BBC NEWS | Entertainment | McNab best-seller to become film McNab best-seller to become film Sean Bean played Andy McNab in the TV film Bravo Two Zero The BBC is making Andy McNab's best-seller Boy Soldier into a film after securing the rights to the book. Its sequel Payback, also co-written with Robert Rigby, has been acquired as part of the deal. The children's books are the first in a series of four about Danny and his struggle to join the army. Former SAS soldier McNab's best-selling book Bravo Two Zero, based on his experiences in the Gulf War, was made into a TV film starring Sean Bean. The soldier-turned-author left the SAS in 1993 as the most decorated soldier in the British Army at the time. The real identity of McNab, which is not his real name, is kept secret and whenever he appears on television his face is always hidden in shadow to disguise him. 'Fantastic thriller' After writing the non-fiction book Bravo Two Zero he then turned his hand to fiction, penning more than 10 novels. He and writing partner Rigby are currently adapting Boy Soldier for the film version.

Rigby is a TV scriptwriter who most notably works on children's drama Byker Grove. Boy Soldier and Payback have sold more than 110,000 copies since they were published in 2005. "We are delighted to be renewing our relationship with Andy after Bravo Two Zero," said David Thompson, head of BBC Films. "Boy Soldier is both a fantastic thriller and a moving story of the relationship between a boy and his grandfather. "The project also represents BBC Films' commitment to make more ambitious films for wider audiences." Sean Bean stars as Andy McNab in Bravo Two Zero 28 December 1998 Sean Bean stars as Andy McNab in Bravo Two Zero Bravo Two Zero explodes onto video this December, starring Sean Bean as the former SAS Sergeant Andy McNab in a tale of remarkable endurance and heroism based on McNab's best-selling book. Transmitted on BBC-1 in January 1999, the video includes an exclusive interview with McNab. Bravo Two Zero is the true story of the most highly decorated British patrol since the Boer war - an eight man SAS team inserted behind Iraqi lines during the Gulf War in January 1991.

Their mission was to take out the scud missiles which Saddam Hussein had aimed at the heart of Tel Aviv, as well as to sever strategic communication lines between Baghdad and North West Iraq. Commanded by Sergeant Andy McNab, the call sign of this top secret mission was Bravo Two Zero. Of the eight who went out, only five returned. Dropped into "scud alley" carrying 210-pound packs, McNab and his men soon found themselves surrounded by two divisions of Iraqi troops - a total of 3,200 men. Unable to communicate by radio, the weather was cold enough to freeze diesel fuel, and they had been spotted. Their only chance of survival was to fight their way to the Syrian border 110 miles away across the Euphrates river to freedom. The story of Bravo Two Zero includes the no-holds-barred detail of McNab's capture by the Iraqis, and the harrowing torture they inflicted on him and two of his patrol. "I am delighted that the film has been made so faithful to the book," says McNab, who also acted as the film's military adviser, providing proper weapons and mind-set training to the actors who play the patrol members.

In the exclusive twenty minute interview featured on the video, he talks frankly on anonymity, success, violence, the issues facing a soldier, 'shoot to kill', and the Bravo Two Zero mission - including the task, contact with the Iraqis, his capture, interrogation and release. "The intention was never to have a traditional war film," continues McNab. "We wanted to show that these are normal people with normal lives - they do what they do is because they are professional soldiers. Many of the film offers I received just wanted Bravo Two Zero for the title which would be used for certain agendas or as a star vehicle for an actor. I didn't want that for the sake of the families of the men who died. In fact, the BBC offered the least amount of money to make the film, but what they wanted to produce was a truthful re-enactment of the story." Troy Kennedy Martin worked alongside McNab on the script, and then filming began in the desert in South Africa. "I was basically there every day on set as a consultant," comments McNab.

"I advised the Director and trained the actors so it looked like they'd been handling these sort of weapons for years, and helped with getting hold of the equipment and uniforms and making the weapons look used." McNab worked closely with Sean Bean who he thought was perfect for the role. "Portraying a real character is challenging in that you really want to get it right," adds Bean. "Every line of every scene has real meaning because of the nature of the project. It was very exciting." Principal photography on the project began in South Africa's Northern Cape province. Filming continued on location for four weeks in and around the desert near the small town of Uppington, for three weeks in the country's commercial capital of Johannesburg, and for three days round and just outside London. Bravo Two Zero stars British actors Sean Bean (Patriot Games, GoldenEye), Steve Nicolson, Rick Warden, Richard Graham, Kevin Collins, Ian Curtis, Jamie Bartlett, Robert Hobbs and Ron Senior Jnr. Apart from the main SAS roles and some parts played by real Iraqi soldiers, all other characters were played by South Africans.

Co-produced with Distant Horizon and Videovision Entertainment, Bravo Two Zero is directed by Tom Clegg (Sharpe, Sweeney ll) and produced by Anant Singh (Sarafina!, Cry, the Beloved Country, Face) for Distant Horizon, with Ruth Caleb as producer for the BBC (Trip Trap and Pat and Margaret, and Executive Producer of Respectable Trade). The TV/video tie-in edition of Bravo Two Zero is published by Corgi on 7 January 1999. Andy McNab's first novel, Remote Control, is also now available in Corgi paperback. Amazon.com: Bravo Two Zero: Sean Bean, Jamie Bartlett, Kevin Collins, Ian Curtis, Richard Graham, Robert Hobbs, Steve Nicolson, Rick Warden, Ron Senior Jr., Robert Whitehead, Caz Abrahams, Nick Ashby, Tom Clegg, Anant Singh, David M.

Thompson, Gillian Pearson, Helena Spring, Paul Janssen, Andy McNab, Troy Kennedy-Martin: Movies & TV Next Special Offers and Product Promotions Editorial Reviews Product Description Starring action favorite Sean Bean (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, DON'T SAY A WORD, ESSEX BOYS) and based on a captivating true story written by best-selling author Andy McNab, BRAVO TWO ZERO explores the tragedies and triumphs of men taken to the edge of survival during the Persian Gulf War. When an elite eight-man British SAS team is dropped behind enemy lines, their mission is clear: take out Saddam Hussein's SCUD missile systems. But when communications are cut and they find themselves surrounded by Hussein's army, their only hope is to risk capture and torture in a desperate 185-kilometer run to the Syrian border. With a terrific screenplay by the writer of the classic action hits KELLY'S HEROES and RED HEAT, you'll long remember this compelling story of wartime heroism and bravery. Amazon.com Sean Bean has yet to star in a major movie, but he proves his charisma in Bravo Two Zero, based on the true story of a British Special Forces unit behind enemy lines during the Gulf War.

