During World War I, a group of wounded soldiers returned from France to recuperate in England.
Among them was a mute amnesiac (Peak Practice star Gary Mavers) who had been found wandering naked through the mines and barbed wire in no-man’s land.
An officer had saved his life and led him back to the trenches, and he had returned the favour soon after, when – confused or not – he saved the crippled officer and a blinded corporal after they were hit by a German shell. The men christened him “Angel”.
Back in Britain, Nurse Sophia Carey (Juliet Aubrey) tried to help Angel regain his speech and his memory.
Sophia was the beautiful young matron of a makeshift hospital for war wounded, set up in her father’s big country house. She had lost her three brothers in the war, and underneath her crisply efficient exterior, she was as damaged as Angel.
Angel had his speech (but not his memory) restored by brutal electric shock treatment and he sounded and acted like a well-bred officer – but another working-class soldier turned up insisting that he used to know him . . .
Meanwhile, the scene was set for an intense love affair between Angel and Sophia – until the appearance of Jenny Davis (Aislín McGuckin) – someone from his past who claimed to be his fiancée.
The third and final episode found Angel in prison while the authorities tried to prove he was Rod King, a looter, deserter and murderer. But Sophie and Jenny – who loved the same man for different reasons – came together to try to save him from court-martial and a firing squad.
The Unknown Soldier was devised as a vehicle for Mavers by Peak Practice producers Michele Buck and Damien Timmer.
Angel
Gary Mavers Sophia Carey
Juliet Aubrey Jenny Davis
Aislín McGuckin Sir Francis Carey
Frederick Treves Major Stephen Phelps
Pip Torrens Jeff Quinn
David Westhead Dr Ewan Thomas
Dafydd Hywel Teague
Dave Kent Baker
Mathew Fraser Watts
Andrew McLay Jane Wetherby
Olivia Caffrey David Truman
John Normington Dorothy Truman
Frances White Mrs Teague
Rachel Scorgie RMP Sergeant
Bill Leadbitter Matron Ingoldsby
Anne Stanton Captain Parr
Mark Drewry Major Wetherby
John Light Emily
Zoe Waites Maggie Roberts
Sophie Stanton Urquart
Paul Brooke Mrs Derry
Alison Fiske Christian Derry
Jonathan Cullen Lt Col Powell
Geoffrey Bateman Sergeant Craddock
David Hounslow Sergeant Wright
Brian Abbott Colonel Eelham
Tom Chadbon Florence Davis
Anna Keaveney Brigadier Wheatley
David Henry Narrator
Barbara New
