I’m all
for a good biopic or major historical drama.
It’s interesting to see historical figures and events dramatized, and to
contemplate how the real deal was truncated, expanded, or sugar-coated for
cinematic purposes. But I also really enjoy films (or in this case, TV
miniseries) about historical subjects I know very little about. Case in point: Argo.
But
today’s post isn’t about Argo. Fine film though it is, PC isn’t in it, and
we’re still in Capaldi Winter. No, today
we’re beginning with the first episode of Selling
Hitler, a five-part miniseries about the 1980s hoax of the “Hitler
diaries.” At the heart of the story is
Gerd Heidemann, a German magazine writer and collector of WWII
paraphernalia. Hearing whispers of Hitler’s
long-lost journals, Gerd sets out on a consuming mission to recover the books.
The
boss, sick of Gerd’s perpetual Nazi stories, isn’t keen to put up any time or
money toward the search. Instead, Gerd
is helped by PC’s Thomas Walde, from the magazine’s historical department. With Gerd providing the legwork and Thomas
procuring the funds, the two pursue their white whale for very different
reasons.
I don’t
have too much of a feel for Thomas yet.
So far, the most interesting thing about him is the fact that he doesn’t
actually believe in the diaries’ existence.
While Gerd can barely contain his excitement at the mere thought, Thomas
thinks the whole business is just a legend.
He intends to be the man to refute all the nut-jobs when he follows the
trail to a dead end. Given what actually
ends up happening, it seems he has the right idea. We’ll see whether or not he gets sucked into
the hoax in the coming episodes.
Alexei
Sayle, who we saw recently, has a featured part in the series. More importantly, it stars Jonathan Pryce and
also includes Tom Baker. If we count
David Tennant in “The Fires of Pompeii,” that makes four Doctors PC worked with
before being cast as Twelve; he gets around!
Accent
Everyone
in this piece speaks the Queen’s German, so we have U.K. accents all
around. PC, however, is the only Scot so
far.
Recommend?
In
General
– Maybe. It’s very clearly a product of
its time, but the story is interesting and there are some good
performances. I’ll keep you posted.
PC-wise – Quite
possibly. Thomas seems poised to be a
major character; let’s see what he gets up to in the days to come.
Warnings
Gerd
meets a number of men from “the old days,” (i.e. former Nazis,) and their party
talk is rather discomfiting.
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