Bravo Two Zero begins with the men taking leave of their wives, children, and girlfriends, then takes us step by step through the procedures that lead to going to war: not simply the gathering of equipment and intelligence, but things like "proof of life" statements--something idiosyncratic that, if the soldiers are captured, will demonstrate that they are still alive. Sent to cut an information line, the squad loses radio contact, and the men are forced to abandon their gear and head for the border of Syria. From there things only get worse, and some viewers may find the going brutal. These realistic details give the movie its punch, but it's Bean who keeps you caring. --Bret Fetzer Special Features Andy McNab - Bravo Two Zero [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Sean Bean, Steve Nicolson, Rick Warden, Richard Graham, Kevin Collins, Ian Curtis, Jamie Bartlett, Robert Hobbs, Ron Senior Jnr, Robert Whitehead, Tom Clegg, Anant Singh: DVD & Blu-ray Â£4.99 & FREE UK Delivery on orders dispatched by Amazon over Â£20. Details In stock. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

Special Offers and Product Promotions Enjoy Â£1.00 credit to spend on movies or TV on Amazon Video when you purchase a DVD or Blu-ray offered by Amazon.co.uk. A maximum of 1 credit per customer applies. UK customers only. Offer ends at 23:59 GMT on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Here's how (terms and conditions apply) Find all the best television shows from the other side of the pond in our US TV store and catch the latest shows in our 2014's Hottest TV page. Frequently Bought Together Product Description Product Description Former SAS sergeant Andy McNab co-scripts this drama, based on his own experiences in the Gulf War. In January 1991, an eight-man SAS team infiltrate the Iraqi lines, with the purpose of taking out the scud missiles aimed by Saddam Hussein at Tel Aviv. In charge is Sergeant McNab (Sean Bean), who has to think fast when his squad are surrounded by two divisions of Iraqi troops, with no radio contact and sub-zero temperatures freezing their fuel supplies.

From Amazon.co.uk A made-for-TV adaptation of Andy McNab's best-selling Bravo Two Zero--his account of a covert SAS mission in the Gulf War gone wrong. Sean Bean plays McNab, part of an eight-man team dropped behind enemy lines to sever communications lines. Things inevitably go wrong, however, and the team are captured and tortured, before making a variety of daring and amazing escapes. The story on which this film is based is certainly stirring, but it suffers from being generically at odds with the production values of a TV adaptation. The acting is wooden and the budget cannot provide the pyrotechnics or thrilling action sequences which action or war junkies may demand. At some points there are even unsuccessful attempts to blend parts of the staged drama with real documentary news footage. One might argue that the presentation of the SAS team as everyday, emotionally stunted lads, and their mission as gritty, downbeat and devoid of glamour is perhaps quite true to real-life events. It is also a huge novelty to see cinematic acknowledgement of British forces' participation in any conflict occurring in the last century. On the other hand, Bravo Two Zero undoubtedly appears quite dour when placed alongside a more flashy, Hollywood offering such as Three Kings.

Nevertheless, SAS aficionados and fans of the novel will enjoy it immensely, if only to look at the way in which McNab's account presents Chris Ryan--author of a drastically different film and novel version of this incident, The One That Got Away--as a posturing, image-conscious coward. --Paul Philpott Bravo Two Zero | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit In January 1991, during the prelude to the Coalition ground invasion of Iraq , B Squadron 22 SAS were stationed at a forward operating base in Saudi Arabia. The Squadron provided a number of long-range, similarly tasked teams deep into Iraq including three eight-man patrols; Bravo One Zero, Bravo Two Zero and Bravo Three Zero. [24] Asher lists one of the three patrols as Bravo One Niner, [25] though it is not clear whether this is one of the same three listed by Ryan. This article refers to the Bravo Two Zero patrol. Insertion Edit On the night of 22/23 January, the patrol were transported into Iraqi airspace by a RAF Chinook helicopter, along with Bravo One Zero and their Land Rover 110 vehicles.

[26] Unlike Bravo One Zero, the patrol had decided not to take vehicles. According to McNab's account, the patrol walked 20 km (12 mi) [27] during the first night to the proposed location of the observation post. However, both Ryan's and Coburn's accounts put the distance at 2 km (1.2 mi). Eye-witness accounts of Bedouin tribesmen, and Asher's re-creation support the Ryan/Coburn estimate of 2 km (1.2 mi). Whilst Ryan states the patrol was intentionally dropped only 2 km (1.2 mi) from the observation post because of heavy pack weights, [28] Coburn's account suggests that the patrol was dropped closer than intended to the observation post, due to a navigational error made by the Royal Air Force .[ citation needed ] This could account for the differences in the patrol members' estimates. According to both Ryan and McNab, the weight of their equipment required the patrol to 'shuttle' the equipment to the observation post. [29] Four members would walk approximately 300 m, then drop their Bergens and wait.

The next four would move up and drop their Bergens, then the first four would return for their jerry cans of water and bring them back to the group, followed by the second four doing the same. [30] In this manner, each member of the patrol covered three times the distance from the drop off to the observation post. Soon after the patrol landed on Iraqi soil, Lane discovered that they had communication problems and could not receive messages on the patrol's radio. McNab later claimed that the patrol had been issued incorrect radio frequencies; [31] however a 2002 BBC report discovered that there was no error with the frequencies because the patrol's transmissions had been noted in the SAS daily record log. [32] Ratcliffe lays the blame for the faulty radios on McNab as, being the patrol commander, it was his job to make sure the patrol's equipment was working. [33] Compromise Edit In the late afternoon of 24 January, the patrol was stumbled upon by a herd of sheep and a young shepherd. Believing themselves compromised, the patrol decided to withdraw, leaving behind excess equipment. As they were preparing to leave, they heard what they thought to be a tank approaching their position.

The patrol took up defensive positions, prepared their LAW rockets , and waited for it to come into sight. However, the vehicle turned out to be a bulldozer, which reversed rapidly after seeing the patrol. Realising that they had now definitely been compromised the patrol withdrew from their position. Shortly afterwards, as they were exfiltrating (according to McNab's account), a firefight with Iraqi Armoured Personnel Carriers and other forces developed. In 2001, Asher interviewed the Bedouin family that discovered the patrol. [34] The family stated the patrol had been spotted by the driver of the bulldozer, not the young shepherd. According to the family, they were not sure who the men were and followed them a short distance, eventually firing several warning shots, whereupon the patrol returned fire and moved away. Asher's investigation into the events, the terrain and position of the Iraqi Army did not support McNab's version of events, and excludes an attack by Iraqi soldiers and Armoured Personnel carriers.

Coburn's version, Soldier Five , partially supports McNab's version of events (specifically the presence of one armoured personnel carrier ) and describes being fired upon by a 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun and numerous Iraqi soldiers. In Ryan's version, "[MacGown] also saw an armoured car carrying a .50 caliber machine gun pull up. Somehow, I never saw that.'" [35] Ryan later estimated that he fired 70 rounds during the incident. Emergency pickup Edit The British standard operating procedures (SOP) state that in the case of an emergency or no radio contact the patrol should return to their original infiltration point, where a helicopter would land briefly every 24 hours. This plan was complicated by the incorrect location of the initial landing site; the patrol reached the designated emergency pickup point, but the helicopter never appeared. Ratcliffe later revealed that this was due to an illness suffered by the pilot, while en route, necessitating his abandoning his mission on this occasion.

