Accused - Frankie's Story

The new BBC drama 'Accused' by Jimmy McGovern is a series which looks at different people's lives and stories and how they ended up in court/prision. This week's episode was called 'Frankie's Story' and it was about two men (Frankie and Peter) who went to a pub and one of which punched another man hurting him badly. The court decided the best place for 'vicious' men like this was the armed forces. This portrayal of the army is different to other television shows because they show another nasty side to it. Bullying. This makes the 'army experience' alot more difficult as he is not only fighting for his life, his 'fellow soldier' Buckley is bullying him making it unbearable.

When he first goes to Iraq and we see both the British soldiers and the Taliban firing at each other, we see Peter who doesnt want to fire at the enemy. he then gets both verbally and physically abused by Buckley and he names him 'the bitch' this is the first we see of the bullying. This is a bit like taking a look 'behind the scenes' in the armed forces and how the soldiers relate to each other. It's alot more realistic than other dramas/television programmes about the army.


this bullying seemed to go unnoticed for a while and it was like everyone expected it to happen and it was normal and they don't react to it as much as they should. it makes the audience think that this happens all the time and its just everyday life in the armed forces. The result of this bullying forces 'the bitch' to kill himself as he doesn't want to be bullied any longer. Again, this is a realistic portrayal of the Army.


The same man that starts off the name calling and abuse is a bit like the 'main bully' and all the others are too scared to stand up to him incase they get bullied too. it is much like a school playground and very realistic as bullying happens everywhere in the world no matter what age or status. some of the other soldiers join in with this bullying and isolate him. Frankie, in the end, was sentenced to life after taking the blame and continued lying to his family that he was killed in action when he really commited suicide.