Military Adviser for Film and TV
Military Film Technical Adviser
Thats a Wrap for team PB on what has been a very busy year for the company.
A big thanks to all the Cast, Stunts and Supporting actors who have attended our Bootcamps across the globe this year, and we look forward to seeing you all for what already is shaping up to be a busy 2026.
Here are a few snap shots from this years released work with a few teasers thrown in.
Happy Christmas and a prosperous New year from the team. See you on set in 2026.
Since starting my journey in the film industry, 2014. I never thought I would end up working on such a production as Gladiator 2. The sets were the biggest the team or I had ever worked on.
Every day walking on set in Malta and looking at the Colosseum getter larger as we walked towards it, was an unforgettable experience, and to be able to hold a bootcamp in the Colosseum is never going to be beaten.
A big thanks to my “amazing” team who throughout this production conducted :
– Training & Delivery of more than 10 military style bootcamps in 3 countries & 2 continents with multinational military & civilian supporting artists in extreme conditions.
– Working at an extremely fast pace with excellent professionals both in front and behind the camera.
– Organising, managing & sharing our own humility, humour, experiences & professionalism throughout.
From Morocco to Malta then to finish in the UK, over an 8 month period of time this had it all, Blood, sweat & tears, hard work, passion and desire to get the job done.
A special thanks to Sir Ridley Scott for trusting me to deliver the goods.
“Strength & honour”
Team flew to Ouarazate in Morocco working at Altas Studios Which is considered to be the larges studios in the world.
The Moroccan Armed forces provided the bulk of the Supporting artists. The team first go to work selecting the right people for the job by running our famous team PB bootcamp selection test days. Its quite simple. To earn a place on our bootcamp you need to demonstrate you have the right metal attitude and physical dexterity to work on a large scale production. If one man out of 500 can not keep up with the pack during a shoot, the whole shot can be ruined.
Once The selection is done we start with basic marching, Formations and tactics required for the scenes. In total 500 Supporting artists are trained. With all bootcamps overseas there will be language and culteral considerations. April is one of the driest months with tempatures ranging from 75 to 95 fahrenheit, dust storms in the afternoon and the majory of the supporting artists nearing the end of Ramadan 12th March to 10th April.
Week one 250 men split into three Company Groups.
Week 2 another 250 men.
Week three the best 300 with advance training in archery and artilery.
JOB DONE ON PHASE ONE.
The team then travelled to Malta.
To do it all again hundres of supporting artists put through their paces in order to get them match fit and ready for Ridley.
The AD Team with James looking a tad stressed at the start of Malta.
Mission. Select and train supporting artists in the role of Praetorian guards. They’re to March out of the shadows and form a circle within the arena without any markers.
This was an important scene, and one Ridley wanted to get right in as little time as possible.
With 12 cameras watching, there was no room for mistakes.
Here’s the problem. The Colosseum is not a perfect circle. It is more an oval shape, and only 3/4 of the structure was built.
The SAs needed to make sure they did not overstep and potentially overtake the main cast Paul Mescal, who would walk out to take his place in the arena. This meant paul would also need to make sure his pace was fast enough so as not to hold the SAs up for the scene to work.
Solution. Tallest guys at the furthest end. The Shortest at the Shortest section.
We started the training using sports markers, which we paced out to make an exact circle with the centre at the spot where the carriage would land.
Over time, we reduced the markers until each SA knew his mark without the need for them.
Each would count 12 paces on the left foot. With the shortest guys marking time for the first four paces before moving forward.
That way, everyone would meet in the circle at the same time. If you watch carefully, you will notice the pause in them moving forward.
The plan worked, and Ridley got his shot first time round, and the team got the Ridley thumbs up. (They don’t get dished out likely)
Then the writers and actors strikes it us, so the production went into Hiatus for a few months with a movie only half way filmed.
Once back up and running. More bootcamps for the new and to remind the old guard.
One of the perks of the job is to get something in from my old regiment inseted into a scene. Not always possible mainly due to copyright clearances of cap badges, and for Gladiator being set a few years before the birth of the Parachute Regiment, quite a feat, but managed it for Gladiator 2.
After some research I managed to find out the Third Augustan Legion in North Africa, used the Pegasus as their standard. So I convinced props and Ridley to use it for the opening battle, it stayed as the main standard through the movie.
Although slightly different from the Roman version The Pegasus was Introduced during the Second World War and recognised as a symbol of British Airborne Forces for many years.
I manaaged to get it in the The Day of the Jackal, but thats for another blog post.
Two former members of the Parachute Regiment and friends’ who live in Malta, Phil and Dave.
our final bootcamp
Then out of the blue a call to shot some additional footage in the UK in a location near Brighton beach. First Training hundres more Supporting artists at Shepperton Studios was required to get them match fit.
Job done.
link to a hint of future WORK
A few Behind the Scenes pictures from the Agency.
Selecting and training in Estonia and the UK.
Cast and supporting artists training in surveillance and weapons and tactics.
Selection and training supporting artists in Estonia.
The team flew out to Tallin, Estonia, to conduct the selection and training of the Estonian impressive supporting artists and to advise on the action scenes.
For the UK shoot, we travelled down to sunny Hankley Common in Surrey. First, the team selected veterans who Team PB had previously trained to fill the roles of the US Delta Force rescue team.
Job done.
A few behind the scenes pictures of the boot camp and filming of season 2 House of the Dragon.
Like all productions, Team PB works on, and whatever your opinions of the finished product are. It does not take away the hard work and dedication tje cast and crew put into these shows.
A big thanks to all the supporting artists who worked hard for us during the boot camps and filming.