Because of a malfunctioning emergency radio, that allowed them only to send messages and not receive them, the patrol did not realise that while trying to reach overhead allied jets, they had in fact been heard by a US jet pilot. The jet pilots were aware of the patrol's problems but were unable to raise them. Many sorties were flown to the team's last known position and their expected exfiltration route in an attempt to locate them and to hinder attempts by Iraqi troops trying to capture them. Exfiltration route Edit Standard operating procedures mandate that before an infiltration of any team behind enemy lines, an exfiltration route should be planned so that members of the patrol know where to go if they get separated or something goes wrong. The plans of the patrol indicated a southern exfiltration route towards Saudi Arabia. According to the SAS daily record log kept during that time, a TACBE transmission from the patrol was received on 24 January. The log read "Bravo Two Zero made TACBE contact again, it was reasonable to assume that they were moving south," [32] though in fact the patrol headed north-west towards the Syrian border.

Coburn's account suggests that during the planning phase of the mission, Syria had been the agreed destination should an escape plan need to be implemented. He also suggests that this was on the advice of the Officer Commanding B Squadron at that time. According to Ratcliffe, the change in plan nullified all efforts over the following days by allied forces to locate and rescue the team. McNab has also been criticised for refusing advice from superiors to include vehicles in the mission (to be left at an emergency pickup point) which would have facilitated an easier exfiltration. Another SAS team used Land Rovers in this role when they also had to abandon a similar mission. However, it is also suggested that the patrol jointly agreed not to take vehicles because they felt they were too few in number and the vehicles too small (only short-wheelbase Land Rovers were available) to be of use and were ill-suited to a mission that was intended to be conducted from a fixed observation post. Separation Edit During the night of 24/25 January, [36] whilst McNab was trying to contact a passing Coalition aircraft using a TACBE communicator, the patrol inadvertently became separated into two groups.

Whilst the others waited for a response on the TACBE, Phillips, Ryan and MacGown continued to move through the darkness. [37] Neither of the two resultant groups followed the standard emergency rendezvous (ERV) procedure they had been trained to follow—and had previously followed the night before. [38] Instead, both groups independently continued north towards the Syrian border. [39] After the separation, Phillips, Ryan and MacGown were equipped with two M16 / M203 assault rifles and a Browning Hi-Power pistol between them, [40] as well as at least one TACBE, and the night sight around Ryan's neck. [41] McNab, Pring, Lane, Consiglio, and Coburn were equipped with their original weapons (three Minimis and two M16 / M203s between them) as well as MacGown's Minimi (which MacNab was carrying, but soon discarded). [42] The larger group carried at least one TACBE, and the Magellan GPS. According to Ryan, he was also carrying a 66 mm LAW rocket which he had struggled to free from his Bergen during the initial contact.

[43] According to McNab however, the only item removed by Ryan from his Bergan was a silver hipflask, [44] and it was McNab who was the only one carrying a 66 after this contact. This can be backed up by McNab's book Bravo Two Zero in which he stated he left the 66 in the bergen and was the only one to do so. [44] Despite conflicting accounts, it is possible that Ryan may have in fact eventually ended up with McNab's LAW rocket, an item that Ryan later claimed to have used against an Iraqi 'Land-Rover type' vehicle, [45] though this event is discounted by Ratcliffe who states that, at the Regimental debrief, "[Ryan] made no mention at all of encountering enemy troops on his trek." [46] Death of Phillips Edit In the evening of 25 January, Ryan, MacGown and Phillips left the tank berm they had stayed in during the day and headed north. [47] Phillips was already suffering from hypothermia, and could not hold his M16 / M203 , which was handed to MacGown.

[47] As they continued, Phillips' condition worsened to the point where he mistook his black gloves for the colour of his own hands, and began yelling out loud. [48] Eventually, Phillips lost contact with the other two somewhere around 2000 hrs, and died a short time later. [49] According to Ryan [50] and MacGown, [51] they both searched for Phillips for about twenty minutes before deciding to continue without him, while according to General Sir Peter de la Billière , only Ryan searched while MacGown waited. [52] Ryan also indicated that he didn't know Phillips was necessarily dead when he wrote: "I hoped to God that [Phillips] was doing the same. That he would find his way down ..." [53] and later "there were still five to account for," [54] though MacGown admitted he knew Phillips was dead at the time.

[55] Sergeant Vince Phillips, a nineteen-year veteran of the British Armed Forces , and eight-year veteran of the Special Air Service , [56] was 36 when he died of hypothermia in the evening of 25 January 1991 in North Western Iraq. [57] According to the SAS regimental roll of honour, it states that Phillips died of exposure while evading capture in Iraq on the 22nd of January 1991 at the age of 36. Capture of MacGown Edit At about midday on 26 January, [58] Ryan and MacGown were stumbled upon by an ‘old’ (according to MacGown) [51] goat herder tending a flock of goats. After discussions involving killing the man, MacGown decided to go with him to locate a vehicle, while Ryan decided it was not safe to do so and remained where he was under the agreement that MacGown would return by 1830 hrs.

MacGown took with him Phillips' M16 / M203 , but left his belt kit, in order to not "cut such an aggressive figure." [59] MacGown walked with the goat herder for about four hours, before encountering a group of men, with a Toyota Landcruiser vehicle. [60] According to Ryan, MacGown shot and killed an unarmed Arab as he ran towards the vehicle, followed by two more armed with AK-47s . Without his belt kit, he had run out of ammunition, and was captured as he attempted to take the vehicle. [60] According to McNab's account, the old goat herder left MacGown with directions to a hut, where he found two vehicles. [61] After killing a uniformed Iraqi soldier attempting to reach one of the vehicles, "six or seven" more came from the hut, three of whom were killed before MacGown's M16 / M203 jammed, and he was captured as he sat in one of the vehicles.

[61] According to an interview given by MacGown in 2002, he came across the first soldier near a vehicle: "I brought up my trump card which was "mohaba" and he said nothing, and I carried on talking and he then made a dash for the vehicle. I shot him in the head. A single shot." [62] As more soldiers came out of the hut, MacGown aimed his rifle and fired but heard a click, indicating he was out of ammunition. It was apparent that Phillips had never reloaded the weapon after the initial contact on 24 January. [63] For reasons unknown to MacGown, the soldiers did not return fire, but instead took him captive. Hijack of vehicle by McNab's group Edit During the evening of 26 January, McNab's group of five commandeered a taxi by having Consiglio pretend to be wounded in McNab's arms whilst lying on the side of a road. [64] When the car approached, Pring, Lane, and Coburn came up from behind cover and surrounded the vehicle.

