipers Times one that is really worth picking up.

This interesting true story deserved better handling. The script of this BBC film is inadequate and uncinematic, and the direction is poor. I did not bother to watch that much of it on the DVD and did what a Dalek would do: 'terminate!' The name 'Wipers' is the pronunciation which the British troops used during the First World War to mis-pronounce the name of the French town Ypres, which they could not pronounce correctly. And 'the Wipers Times' is the name of a newspaper printed by an enterprising officer and his team, for circulation in the trenches at Ypres, after he found a printing press in the rubble of the bombed-out town together with a supply of paper and ink. His trench newspaper was very irreverent and funny, and a forerunner in its way of today's Private Eye. One can therefore understand why Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, jointly wrote the script. There were a couple of very funny lines in the bit I saw before I turned it off, and they must have come from him. It would not be fair of me to comment on the performances, because I did not see the whole film, so I shall not discuss them. Teacher's report: 'Could try harder.'

While I did like the history of this mans story, I found the movie to be a bit dry. I'm sure in the historical period, the jokes on this may have been funny, but there is a total loss in translation. The acts and sketches were not funny at all. Wish they would have made this more of a stitch. It would have been nice to realize your audience is not in 1918. Your living in a day with movies like the hang over. The historical sense of the movie is nice, and I guess going for the idea of keeping it historical has some relevance but they movie was not filmed in such a manor. It was filmed in a way that they were hoping for a laugh. Which frankly didn't happen.