Blackadder's 'Mesh Guard'

[freddy333]

I am often amazed at the lengths UK tv producers will go to maintain factual & historical accuracy (those of you art historians who are familar with the Lovejoy series know what I am talking about). Just now, I was watching the 'Captain Cook' episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, which I have seen dozens of times before, &, in the scene where Blackadder, Baldrick & George were sent out into no-man's land to paint pictures of the German positions, I happened to notice something very unusual & interesting about Blackadder's watch

 

As you can see, the watch crystal has a Mesh Guard covering it, which was an invention often used by soldiers in the trenches of WWI to protect their watches from flying shrapnel.

 

 

Now, I do not know whether the watch was assigned to the actor by the production department or if it belongs to him & he chose to wear it for its historical accuracy. But, either way, this is quite impressive for a tv series!

Now, contrast that with a major Hollywood motion picture like Argo (that takes place in 1979), which has 1 of the main characters wearing a ceramic Submariner (which was 1st produced just a couple of years ago).