Jason enlists for BBC war drama

DAVID JASON has been tempted back to BBC drama for the first time in five years to star in a First World War film set during the Gallipoli campaign.

All The King's Men is based on the true story of the Sandringham Company which disappeared in action in 1915. Jason plays Frank Beck, the estate manager at Sandringham, the Norfolk residence of King George V and Queen Mary.

His task is to turn what the King terms "a ragbag of servants, grooms and gardeners" into "a superb fighting force". But when Beck leads his men on to the battlefield they are never seen again. Jason said: "Although there have been many stories about the First World War, none I think compare with this heartbreaking story." Legends built up about the fate of the soldiers. One myth had it that a golden cloud came down and covered the men "as if God himself was wrapping it round them". War historians today believe legends were created to hide the much more brutal reality of the company's demise from other soldiers. Dust from the battlefield or smoke from the heavy guns probably account for the golden cloud story. The Royal Family was so upset by the loss of its staff that in 1919 it sent a special envoy, the Rev Charles Pierrepoint-Edwards, to discover their fate. Jason was attracted to the film as he learned more about the man whose life he would be portraying: "He had a sense of loyalty and duty. "Even though the King ordered him to stay at home, on the ground that he was too old, Beck would not allow his young soldiers to go to war without him. "The simplicity and heroism of the man attracted me to the part." David Thompson, head of BBC Films and Single Drama, said: "All the King's Men is one of the most ambitious films to be made by the BBC, a fitting end-of-century film and I am delighted that David Jason is to play the central role." All The King's Men begins filming in May and will be shown later this year.

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