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Rorke's Drift - The Mini-Series
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I'm sure I read that the 'Rome' series was a U.S. and U.K. combined effort.

Apparently recreating areas of Rome in reasonably lavish sets, using attention to detail with costumes, etc.

Pity they didn't combine to make a realistic Rorke's Drift mini-series, possibly made in the style of '24', every hour episode, an hour in real time, starting from the first warnings about the disaster at Isandlwana to seeing the first of Chelmsford's Column arriving.

This way they could have concentrated on the participants as they prepared the defences, their thoughts, conversations, etc., as the battle neared, as well as during the engagement itself.

For a mini-series it would be well-suited, as most of the action centres around and inside the Rorke's Drift buildings and barricades.

If their budget allowed them to make detailed buildings and costumes for 'Rome', then surely they could have done the same for Rorke's Drift, which is a far more exciting historical event.

I know the tv viewing audiences are not all AZW enthusiasts, but I'm sure they would find Rorke's Drift a lot more interesting than Rome.

Maybe that's just me seeing it as another missed opportunity.

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Andrew Garton


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 25
Location: Larimore North Dakota
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I agree with you.I'd like to see something about the AZW on TV, but will it ever happen? I would give an arm and a leg to watch it if they did! But there may not be enough interest.

I did enjoy watching Ian Knight's three part series on the AZW here in the states on the history channel. And thanks to Steve Sass I was able to get my own copy, its not on region 1 here .

So I will just have to let my AZW books, Zulu and Zulu Dawn transport me back in time!
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Andrew

Thanks for your reply.

Yes. I think a mini-series about the battle at Rorke's Drift, filmed in the style of '24' would be great.

If the series came out on a dvd set, we could sit quite contented watching the whole event, one episode after another, which would be in real time as the incidents unfolded.

Imagine seeing a version of this famous battle, as preparations were made, the battle was fought and the aftermath in the morning, in the same elapse of time as it actually took place.

It would take a brilliant script, a clever director and a large budget, but I guess it gives us something to think about.

Although the battle scenes may not be as epic as 'Zulu', it definitely would be able to focus on the participants more as the situation progressed.

As mentioned in another topic, to film it as a documentary-type series like 'Saving Private Ryan', we would feel even more involved.

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Further to the above.

If a mini-series about Rorke's Drift was put into development, rather than film stars playing the roles, what current t.v. actors would be suited to portraying the participants ?

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Andrew Garton


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 25
Location: Larimore North Dakota
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I guess because I'm an EastEnders fan,I would want to see people from the show.
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Barbara Grant
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Coll and Andrew:

The TV battle scenes would not be as dramatic as "Zulu," or any motion picture, because TV really can't do a similar job. Film and TV are different media, with different strengths and weaknesses.

However, I believe a "Rorke's Drift" miniseries might do very well with characterization, in a much more thorough way than a movie might. For instance, a TV miniseries might address the mindsets of some of the characters, particularly the enlisted men (are they called "rankers" in British parlance?...it seems to me that Michael Caine used this term in "Zulu" to describe Hook and Hitch) so that they might tell their stories.

For instance, if someone had been working down by the East End docks, and then enlisted for service in the Queen's Army and had been posted to Natal, what might be going through his head when he's faced with an army of Zulus surrounding a small mission station in the middle of nowhere? Might he think that he'd made the wrong decision, and should have been happy to have stayed in London, no matter what his circumstances?

There's a lot that can be done with TV, not quite the same as can be done with film, but looking at the problem from a different point of view can provide some insight.

Barbara
Band of brothers style - follow B Company through the war
Tom516


Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 136
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I think that might be an interesting thing to see... B Company of the 24th Foot (2nd Warwickshires) as it slugs through the 9th Cape Frontier War and later gains immortality at Rorke's Drift. I'd give better play to the Zulus though and maybe have some crossover characters like John Dunn, Shepstone and Durnford around to show the other side - the point of view of Cetshwayo who finds war forced on him by an encroaching British empire under the acquisitive Bartle-Frere and Chelmsford while his ultra-warlike people and generals are too proud to back down can provide pathos and counterpoint. Ultimately its a war both sides want but neither side can afford to lose.

If it's a mini-series like Band of Brothers, both 'Zulu' and 'Zulu Dawn' periods can be covered with some background of Shaka and the rise of the Zulu nation, the conflicts with the Boer all the way to Ulundi. You get the interesting characters as well, Bromhead whose hearing disability makes his brother officers think he's 'somewhat stupid', Colour Sergeant Bourne 'The Kid' who's 24 years old and finding his feet through deadly ambushes in the veldt and bush and basically everyone has some sort of humanizing flaw they're covering up for. I think that's what makes this story great, you have very human heroes who somehow manage to outdo themselves.

Also you could see how the different tribes fought which is one reason Chelmsford was so unprepared for the Zulus - the other tribes fought through ambushes and skirmishes, like Vietcongs in the jungle, but the Zulus fought mano-a-mano like the NVA during the Tet which was a whole different ballgame and which Chelmsford apparently didn't expect.

Just a thought,
Tom
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Well, I've just read they are moving the 'Star Wars' saga onto the small screen in a series of 100 - 1hr episodes, covering the storylines not included in the movies.

Can you imagine a series of 100 episodes covering various events in the AZW ? Perhaps, as mentioned previously, being more to do with the participants themselves.

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Tom516


Joined: 08 Feb 2006
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Well as technology moves on it's not beyond thinking that a group of AZW enthusiasts would put together something like that...

'eres 'oping
Tom516

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scarletto7


Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 91
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Sounds a great idea, infact showing both sides perspective would make it more correct for todays producers, easiest way to start is to show why this war was happening then cut to men unloading stores at Rorke's Drift, a TV min series of 4 or 5 shows would be more producable than a 100, though a 100 would be great, and with CGI except for close shots, could make it more fundable
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Rorke's Drift - The Mini-Series
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