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Men at Arms

4 Extra Debut. Guy Crouchback is searching for a purpose to live. Evelyn Waugh's satirical masterpiece, on the futility of war, stars Paul Ready.

by Evelyn Waugh
Dramatised by Jeremy Front

Evelyn Waugh's satirical WW2 masterpiece:
Guy Crouchback is a man scarred by a broken marriage, searching for a purpose in a modern world, when war breaks out he feels he may have at last found a cause worth fighting for.

Directed by Sally Avens

Waugh's trilogy of WWII novels mark a high point in his literary career. Originally published as three volumes: Officers and Gentlemen, Men at Arms and Unconditional Surrender they were extensively revised by Waugh, and published as the one-volume Sword of Honour in 1965, in the form in which Waugh himself wished them to be read. They are dramatised for the Classic Serial in seven episodes.
This is a story that continues to delight as we follow the comic and often bathetic adventures of Guy Crouchback. Witty and tragic, engaging and insightful, this work must be counted next to 'Brideshead Revisited' as Waugh's most enduring novel. Like Brideshead, Waugh drew heavily upon his own experiences during WWII. Sword of Honour effortlessly treads the line between the personal and the political - it is at once an indictment of the incompetence of the Allied war effort, and a moving study of one man's journey from isolation to self fulfilment. His adventures are peopled by colourful characters: the eccentric, Apthorpe, one-eyed, Ritchie-Hook, promiscuous, Virginia Troy. At the centre of the novel is Guy for whom we never lose our sympathy as he emerges from his adventures bowed but not broken. From Dakar to Egypt, the Isle of Mugg to the evacuation of Crete, tragedy is leavened by Waugh's acerbic and farcical comedy.

58 minutes

Last on

Tue 12 Apr 2016 03:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Tim McInnerny
Guy Crouchback Paul Ready
Apthorpe Adrian Scarborough
Brigadier Ben Ritchie-Hook Tim Pigott-Smith
Arthur Box-Bender Robert Daws
Trimmer Lee Ingleby
Ian Kilbannock Oliver Chris
Angela Priyanga Burford
Tony Harry Jardine
Mr Crouchback Sean Murray
Major Tickeridge Michael Bertenshaw
Mrs Tickeridge Joanna Brookes
Leonard Arthur Hughes
Daisy Georgie Fuller
De Souza Joel MacCormack
Sgt Major Ben Crowe
Aide John Norton
Director Sally Avens
Adaptor Jeremy Front
Author Evelyn Waugh

Broadcasts

  • Sun 29 Sep 2013 15:00
  • Sat 5 Oct 2013 21:00
  • Mon 11 Apr 2016 10:00
  • Mon 11 Apr 2016 15:00
  • Tue 12 Apr 2016 03:00

Main Characters

Get to know Guy, Apthorpe, Virginia and Brigadier Ritchie-Hook.

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