It is portrayed as a standard infantry battalion in the British Army during the late 1970s. 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 Gibraltar keep on its cap badge, it may be assumed that it is from the west of England, and its forebears were at the Great Siege of Gibraltar. It may also be assumed that the regiment is part of the Prince of Wales' Division, even thought the Weesex Rangers cap badge is a copy of the Northamptonshire Regiment cap badge,with the Gibraltar and Talavera scrolls changed and a crown added. Syndication The series was screened on British movie channel Talking Pictures TV in 2016, with a further screening which commenced in December 2018. References External links Spearhead (including audio and video clip) on the Southern TV ark 1978 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series 1980s British drama television series ITV television dramas British military television series Television shows produced by Southern Television English-language television shows