[65] According to McNab's account, the group evicted all occupants from the taxi and drove until they reached a check point, where Lane shot and killed one soldier, while the others in the group killed two more. [66] According to Ryan's second-hand account (presumably taken from the Regimental debriefing), the group were driven to the checkpoint by one of the Iraqi occupants of the taxi. They exited the vehicle with plans to rendezvous on the other side of the checkpoint, but the driver alerted the Police, and the group were forced to continue on foot. [65] Asher's investigation supported Ryan's version of events with no reported armed contact and no reported Iraqi casualties. [67] Capture of McNab's group Edit In the early morning of 27 January, McNab's group of five came into contact with local civilians and Police. Consiglio was shot and killed by armed civilians at approximately 0200 hrs. [68] Lane died of hypothermia later that same morning after swimming the Euphrates with Pring, [69] who along with McNab and Coburn was subsequently captured.

During an exchange of gun fire prior to capture, Coburn was shot in both the arm and ankle. [70] According to McNab, the four captured patrol members (McNab, Pring, MacGown and the wounded Coburn) were moved numerous times, enduring torture and interrogation at each successive location. [71] According to MacGown however, "incidents such as teeth extraction and burning with a heated spoon did not happen. It is inconceivable that any such incidents could have occurred without them being discussed or being physically obvious." [72] News footage of MacGown and Pring taken at the time of their release on 5 March, showed no evidence of any facial injuries and the members were described as 'in good shape' by a Red Cross representative. [13] They were last held at Abu Ghraib Prison before their release. Ryan's escape to Syria Edit Ryan made SAS history with the "longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper or any other soldier," to make it to Syria, covering 180 miles (290 km), more than SAS trooper Jack Sillito had in the Sahara Desert in 1942.

[73] Equipment FN Minimi light support machine gun Each member of the patrol wore a two-shade Desert DPM uniform, with a World War II era sand-coloured desert smock. [74] While the other members had regular issue army boots, Ryan (the only member to avoid eventual capture) wore a pair of £100, "brown Raichle Gore-Tex -lined walking boots." [75] Each member carried a belt kit , 'Bergen' rucksack , one sandbag of food, one sandbag containing two NBC suits , extra ammunition bandoliers and a 5 imp gal (23 l) jerry can of water. [28] [76] "The belt kit contained ammunition, water, food and trauma-care equipment." [77] The rucksack contained 25 kilos of sandbags and observation post equipment, seven days worth of rations , spare batteries for the radio, demolition equipment (including PE4 plastic explosive , detonators, and both Claymore and Elsie anti-personnel mines ), [78] and intravenous drips and fluids for emergencies.

[79] The patrol also had a PRC 319 HF patrol radio carried by Lane, [80] four TACBE communication devices (carried by McNab, [81] Ryan, [43] and two others) to communicate with allied aircraft, a Magellan GPS carried by Coburn [82] and a night sight (referred to as a 'kite-site') carried by MacGown. [41] The total weight of each member's kit was estimated at 95 kg (209 lb) by McNab [76] and 120 kg (260 lb) by Ryan. [28] McNab, [83] Phillips, [40] Ryan, [75] and Lane [75] carried M16 / M203 assault rifles, [84] while Pring, [85] Consiglio, [85] MacGown, [86] and Coburn [87] carried FN Minimi light support machine guns. [88] Each member carried a 66 mm LAW rocket on his back.

[89] [90] Due to a missing shipment within the squadron, [91] Phillips was the only member who carried a backup weapon, a Browning Hi-Power pistol. [92] Literary accounts Edit The first public literary mention of the patrol was in the autobiography of Lieutenant-General Peter de la Billière , the commander of the British Forces during the Gulf War. Storm Command ( ISBN 0002551381 ) only mentioned the patrol in passing, but broke the ground for further books to be written on the subject. The book was released in 1992. The patrol commander authored an account of the patrol in a book titled Bravo Two Zero ( ISBN 0-440-21880-2 ) under the pseudonym ' Andy McNab '. McNab used pseudonyms and nicknames for the patrol members who survived, but controversially used the full names of those who died. [93] The book was released in 1993. A second member of the patrol authored The One That Got Away ( ISBN 0-09-946015-7 ) under the pseudonym ' Chris Ryan '.

It criticized McNab's leadership of the patrol and was particularly hostile in tone to the conduct of Phillips. In a later TV appearance Ryan (and perhaps in partial retraction) may have alluded to Phillips' memory saying he had once seen 'a very brave man' dying of hypothermia. [94] As with McNab's account, Ryan used the same pseudonyms for those who survived, but referred to Phillips, Lane and Consiglio by their real names. Ratcliffe said of this move, "[It is] insensitive on [Ryan's] and [McNab's] parts to hide behind pseudonyms when they named their dead colleagues in their books, in deliberate contravention of the Regiment's traditions." [93] The book was released in 1995. Peter Ratcliffe (The SAS's Regimental Sergeant Major at the time of the patrol) wrote Eye of the Storm ( ISBN 1930983018 ) which refers the controversy surrounding the differing accounts of the patrol in some detail. The book was released in 2000.

Both McNab's and Ryan's earlier accounts were critiqued by SAS reserve veteran Michael Asher in The Real Bravo Two Zero ( ISBN 0-304-36554-8 ). In 2001, Asher followed the original path of the patrol, interviewing local Iraqis who witnessed the events. The book was released in 2003. The Gulf War Chronicles ( ISBN 0595296696 ) by Richard Lowry recounted much of the patrol's story, though appeared to borrow heavily from the earlier story published by McNab. The book was released in 2003. A third member of the patrol authored Soldier Five ( ISBN 1-84018-907-X ) under the pseudonym ' Mike Coburn ,' [21] [22] aimed to "set the story straight", in reference to criticism of patrol member Vince Phillips in previous publications. The book was released in 2004. The account also levelled damning accusations against the army, and the Ministry of Defence went to great lengths to attempt to prevent its publication, which they failed to do, although they were granted all of the book´s profits.

[95] [96] [97] W. A. Harbinson under the writing pseudonym "Shaun Clarke" presents a strikingly similar story to that told in the accounts of McNab and Ryan in the first book of his SAS adventure series, Soldier A: SAS - Behind Iraqi Lines ( ISBN 1-898125-00-7 ). Events that seem to be the same include the crossing of the Euphrates and subsequent death of "Legs" Lane in a hut nearby; the drinking of radioactive/contaminated water by a lone SAS member running for Syria; the patrol being split into 3 and 5; the group of 3 splitting up after one dies of hypothermia, and the incident regarding a member who thought his hands had turned black when he was indeed wearing gloves, the remaining two of that group splitting up after one decides to follow a goat-herder. However, Harbinson's book was published in July 1993, [98] pre-dating the publication of McNab's account in October 1993, [99] and Ryan's two years later.

The character who makes a run for Syria is given the name Danny Porter, while MacGown is called Stan, and Phillips, Taff. The source of Harbinson's apparent knowledge of detailed information relating to the real Bravo Two Zero patrol is unknown. Will Fowler writes of the patrol over a number of pages in SAS Behind Enemy Lines: Covert Operations 1941-2005 ( ISBN 0-00-719990-2 ), however he names the patrol commander as Sergeant "Mitch" Mitchell, [100] whilst naming the other members as per previous literary accounts. His account follows the same basic story line, however at one point he states that there were only two LAW rockets between the whole patrol, [100] not one each as per McNab's and Ryan's accounts. Dramatic and documentary accounts Edit ITV produced a one-off dramatic version of Ryan's book, also titled The One That Got Away, in 1996.

