The violent life and death of Percy Toplis

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 15

The violent life and death of Percy Toplis

Alan Bleasdale tells the extraordinary story of the violent life and death of Percy Toplis in a major four-part drama starting tonight at 9.15 on One, "The Monbcled Mutineer.”

The controversial $6 million production is the first television work playwright, Bleasdale, has undertaken since his awardwinning “Boys from the Blackstuff’ series, but it continues themes common to all his work.

“They’re all about victims,” says Bleasdale. "And victims don’t have to be saints.”

This is certainly true of Percy Toplis, a petty criminal and racketeer who became a rake, rogue and master of disguise.

The young man had already been involved in a number of misdemeanours and served time within the walls of Her Majesty’s prisons when he enlisted with the Royal Army Corps in 1915.

In 1917, Toplis was

drafted to the Etaples training camp, which was notorious for the brutality of its regime, and ended up at the centre of a large revolt. When it was suppressed after six days of rioting, Toplis went on the run under sentence of death.

Back in London, this former pit-boy dressed as an officer and tricked his

way through polite society. His anarchic progress from youthful delinquent to “the most wanted man in Britain” is a story of brutal suffering and high romance, hilarious impudence and savage retribution. The 22-year-old became the object of a national manhunt. "The Monocled Mutineer” whipped up much controversy when it screened in England. There was the graphic, upsetting violence of the war scenes, including the shocking execution of a soldier depicted in the first episode. Then there was an alleged “Left-wing bias.” But the biggest bone of contention got chewed to the marrow when the series’ historical adviser disowned the programme for “inaccuracies” in the script.

Bleasdale is unfazed about any academic doubts. Says he: “I’ve written about the truth, not necessarily the facts. The truth is more important.”