Bluestone 42

Wow, a new comedy about a bomb disposal unit in Afghanistan? Isn't that a bit, y'know, sick?

Well, you'd think so, but I have to say there's nothing in episode one of Bluestone 42 (10pm, BBC Three) thatshould seriously upset anyone. Not unless religious watchdogs take offence at the unit's captain trying to get into the knickers of the new padre (who, I should explain, is played by ex-Hustle star Kelly Adams).

The writers, as you'd hope, have taken lots of advice from people with front-line experience, so it's not as if they’re straying into comedy territory they can't defend - and besides, the show is mostly about the banter between the characters, rather than dealing head-on with the most harrowing part of their job.

Even before it's broadcast, this comedy has caused a furore, dealing as it does with a squad of bomb disposal experts clearing IEDs in Afghanistan. Can such a sensitive subject get laughs?

Yes it can. Richard Hurst and James Cary (who have both worked on Miranda) evidently did their research. The banter and camaraderie are as profane as you'd expect on the frontline, and some of the humour is exceptionally dark. However, that research seems to be holding them back; they're so careful presenting a balanced view of professional soldiery that the characters are underplayed.

There is promise in the lusty captain Nick Medhurst (Green Wing's Oliver Chris) and his pursuit of the attractive new padre (Hustle's Kelly Adams), but larger-than-life roles are in short supply. Michael McShane's CIA liaison officer Carter is one, but his appearance is all too brief.

James Cary interview

I decided to catch up with one half of the Bluestone 42 writing team James Cary, to see how the series came about and what he makes of the controversy so far. Here's what he had to say...

Bluestone 42: The research process

One of the most common questions my co-writer James Cary and I get asked when we're talking about our new comedy Bluestone 42, is about the research process. Did you do lots of research, people ask. Do you have a military background? The last question gets asked very rarely when it's face-to-face. I can't think why.

"Too soon?" one character asks in ­Bluestone 42 after he makes a tasteless quip about the death of a CIA officer. That's the question you might be asking after watching BBC3's new sitcom about a bomb disposal team in Helmand Province. After all, it's usually polite to wait until a war is actually over before you start making jokes about it.

The Korean War had been done and dusted for more than 20 years before M*A*S*H waded in. The same goes for Dad's Army, while Blackadder Goes Forth waited a good 80 years for the dust from the First World War to settle.

And after the number of documentaries the BBC has made about Afghanistan - in particular Our War, also on BBC3 - the show's writers will have been acutely aware of the potential offence they could cause by making comedy out of conflict. It seems their main concern was getting all the military details right, rather than whether they should be making it at all.

But, putting all thoughts of whether Bluestone 42 is wildly inappropriate or not to one side, thank goodness that it's actually very funny, with an excellent line in banter.

Oliver Chris is perfectly cast as Captain Nick Medhurst - the officer who fancies himself a little too much as the dashing war hero, and expects the new female padre (Hustle's Kelly Adams) to feel the same.

The big ensemble cast also includes Tony Gardner (Lead Balloon and Fresh Meat) as the Lt Colonel, Katie Lyons as the blokeish Corporal Bird and a bomb-seeking robot called Arthur.

Bluestone 42: is war ever funny?

"Soldiers use humour to cope in a high-stress environment, and keep a positive outlook," says one military advisor on the BBC3 bomb-disposal comedy.

Meet the cast of Bluestone 42

We speak to Oliver Chris, Stephen Wight, Gary Carr, Kelly Adams and the other stars of BBC3's controversial new Afghanistan war comedy.

Bluestone 42: 'The Hurt Locker meets Miranda'

The latest offering from the writers of the hit sitcom is a comedy about a British bomb-disposal unit in Afghanistan. It sounds unlikely, but it strikes the right balance between edgy and entertaining.

A BBC Three comedy from former members of the Miranda team dealing with the war in Afghanistan... yes, we know, this sounds like it could be disgustingly awful. But we have faith that Bluestone 42 will treat our troops with dignity, various members of the Beeb assuring us that it is "exceptionally authentic" and full of "humanity and spirit".

Is the war in Afghanistan a suitable topic for comedy? Well, of course. Everything is a suitable topic for comedy, depending on how it's handled. The problem with Bluestone 42 - a new sitcom about a British bomb disposal unit based in Helmand Province - isn't that it's offensive, it's that in going out of its way to avoid causing offence it ends up as just another bland, obvious, middling sitcom. That is, unless you're deeply offended by the very idea of an apolitical comedy about an illegal war.

As if eager to get the troubling issue of death out of the way as quickly as possible, it kills off a character within the first five minutes. But he's very deliberately portrayed as a roaring idiot whom the rest of the team don't really know or like, thus fudging the issue of whether we're supposed to acknowledge the horrors of war or not. Otherwise, Bluestone 42 is a determinedly light affair focusing on the team's efforts to amuse themselves while stationed at camp.

The amiable Gary: Tank Commander has been here previously, of course, as has the estimable M*A*S*H. Suffice to say, Bluestone 42 isn't M*A*S*H. The lead character is a hapless, cocky Prince William/Ben Fogle clone who thinks nothing of exploiting his rank and supposed hero status to clumsily woo the attractive new female padre. A sweary Scotsman and a tough, straight-talking woman are also involved. It all adds up to very little.

But given that it fails to portray "Our Boys" as selfless saints, it will doubtless upset Daily Mail types across the land. So that's something, at least.