The film starred Paul McGann as 'Ryan', and was directed by Paul Greengrass , director of the television drama Bloody Sunday , and the feature films United 93, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum . The BBC produced a two-part adaptation of McNab's book, also titled Bravo Two Zero, in 1998. It starred Sean Bean as 'McNab' and was directed by Tom Clegg. In addition to using all of McNab's characters' pseudonyms, the names of the three deceased patrol members, Phillips, Consiglio and Lane were also changed for the film. In 2002, Channel 4 aired Asher 's documentary (which accompanied his book), also titled The Real Bravo Two Zero directed and produced by Gavin Searle. [101] In 2003, the TV-series JAG ran an episode (The One That Got Away, S9, EP04) loosely based on the story of Bravo Two Zero involving US Marines Force Recon in Iraq. The name of the team that was involved was Bravo Two One. The Video Game Conflict: Desert Storm is very loosely based on the events of Bravo Two Zero.

The Third mission loosely depicts the Insertion of McNab's Team. The Video Game Conflict: Desert Storm II is a sequel of Conflict: Desert Storm , and is very loosely based on the events of Bravo Two Zero. The 6th mission of the game, POW, is a clear depiction of the Abu Ghraib Prison Break. The Video Game I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike had Chris Ryan as a consultant for game development. References More About Andy McNab More About Andy McNab Daily Telegraph (15 June 1997) Gulf author in war of words with ex-wife By Alastair McQueen ANDY McNab, the SAS Gulf War veteran and best-selling author, has been accused by his ex-wife of making "silly and ridiculous" legal attempts to stop full publication of her book Married to the SAS. McNab, the commander of the ill-fated patrol Bravo Two Zero, has written two books about his time in the SAS and fought the Ministry of Defence for the right to publish the second, Immediate Action. Now his third wife, Frances Nicholson, has written her account of life married to an SAS man and McNab has taken legal action to stop certain passages being included.

After a year of letters from his solicitor, her publisher John Blake has now agreed to remove the passages to ensure the book is published. Mrs Nicholson, 38, said she thought it ironic that a man who fought in the courts over his own book had tried to ban parts of hers. She said: "The man who fought the Ministry of Defence for the right to publish has put every obstacle in my way. Some of the things he wanted removed are ridiculous. But he made no secret of the fact that he could afford to fight all the way through the courts to stop me. His attitude to my book became very silly in the end. He is very, very protective of his image as the great British hero. Even if I had written the Bible he would have objected." According to Mr Blake, McNab claimed that the name he writes under was a trademark which Mrs Nicholson could not use, but backed down after she threatened to use his real name, which he believed would endanger his life. He said: "We have had a year of legal letters between his lawyers and ourselves. He has tried very, very hard to stop it. I have been very disappointed at his attitude.

Before all this, like everyone else in the country, I regarded him as a national hero." In the book, Mrs Nicholson tells how she frequented bars in Hereford, where the SAS is based, to pick up members of the regiment. She said: "I don't know if he is upset because I slept with people he was serving with. It is hard living in a small place like Hereford when your husband has left you and you see him going round with his new girlfriend and you are left with a child. So you think about tit for tat." Tomorrow, Mrs Nicholson, who is now married to an American soldier and lives in the United States, will begin a round of interviews in Britain. McNab was unavailable for comment yesterday. But his lawyer, David Hooper, of Biddle and Co, said: "We have pointed out the dangers of publishing defamatory material. The book, as originally written, was in our view defamatory. Far from trying to suppress the book we agreed with the publisher changes which would not result in Mr McNab having to take action against them.

We took the view that prevention was better than cure." Daily Telegraph (8 October 1998) 'We don't go around killing all the time' His third wife claimed that SAS men were sex maniacs... so what is Britain's most famous trained killer like in the flesh? Petronella Wyatt finds out I AM gazing out of the window, searching the faces in the street for that of Andy McNab, the former SAS soldier turned best-selling author. I have no idea what to look for. Photographs of McNab, which is not his real name, are always blacked out. This is because of the "unofficial threat" from the friends and families of people he has killed. Will he be tall or short? Ugly or handsome? Loud, or with an urgent quietude? Will his figure resemble that of a Chippendale or will it have been emaciated by the privations of war? If anything, the man in most of the doctored photographs appears rather fierce, with a growth of beard and the fuzzy hair peculiar to redheads. Suddenly, the door opens and a pale young man who has been loitering downstairs for the past few minutes bursts in.

He is clean shaven, his eyes are as blue as Anatolian waters. The hair is not red but black. He grins at me. Oh, God. It occurs to me he is a hired assassin. He is going to "take me out" and then wait for McNab. But this is McNab. "Those photos don't do me justice," he laughs. "And I hadn't shaved when they did them." He sits, flexing his whippet-lean legs. "I tell you, it's great to be famous - and at the same time to be able to go down to the pub without anyone recognising you." The whole thing started, in traditional English-style, with a cock-up. If McNab and his patrol had not met with disaster in the Gulf War in 1991, he would never have written his account of the mission, Bravo Two Zero, the book that nudged him along the path to wealth and notoriety. "We were supposed to be disabling Scud missiles, when we were spotted by this shepherd boy," he recalls. "Well, you can't go around killing children, it would give you a bad press. So we got caught instead." Their cover blown, three of the patrol were killed.

McNab was captured and tortured for six weeks. This would have broken most men, but it was the making of him. He was awarded the DCM. Bravo Two Zero was followed by Immediate Action, McNab's no-holds-barred autobiographical tale of life in the SAS, which the Army tried to ban, and Remote Control, a thriller, also frowned upon by the MoD. At 38, McNab now moves between France and the United States, where he vets action film scripts for authenticity. "I guess I projected the SAS into the nation's consciousness," McNab admits. "And in a pretty controversial way." There had been military memoirs before his, of course, but they were written by members of the officer class (including General Sir Peter de la Billière, former commander of the SAS and British forces in the Gulf war). The official reaction to Bravo Two Zero was extremely hostile. According to newspaper reports, he was banned from his regimental base. "It was a hypocritical class thing," he says, examining his nails. Indeed, McNab insists that it was "the establishment" that suggested he write Bravo Two Zero in the first place.

"They wanted someone to set the record straight about the abortive Scud missile mission, but then the whole success of the book got out of control. They were amazed by the sales and they got frightened." At this point, I suggest to McNab that I am sceptical that he wrote his first book solely as a favour to "the establishment". Surely financial gain played a not inconsiderable part as well? He smiles affably. "Yes, of course it did. I was getting older and you can't stay in the Army for ever. I wanted security and the good life, I've wanted that all my life." Like the ace working-class spy Sidney Reilly, Andy McNab was born on the wrong side of the blanket. He was brought up in Peckham by adoptive parents: he says he has no desire to know his real mother and father. His natural mother apparently left him on the steps of Guy's Hospital in London, wrapped in a carrier bag. McNab grew up on the streets, and joined gangs at a young age. When he was eight, he witnessed his first death. Another young gang member was killed falling through a roof.

