An interesting, emotive topic, and one which will have conversations going on both sides.

A pretty good watch, for such a dramatic situation, this was quite a low key affair, I appreciate subtle, but it just needed a little more passion injected into it.

I enjoyed the way the story was told, you quite literally see Bryan Wood's journey from national, decorated hero, to possible war criminal, and the role of Phil Shiner, was he after the truth, or was he out to vilify brave soldiers such as Wood? Make your own minds up.

Very well made, the action sequences looked terrific, best of all though was the acting, three top notch performances, Toby Jones, Anthony Boyle and Alex Ferns.

An interesting choice for the BBC it's fair to say, but it's well made and absorbing, I must also say how refreshing to have a one off, ninety minute drama, as opposed to yet another six part series.

Subtle, but good, 7/10.

This chronicles the battle of Danny Boy where.two troops of British soldiers fought off several dozen Shia insurgents in a battle that finished hand to hand fighting. Several military awards were handed out but several years later a public inquiry was set up in Britain to look in to claims of war crimes submitted by human rights lawyer Phil Shiner

My husband is a soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan so I have followed these conflicts most of my adult life and wondered how the BBC might portray this farce of an inquiry which involved.£25 million of British taxpayers money.

Typically and predictably it portrays poor Phil Shiner as being the real victim of the Iraq conflict. What this "based on a true story" fictional account doesn't do is tell the truth. The truth was Shiner paid people to hunt down "Victims of British war crimes"while the claims became more and more outlandish so much so that they could and should have been dismissed out of hand but for some ridiculous reason the British government went along.with calling for this expensive inquiry where it became established that claims of murder were outright lies.and that it was Shiner's law firm that echoed these lies .

Watching Danny Boy you'd think Shiner was a hapless victim rather than the major antagonist and his fate where his law firm was closed down and he was struck off for major professional misconduct is reduced to a blink and you'll miss it caption . I read somewhere that this was supposedly 2 episodes of 90 minutes and that's why the ending is rushed but more likely the BBC probably couldn't bring themselves to take the side of soldiers over a middle class professional liberal like Shiner. My TV licence is up for renewal very soon but might just save myself the money . If I do end up in court I can console myself that Phil Shiner won't be defending me.

There is something that is just too small scale about Danny Boy and it never came alive as it tried too hard to be even handed to all sides.

In 2004, Sergeant Brian Wood (Anthony Boyle) and his unit in Iraq were ambushed. He was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery as they held off the militia.

Some years later, Wood and his men were accused of unlawfully killing and torturing Iraqi detainees at The Battle of Danny Boy.

Wood argued the Iraqis they encountered were soldiers and not farmers as now claimed.

Leading the case against him was human rights lawyer Phil Shiner (Toby Jones) who had earlier been successful in the Baha Mousa case.

Wood was a technical advisor in this drama. It was more successful in dealing with his trauma and reconnecting with his family. His bewilderment at being abandoned by the army when he was charged for war crimes.

As for Shiner who later was struck off as a lawyer and his firm went bankrupt. He seemed to have been treated more lightly in this drama.

Shiner might have had cause to investigate any alleged abuses by British soldiers. However he also smelled money hence why Shiner having to admit that he paid an Iraqi middleman to find suitable victims. It turned out that the farmers were indeed militia.

Somehow it was too dry for my liking. Apparently this was meant to be a two parter with courtroom scenes but instead it was made into a cut down television movie.