‘The Wipers Times’, a new World War 1 comedy drama filmed in Northern Ireland and starring former Month Python Michael Palin and actor Ben Chaplin, airs next Wednesday 11th Sep on BBC Two.
The plot follows a group of British soldiers based in Ypres in Belgium in 1916 who discover an abandoned printing press and use it to print their own satirical newspaper –incurring the anger of their superiors.
The 90 minute once-off TV film, shot at Ballywalter Park Estate in Down, was scripted by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman who wrote BBC series ‘My Dad’s the Prime Minister’.
Irish crew members include editor Stephen O’Connell, production designer Ashleigh Jeffers and director of photography Mark Garrett.
Ben Chaplin will next be seen in Sky One’s ‘Moonfleet’, filmed in Dublin & Wicklow this Summer, and is known for roles in ‘The Thin Red Line’, ‘London Boulevard’ and TV’s ‘Mad Dogs’.
Former ‘Monty Python’ comedian Michael Palin is also well known for his BBC travel documentaries these days, most recently last year’s ‘Brazil with Michael Palin’.
Other cast members include Emilia Fox (‘Silent Witness’), Julian Rhind-Tutt (‘The Hour’) and Steve Oram (‘Sightseers’).
Producer David Parfitt of Trademark Films won an Oscar for ‘Shakespeare in Love’ in 1998 and counts among his credits ‘My Week with Marilyn’ and ‘Parade’s End’.
‘The Wipers Times’ was funded by the BBC, Goldcrest Films, Content Media and Northern Ireland Screen Fund, supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.