Hardened by this experience, McNab went on to steal - everything from car radios to cheque books. He was sent to a detention centre, where he sobered up and decided on an Army career. "I hated detention. Really hated it. I thought there was only one way I was going to get out of my miserable life and that was by joining the Army. Also, the ads at the time were great - real James Bond stuff." McNab was posted to Northern Ireland. He was 19 when he first killed a man, a terrorist in South Armagh. What did it feel like? "It was very exciting for a 19-year-old," he enthuses, as if recalling the first time he had sex. "There was the adrenalin rush and the thought of the credibility it would bring. Then there was the soft toilet paper." Toilet paper? "What I mean is, I got to stay in Ireland. And in Ireland they gave you soft toilet paper, which they didn't in England. "There is a misconception, though, that we go around killing people all the time. You only shoot if they are in a position to shoot at you. It's defensive.

You have to protect your group." McNab speaks of death in a voice that drifts coolly through the air like cigarette smoke; he seems almost completely unmoved by the subject. He joined the SAS in 1984 after a gruelling series of training courses. His career cannot have done much for his personal life: indeed, he has three failed marriages behind him. His first, to Christine, went, as he puts it, to "ratshit". He left his second wife, Debbie, by jumping out of the window. Why did he do that? "Because I couldn't get out of the door. It was locked." He has an 11-year-old daughter by his third marriage to a pretty blonde, Frances Nicholson. But the child was not enough to keep the relationship together. After their divorce, Nicholson wrote a book about their life. She claimed that SAS men were sex maniacs who beat up their wives. I try to imagine myself being in love with McNab but find it hard. Although he is undoubtedly good looking, his is the gaudy glamour of a prancing animal without a soul. Are you a sex maniac? I ask. He considers this. "No more than anyone else.

Look, SAS people are fit young men. Obviously they attract women. It's like being a member of a football team." The ancient Greeks said that battle made them feel horny. Was this true? "Nah. After a fight, I just wanted to get drunk with my mates and go to sleep. I was very selfish, I admit. My career came before my marriages. I'm sorry for my wives. They had to put up with a lot." Frances Nicholson told journalists that McNab exerted pressure on her to use false names in her book. He says this is not true. "I didn't try to stop her using her real name. That was just a publicity stunt to sell the book. It sounded good to say I asked her to use a false name." This brings us to his own use of a pseudonym. When, in 1995, he was named in court documents, he accused the MoD of endangering his life. But does anyone genuinely want to kill him? Surely there are more important targets, like the Northern Ireland Secretary, who, incidentally, doesn't skulk about using a false name? He is offended. "I am important.

What do you mean no one wants to kill me?" OK, assuming they did, surely they would manage it despite the false name. What if I were an assassin? I could be concealing a gun. What would he do then. How would he "stuff" me? Startled, he gazes at me in disbelief. "Why would I want to do that? In those instances you try to run away. I'd get out as quick as I could. I wouldn't stay and fight." McNab concedes that anonymity has commercial advantages. "Now it's become my pen name, there is not much point in changing it. I could decide there was a time when there was no longer any danger to me or my family, but what's the point? "As I said, it's nice to be able to go on the Tube without people knowing who you are. I get the best of both worlds." It has been said many times that McNab is a poor role model for the young, and that he has abused the security of an institution for financial gain. But he believes he has acted responsibly. "My so-called revelations have never risked security.

In Remote Control, I describe how to make bombs out of household items, but I don't give the ingredients, so no one could actually do it. You're more likely to find out how on the Internet." He goes on hurriedly. "It's the media that see us as glamorous to the young. My books show we're not. There are no watches that turn into submarines or anything. I take war very seriously. I think it's bad that soon we'll have a generation in power that has only seen it on the television. It will make politicians too relaxed about it. War should be the last possible option." McNab narrows his blue eyes. "I got out in time. Most ex-Army people end up as pathetic security guards. I didn't want that. I wanted something more." He would seem to have got what he wanted: a film of Bravo Two Zero is to be released next year, in which he is played by Sean Bean. Not bad, eh? "Yeah. I've been very lucky," he reflects. "It could have been Harry Enfield." BBC Andy McNab Interview (1999) He joined the army after being done for breaking and entering, and had killed a man by the age of 19.

He was stuck in Winchester during the Falklands war, when it seemed every time there was an operation to go on, the SAS got to go, so Andy McNab decided to join that elite service. On an SAS operation behind Iraqi lines during the Gulf war, the patrol McNab was leading was attacked. Three members died, one escaped to Syria, and four - including McNab - were captured and tortured. McNab's book about the experience, Bravo Two Zero, has sold over a million and a half copies. Another book, Immediate Action, followed - and now a BBC film starring Sean Bean. McNab relaxes by riding his 850cc Yamaha, and studying medieval history. Andy McNab is not his real name. Do you see the filming of Bravo Two Zero as setting the record straight after the earlier controversial TV movie based on Chris Ryan's The One That Got Away? (David Fevyer, Bournemouth) Not really no because the same TV production company approached me to do Bravo Two Zero before they approached Chris and they wanted to do the same thing with Bravo. I turned down their offer.

What did you think of your character portrayd in The One That Got Away, and was there really much animosity between you and Chris Ryan? (Colin Lugwardine) The whole thing was certainly unfair to the dead people who can't defend themselves. At the time I was really annoyed and so were the rest of the patrol. What I understand now is that it's all to do with money and viewing figures. Unfortunately, Chris got ripped off and lost control which is a shame because he has taken the blame for something which is not necessarily his fault. There was hostility to him within the regiment One of the squadrons came back from a trip and went knocking on his door. It just got out of control and he's had to move out of Hereford (where the SAS is based). He doesn't deserve it. Now I'm involved in television, I understand the concern with viewing figures. Chris Ryan was probably badly advised. What role have you played in the filming of Bravo Two Zero? I went to South Africa with the crew and talked to the director who had the challenge of creating the illusion of realism. So I was helping to create that illusion and help the actors. They might ask what I would be feeling in certain situations.

So I gave both technical advice and shared my experience. We didn't have formal sessions but we'd start casual conversations. One torture scene we filmed in an empty prison was actually quite hard for me to watch. Do you think that by revealing so much of the SAS's methods of operation you have made future activites more difficult for the regiment? (Gary Humphrey, Rochester) No, absolutely not. All three books have gone through the official vetting process. You can give someone a car manual but it's unlikely they will be able to strip the car. There have been loads of books about the regiment before Bravo Two Zero. It's nothing new. The authorities are happy provided there's nothing that will compromise operations. The regiment's main activities in Bosnia, the Gulf and Northern Ireland are well-known, but the more sensitive operations are protected by feeding the public information on the high profile work. Does Britain still need the SAS? Even more so. We no longer have a heavy standing army. To get a rapid action force anywhere in the world you need a forward 'recce' group to secure a landing. Quick reaction troops are more valuable than ever.

