Taking the flak

A new BBC comedy about the life of war reporters is set to start filming in January. Martin Jarvis will portray a veteran foreign correspondent and war reporter in the six part BBC2 series, called Taking the flak, set in a fictional African country. The series is written by Frontline club member and former Frontline News journalist, Tira Shubart. Contrary to a previous report in The Observer, Tira tells me that the series is not based on the life of BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson,

A number of the incidents in the episodes of Taking the Flak were inspired by work I did as part of Frontline News with camera woman Anna Roberts in Somalia. The experiences we had would be familiar to many journalists caught in frightening, but sometimes completely absurd situations.

The comedienne Ruby Wax will guest star in one episode of the series, as an “‘obnoxious American war reporter’ who is furious about being ‘sent to the back of beyond'” Other cameo slots include an appearance by another club member George Alagiah.
Behind the scenes pictures from Tira Shubart This post has been edited from the original. Thanks for additional info Tira.