Bodyline

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Bodyline is an Australian TV miniseries from 1984, retelling the story of the "Bodyline" Cricket series from 1932-33. The English team had developed an unusual — and highly dangerous — tactic to counter the seemingly unstoppable Australian batsman Don Bradman. Bodyline involved bowling very fast and short, bouncing the ball toward the batsman's shoulder, and keeping several fielders close in behind him to catch him out if he attempted to play it. Several players were struck and injured, and the violence of the tactic nearly caused a diplomatic incident between England and Australia.

Takes its time, particularly at the beginning; the first episode is more or less an extended prologue. The first match of the series doesn't even start until episode 3. But while it takes a few liberties with the facts, it's very good at setting the historical scene. Stars Hugo Weaving as English captain Douglas Jardine.

Tropes used in Bodyline include:
  • The Ace: Don Bradman.
  • Aint No Rule: The reason Jardine got away with Bodyline. The rules were subsequently amended.
  • Bad Boss: Jardine in the last episode, forcing Paynter and Larwood to play through injury and illness and holding their wages over their heads. [1]
  • Batman Gambit: Douglas' rise to the captaincy of England involved a couple of these.
  • Berserk Button: The MCC balks at the accusation of "unsportsmanlike" behaviour, and threatens to abandon the tour if it isn't retracted. Douglas' parentage is also one.
  • Blue Blood: Jardine.
  • The Captain: Australian captain Bill Woodfull plays this trope to the hilt.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: The crowd at the Adelaide test when things turn nasty. The police were brought in to protect the English players — although even they are depicted as joining in the chant of "Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"
    • It's been said that if one person had jumped the fence in that moment, the entire crowd would have followed.
  • Completely Missing the Point: The real Harold Larwood received hate mail on the series' airing, despite his relatively sympathetic portrayal and the consensus that Jardine bore the blame.
  • Composite Character: Chook the journalist, for the Australian media (including the actual journalist who invented the word Bodyline), and Jonesy (credited only as The Barracker).
  • Deadpan Snarker: Vic Richardson, who delivers the above CMOF.
    • Chook even more so. "Anyone for tennis?"
  • The Determinator: Eddie Paynter in the final episode.
  • Evil Brit: Obviously.
  • The Great Depression: Forms the setting and informs the plot, giving the economic and psychological consequences of the tour more weight.
  • Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Of course, nobody wore helmets in those days. Contributes to the crossing of the Moral Event Horizon below.
    • In real life, once cricketers started wearing helmets in the 70s, Bradman commented that if someone had offered him a helmet during the Bodyline series, he would have worn it.
    • Jardine, in a textbook he wrote on the game, ridiculed such luxuries as thigh pads and chest protectors, arguing that a bat was enough defence and there was no reason for a grown man to encumber himself so, so it's doubtful he would have bothered with one.
  • Hero's Journey: Inverted, as it's Jardine who is portrayed as undergoing this.
    • Also Deconstructed, in that taking the Hero's Journey turns him into a single-minded obsessive who'll stop at nothing to achieve his aim.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Percy and Douglas, for the first few episodes.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: They didn't take many liberties with the facts, but those they did take certainly didn't help the English side's image.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The MCC realised they had to ban Bodyline once they saw it used against them the following year.
  • It's Personal: Jardine's aim is to win the series, but it's clear his focus is on Bradman specifically.
  • Just Following Orders: Larwood and the others claimed this trope.
  • Large Ham: Lord Harris, who delivers lines like "He has shown great loyalty" in almost Biblical tones.
    • Chook gets a few moments, particularly his monologue to Packer.
    • Jonesy too.
  • The Lancer: Australian captain Bill Woodfull gets two, in Vic Richardson and Bill Ponsford.
  • Lie Back and Think of England: Douglas' girlfriend says that she does this when he starts talking about cricket.
  • Meaningful Echo: Jardine lies about Harris wanting Percy to surrender the captaincy. Percy later uses the same lie to let Jardine know Harris told him as well.
  • The Obi-Wan: Lord Harris to Jardine.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Australian Cricket Board.
  • Only Sane Man: Plum Warner is this for the English side. Jardine completely ignores him.
    • But also G.O. Allen, one of Jardine's fast bowlers, who refused to participate in Bodyline and instead bowled in an orthodox fashion throughout the series. As an amateur himself he had enough social cachet for Jardine to respect his principles - and he returned excellent figures, too.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Jonesy gets in to watch the players train by claiming to be Chook's photographer.
    • Lampshaded when asked about his dog. "Him? Never seen him before in me life. Stay." Works not because of the Idiot Ball but a sympathetic security guard.
  • Pay Evil Unto Evil: Richardson suggests that the Australians try using the Bodyline tactic against the English. Captain Woodfull refuses. [2]
  • Poor Communication Kills: Well, not kills, exactly, but the only reason the MCC did nothing to curb Jardine was that they couldn't actually see what he was doing. When the West Indies used Bodyline in England later that year, they finally realised what all the fuss was about. [3]
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Nawab of Pataudi joins Jardine's team. He would later captain the Indian test team.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Jonesy, when Oldfield is hit.[4] Particularly meaningful given he had earlier said that he would go along to the last day of a match even though it would almost certainly be over in a few minutes.
    • Also the Nawab of Pataudi, who refuses to play Bodyline and is dumped from the team by Jardine.
  • Serious Business: Oh, so very much.
    • Justified in its historical accuracy: the Prime Minister and Sir Frank Packer did get involved, and the tour resulted in diplomatic tension between the two countries. There were serious economic ramifications to cancelling the tour.
  • Shout-Out: Douglas' initial drunken and incoherent explanation of how cricket works is a well-known quotation of unknown origin, titled "Cricket, As Explained To A Foreign Visitor".
  • The Stoic: Bill Ponsford.
  • Upper Class Wit: Percy tries to be this, but he's more just a straight Dandy.
  • Villain Protagonist: While they also show us Bradman's origins, the focus is on Jardine.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Jardine, to an extent.
  1. ↑ But at least one member of the team also admitted that "if it ever comes to a fight to the death, I want the skipper on my side"
  2. ↑ Out of principle or because Australian fast-bowling resources were thin that season? You decide. A few seasons earlier England were welcome to all the bumps and bruises they liked against the Australians McDonald and Gregory. During one of the non-Test matches on the tour, Jardine was knocked off his feet by a fast ball from Aboriginal bowler Eddy Gilbert, which hit him on the hip-bone. He thanked the Australians who asked if he was all right, put his cap back on and continued batting. When he was out, and safely behind a closed dressing-room door, he swore extremely loudly and all but collaped; his team-mates removed his trousers to reveal a bloody weal the size of a saucer. Jardine had his faults, but had more than stomach enough for his own medicine.
  3. ↑ This was Jardine's cue to stand up to the bowling of Constantine and Martindale and make the only hundred of his international career, proving that even Bodyline was surmountable to a batsman of skill, courage and technique. More -- when wicketkeeper Ames was visibly in trouble, Jardine arranged to take most of the strike himself.
  4. ↑ not by a "Bodyline" delivery, and Oldfield candidly admitted it was his own fault.
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