The infantry will still be doing the same thing, but the emphasis will be on force projection using C-17 aircraft. We'll be able to move a brigade from one end of the world to another within 24 hours, which is a whole new concept for the Brits and the SAS will work on advance preparation. Would you do the Gulf War mission again, and if so would you do it differently? (Russell, West Kirby) With hindsight we wouldn't have been sent out in the first place. It's very strange when the experts talk about it. They weren't there when the decisions were made so they don't know the background. It's not a science. When people were criticising General Norman Shwartzkopf (Gulf War commander) for sending our patrol out he said 'that's all well and good but I didn't see these people when these decisions were being made.' I wouldn't do the mission now because I know it would have been a failure. There were more than 3,000 Iraqi troops in the area, effectively two armoured brigades that shouldn't have been there that intelligence hadn't picked up. They only discovered this about four days after we arrived! Is bombing Iraq an effective policy?

Bombing is effective if there is an aim. If it's just to bomb for the sake of it, there's no point. During the recent raids Britain made it sound like we have a big influence. The Americans sent in about 400 aircraft and the Brits a small fraction of that. Bombing to kill people doesn't achieve anything. Now the West is beginning to say it's actively trying to get Saddam out and so the bombs might have a real purpose. Is it difficult for British troops to serve American officers? No not at all. Basically, the US and British special forces have joint operations and training. At the end of the day the Americans and the Foreign Office are our biggest employers. There's nothing new to the co-operation. Do you still suffer any lasting damage from the torture you endured under the Iraqis? How do you deal with this? (Lee Marriot, Moscow, Russia) I don't find it difficult to talk about. I have a permanent sensory and mobility problem with the left index finger and I can't open a drinks can with it. The rest of my fingers have recovered. The nerves started to form again at the base of the spine. There's obviously still scarring but kids get that from falling over.

If I start drinking fluids, I do have to go straight to the toilet. I don't hold water well. That's really it. The teeth have been fixed and screwed in! Have you ever thought about helping people recover or prepare experiences of torture and interrogation? I work with the FBI on a programme called 'agent enrichment'. In the past they've had undercover people taken in Mexico and South America. I've also just finished a video for the for the Harrier pilots in the Fleet Arm who face the possibility of going down in a place like Bosnia. I'm not involved in any post-capture treatment groups, although I do know John McCarthy and Terry Waite. What they suffered during five years of confinement and all the accompanying uncertainty is much worse than my own experience. Do you ever wish you had killed the shepherd boy who accidentally discovered where your SAS unit? (Greg Hyde, Westbury) No. Emotionally, as human beings and fathers we just would not want to do that. On the technical side we couldn't kill him because soldiers operating in enemy territory are not going to last five minutes if they are captured after killing kids.

If we shot him as he ran away, we would have given our position away and if we killed the kid we would have had to take the body with us too. We never leave anything behind. Basically, it would have counter-productive. Why are people so fascinated by the SAS and its operations. Much of it is built up by the media. There have always been books about the SAS even before the Iranian Embassy siege. I bought the books and the Daily Express picture special. The idea of the SAS did seem glamorous to me before I started training for selection, but the month long process is designed to weed out people who think they are going to be James Bond. Your job is to be a professional soldier. The undercover work comes at a later date. You need to learn the foundations first. When you are admitted the regiment gives you proper training. People too have different aptitudes. For example, the Fijians wouldn't be any use undercover in Northern Ireland. If the conflict resumes in Northern Ireland do you think the paramilitaries could be defeated militarily? No absolutely not. We fight, rightly, under a lot of restrictions because we have to adhere to the civil law and the paramilitaries should be treated as criminals rather than terrorist organisations.

Clinically speaking, they have already won and that's why we've been there 30 years. Our opponents don't obey the same rules. If you look at the majority of terrorist actions around the world, it seems to work. How do you the compare the pressure working in Iraq with active duty in Northern Ireland? There's more stress working in Northern Ireland because there's quite a lot of political pressure. People allege there's a shoot to kill policy, but there isn't any. When you get involved in an incident you don't just come back and drink tea. Weapons go to forensics and they take statements. Sometimes your hands are bagged so your story is tested against the evidence from forensics. If it doesn't match, you will be prosecuted. On a couple of occasions as an eighteen year old soldier I was confused, but at the end of the day if you're old enough to vote, you should be old enough to fight. It's the army's job to make sure soldiers know what they're doing. How important is it to maintain your anonymity? It's not as drastic as it sounds. It's not cloak and dagger stuff. I'm just protecting my visual identity.

I have had some death threats, but if they were really serious they wouldn't warn you. It's probably Irish terrorism. Some organisations know which members I have killed. If you start opening supermarkets, then you are making yourself a target and you endanger the people around you. I wouldn't ever do book signings. Explosives have been found in bookshops before. Basically, it's not something that gives me sleepless nights. Have you ever considered mercenary work? No. They don't pay enough. I don't know anyone who does it for money. There are three major security companies that hire former members of the regiment. These jobs are extremely well paid and mainly send the ex-soldiers overseas to use their knowledge and skills, but it's not about living in Bosnian trenches. You're an admirer of the First World War soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon who faced disciplinary action for refusing to continue fighting. Have you ever felt similar conscientious objections? Not really. I know people who have. The ethos of the regiment is that if you don't want to do certain kinds of work then you're expected to leave to army. I knew a guy called Frank who became a priest and got out.

However battlefield conditions do literally conflict with your life. You are scared and you don't want to be doing it. If soldiers aren't scared, then they're lying, but as a professional soldier you learn to overcome fear with training and knowledge. Understanding you're afraid actually helps you do the job. My own experience in Iraq didn't prevent me from staying another two years in the army. Nine out of ten times the SAS's job is to stay out of hand to hand combat. We're not big enough to attack other soldiers. Our job is to sabotage power supplies and communications. We have an ethic of shoot and scoot. And you don't think 'I'm doing this for Britain'. From the Korean War onwards, soldiers have been in conflicts for economic reasons, to correct political mistakes and to maintain influence. What are your future plans? I'm in talks with Hollywood about filming Remote Control and I have to finish its sequel book by the end of the month. I'm also going to be working on a new thriller with the BBC.

Sunday Times (Jan 3/99) Born to live behind and between the lines Who dares cleans up, as Andy McNab, the former Special Air Service sergeant who became a multimillionaire through his book on the Bravo Two Zero patrol in the 1991 Gulf war could testify. Tonight and tomorrow Bravo Two Zero comes to our television screens in a special two-part BBC adaptation, so McNab - who also has a thriving career on the lecture circuit and as an adviser to Hollywood on what real violence looks like - will become even more famous. But just as anonymous, for, as a soldier who killed his first IRA terrorist at the age of 19, McNab considers it prudent not to be photographed. This may be a personal obsession (although those shadowy, mysterious silhouettes are great publicity), but he undeniably embodies a will-o'-the-wisp elusiveness that is not wholly contrived. McNab, of course, is not his real name, and the couple who brought him up - an Irish Catholic mother and an Anglican father - were not his real parents. His real mother left him as an infant in a Harrods carrier bag on the steps of Guy's hospital, London.

