again. Due to the ignominy the British government feels about the wartime mutiny, a Special Branch officer is assigned to the hunt. Toplis is killed by the officer. The matter at Étaples is judged closed. Episodes Cast Paul McGann as Percy Toplis (4 episodes) Bill Fellows as Geordie (3 episodes) Matthew Marsh as Charles Strange (3 episodes) Anthony Calf as Guinness (3 episodes) Jane Wood as Annie Webster (2 episodes) Ron Donachie as Strachan (2 episodes) Timothy West as Brigadier General Andrew Thomson (2 episodes) Dave Hill as Frank Webster (2 episodes) Penelope Wilton as Lady Angela Forbes (2 episodes) Jerome Flynn as Franny (2 episodes) Cherie Lunghi as Dorothy (2 episodes) David Allister as General Asser (2 episodes) Geoff Morrell as Aussie Gas Mask (2 episodes) Louis Mellis as Scots Gas Mask (2 episodes) Philip McGough as Edwin Woodhall (2 episodes) Patrick Doyle as Gilzean (2 episodes) Aran Bell as Fellows (2 episodes) Billy Clarke as Dorothy (2 episodes) Terry Cundall as Bertam (2 episodes) Peter Hutchinson as Norman (2 episodes) Ted Richards as PC Fulton (2 episodes) Richard Ireson as Inspector Richie (2 episodes) David Miller as Spruce (2 episodes) Jim Carter as Spencer (1 episode) Production The BBC had originally approached Bleasdale in 1981 to adapt William Allison and John Fairley's 1978 book The Monocled Mutineer, which had at the time of its publication prompted questions in Parliament about the events of the Étaples mutiny, which led to the discovery that all records of the Étaples Board of Enquiry had been destroyed long ago. However, Bleasdale had at the time turned it down saying, "I don't do adaptations." He eventually changed his mind, finding some personal resonances in the story. As he commented: "My grandfather died on the Western Front six months before my father was born, and I found that a great pull to the story ..." Reception On 9 September The Daily Telegraphs Defence Correspondent John Keegan criticised The Monocled Mutineer. He said: "The Étaples 'mutinies' amounted to no more than a few days of disorder, a little disrespect to officers and some loudly-voiced demands for humane treatment. The army reacted briskly. It restored discipline by bringing in unaffected troops. It removed the cause of discontent by replacing the worst of the staff with wise men. That is about all there was to the British Army 'mutinies' of the 1914–1918 war." As a direct result