He has never had any wish to discover who his real parents were. McNab is a nom de plume, wrapped in an alias, concealed in an enigma. The engima at the heart of McNab is not only what sort of man he is (married four times at the age of 38, his love life has been turbulent to put it mildly) but whether his claim on our admiration is authentic. His doggedness, whether under fire or enduring torture, is astonishing. "You've lost people, all right," he says, "but you don't sit around having tea and toast and talking about them. You just crack on." And yet his eight-man patrol (three of whom died) killed an estimated 250 Iraqi troops between them, mostly in close-range firefights. It is an awesome, if unfashionable, reminder of how warlike the British can be if the mood takes them. McNab witnessed his first death at the age of eight when a member of his schoolboy gang fell 30ft through a skylight onto a concrete floor as they played in a derelict building.

His childhood in Peckham, south London, was unsettled and he moved house nine times, attending seven different schools. Although he would grow into a whippet-lean 11st, he was plump as a youngster and took to running to lose unwanted weight and avoid gibes. Not much good at school, McNab turned to petty crime. He stole car radios, dabbled in burglary in Dulwich and had a spell "tipping over Portaloos so I could nick the occupants' handbags". At 15 he was driving delivery lorries, having failed to gain entry to the masonic world of the still-powerful print unions. He got caught for breaking and entering and was sent, briefly, to a detention centre. "I really hated that," he says. "I thought there was only one way I was going to get out of my miserable life, and that was by joining the army. Don't forget that the adverts at the time told you everybody would want to employ you when you got out and there were pictures of windsurfers and sunny beaches - 'See the world!' It all sounded brilliant.

I barely knew where Northern Ireland was, let alone what was going on there." McNab signed up and was posted to Northern Ireland. On patrol in Crossmaglen at the age of 18 he saw an army colleague die for the first time. His friend was trying to lower a booby-trapped Irish tricolour when 1 1/2 lb of explosive went off: "The top half of his body had been taken out completely. Bits of him were hanging off the armoured vehicle. Everyone in the town was pouring out of the pubs, cheering." The following year he killed a terrorist in south Armagh. "It was very exciting for a 19-year-old. There was the adrenaline rush, and the thought of the credibility it would bring." Afterwards, when the high had worn off, he felt scared. "I didn't like people trying to kill me. It's not a natural thing to shoot at somebody and have somebody shoot at you." The army gave structure and discipline to his life but no overweening love of traditional authority. There was a rude awakening when he was promoted.

"I was thinking, 'Great, I'm a full corporal now - so in other words I'm God.' But then I was made to go grouse-beating for the brigadier and his mates. I didn't have a choice, and I really hated that." The obvious way to fulfil his individuality was to join the SAS - a glamour unit in the British public's eyes since the Iranian embassy siege of 1980, its reputation further burnished by derring-do exploits in the 1982 Falklands war. McNab joined in 1984. Formally, his specialisations were "counter-terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information-gathering in hostile environments and VIP protection", tasks that took him to the Middle and Far East and South and Central America as well as spending two years undercover in Londonderry. It was in Northern Ireland, however - urinating in plastic cans and wrapping his faeces in clingfilm in order to leave no trace at a surveillance point - that the strange skills of the secret commando were honed.

"Nobody in the world," he says, "has the sort of continuous experience over 20 years that we have had." McNab's patrol in Iraq - ostensibly to sabotage Scud missiles - turned into an old-fashioned military cock-up. Dropped in the wrong place, the unit was discovered by a child goatherd who McNab wisely decided not to kill ("Too much noise; anyway, I wouldn't want that on my conscience for the rest of my life"). After numerous engagements one member of the patrol, Chris Ryan, escaped to Syria, three died, and the remainder - including McNab - were captured and tortured. Released at the end of the war, McNab added a Distinguished Conduct Medal to the Military Medal he had won in Northern Ireland, and Bravo Two Zero became the most decorated patrol since the Boer war. He left the SAS in 1993, but despite the amazing success of his book - £1.5m sales in the UK alone - some of civvy street's problems seemed more intractable than those posed by Saddam Hussein.

His first and second marriages had ended speedily (he exited the second, in proper SAS style, by jumping out of a first-floor window) and his third, by which he had a young daughter, was on the rocks by the time he was in the Gulf. His third wife, now remarried, wrote a book claiming that SAS men were sex-mad sadists. (The SAS, reportedly, has a divorce rate of about 40%.) "I was very selfish, I admit," McNab says. "My career came before my marriages. I'm sorry for my wives. They had to put up with a lot." He also fell out with Chris Ryan, who wrote his own book about the ill-fated patrol (made into a 1996 television film), The One That Got Away. McNab was unflatteringly portrayed as a gung ho glory seeker with an obsessive hatred of "ragheads", and legal skirmishes and cutting-room amendments ensued. "It makes us look like a Mickey Mouse operation," McNab raged.

Only those there at the time know the whole truth but McNab contemptuously rejected a Hollywood proposal for a movie where the patrol bungled an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein and Mel Gibson rode to the rescue. The other civvy street problem was the military establishment, which took a dim view of the literary efforts of squaddies. Although Sir Peter de la Billière, former head of the SAS and British commander in the Gulf war, had written his memoirs, McNab was reportedly banned from the regiment's Hereford headquarters after his own book came out. "It was a class thing," he says. "Historically, it would be senior officers telling the story of a war. What I have done is give the faceworker's view of it." The class thing still irritates him, despite his wealth. He once bought a £64,000 Porsche in Park Lane because the salesman got snooty with him for wandering around the showroom in his tracksuit bottoms and motorcycle helmet. "It was 'Can I help you?' which means 'F*** off.' Really annoying. Really annoying.

So I turned round and thought, 'Right, I'm gonna get one of these.' " It was a lucky day for the salesman, but you can't help thinking it was even luckier that he didn't get up McNab's nose somewhere else, such as in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Sunday Times (Culture) (Dec 6/98) Members of the famous SAS patrol whose mission to destroy Scud missile-launchers during the Gulf war so cruelly failed, have, famously, continued to give conflicting accounts of what actually happened (three so far and counting). An ITV film based on a rival account by Chris Ryan, The One That Got Away, provoked relatives of those who died to complain vehemently about alleged distortions. Now Andy McNab, leader of the patrol, has taken drastic action to make sure that the screen version of his bestseller, Bravo Two Zero, is not marred by dissenting voices when the BBC screens it next year, with Sean Bean starring. McNab has split his entire rights fee - reckoned to be £80,000 - between the survivors and the families of those who died.

Question: Who played Andy McNab in the BBC dramatisation of Bravo Two Zero?
Answer: Sean Bean