Bootcamp.
Filming.
Hit the link for more information on up and coming productions.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a group of military officials hatch a daring plan to neutralize Hitler’s fleet of German U-boats during World War II. Made up of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, the top-secret combat unit uses unconventional techniques to battle the Nazis and change the course of the war.
The film is inspired by true events and based on the declassified files of the British War Department, ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. AKA the SOE and small-scale raiding force (SSRF).
The film is very loosely based on the book of the same name by war journalist Damien Lewis that narrates the recently declassified history of Winston Churchills top-secret department the SOE tasked with developing a fighting force trained in irregular warfare tactics to operate behind German lines and confuse, disrupt, terrorize, exhaust, and demoralize Hitler and his thugs.
Their methodology included all sorts of ungentlemanly things one really isn’t supposed to do in war: assassinations, black operations, bribery, corruption, money laundering, and much more.
For its own tactical inspiration, the SOE and one of its naval officers, Ian Fleming, pilfered lessons-learned from a range of then non-traditional warlords such as T.E. Lawerence, Michael Collins, and Al Capone. This was war with the gloves off.
Their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.
Co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a stellar cast including Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Cary Elwes.
The real operation, Operation Postmaster, was very different to what’s portrayed on screen as I mentioned in Timeout
Obviously, the ‘Official’ post operation report on Postmaster recorded no enemy kills. The report is then buried and only surfaced in 2014, and a war movie with no kills is going to play more like a documentary, which would not be as entertaining for the majority. And movies are made for everyone to enjoy!
So, to the behind the scenes drama of filmmaking and the military advisor providing military solutions to theatrical problems.
Day raid over, night raid.
The background to this scene.
Originally scripted and planned to be a night shoot, but for logistical reasons out of the productions control, the scenes could only be shot during the day.
The MA is summoned to the director for a military solution to the problem.
I suggested two options.
A. The SOE are conducting a close target recce with the intention of a night raid.
Then they see members of the SS turn up, which mean the prisoner is either going to be relocated or shot, so they have to conduct a daylight raid.
B. The majority of the soldiers get on a truck to go to the local town after a bomb, planted by the team goes off as a diversionary tactic, so the camp is not fully maned, and so a daylight raid at that point would be a good idea.
The director went with solution A because he wanted loads of soldiers to get the good news when things got noisy.
I also managed to get Fillyourboots – FYBUK a quick mention.
During the fight choreography in the bunker scene, I went into the background of the fighting techniques used by the SOE with the stunt co-ordinator and cast.
As per the teachings of SOE instructor .fairbairn and sykes I encouraged Allan Richardson to use the instinctive one hand, three, quarter hip draw.
Did you know?
The first actor to play James Bond on Dr. No. Sean Connery and his stunt double were trained in preparation for the role by weapons expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, who used the same training manuals
Cooking the Grenade.
Grenades have a second safety feature, which is a lever on the side of the main body, called the striker leaver or spoon, that is held in place by the pin. This spoon holds back a striker.
When you hold a grenade and pull the pin,, you do so in a way that keeps the spoon held down. When the spoon is released, the spring-loaded hammer strikes a primer and lights the fuse. The grenade then has an *approximate* 4–5 second fuse before the grenade detonates.
“Cooking” the grenade involves releasing the spoon, but holding onto the activated grenade for a few seconds, letting the fuse burn before throwing it, to limit the opportunity for an enemy to react to it or even throw it back.
Allan liked it!
Hollywood Magazines
One of my pet hates and something I will pester the cast to remember. Always try to get a magazine change during dialogue. Otherwise, the editor might squeeze it out to cut the time down.
For now, these are just a few examples of advice and problem solving given to production.
Now, for some BTS pictures of the hard work and dedication from all the cast and crew. Enjoy!
The Maid of Honour.
The Harbour.
Big bangs.
Training.
The set visitor.
One of the fun jobs to work on
A short snapshot of the training behind the Greek Riot scenes for Jason Bourne 5.
From research, bootcamps, and rehearsals through to shooting.
Cyrano, the movie, filmed in Noto and Mount etna, Sicily in 2020.
At the time of preparation and filming, the country had strict Covid restrictions and was in partial lockdown.
During the main battle scenes on Mount Etna on the last day, the active volcano began to erupt.
Despite this, the set was deamed safe, and we wrapped on time.
As the film is a musical, the period drill is tailored to work with the music and dance movements. If you’re a drill purist, look away.
Here is the journey
The Boot Camp
The battle and the morning Etna erupted on the way to set.
A short video highlighting some of the bootcamps I have worked on when preparing supporting artists, stunts and cast for War and Peace. Vanity Fair and Napoleon.
I along with the historical advisor read the script, providing notes detailing any errors and providing workable suggestions to get the same artistic effect, but closer to reality.
Remember, an advisor can only advise they can not demand to a director to do it the advisors way, Its not your train set and you wont last long in the filming game if you stamp your feet at every inaccuracy . However, I always try to move the drinks cabinet closer to berlin during filming. Some I win and some I lose.
I then set about writing up a boot camp training plan, depending on the year being filmed.
For the British army I used The drill manual The Rules and Regulations for the manual and platoon exercises, formations, field exercise and movement 1807 addition. The Dundas manual and the Imperial Bayonets for the french etc.
Depending on the action or scenes, I will take from the manual what is required and apply it to the training program. I may only have four days to get 300 men to a respectful level of competency in drill, musket training, and cannon training before filming.
Not everything can be covered in the time I am given and some drill needs to be more generic so not to confuse the volunteers to much with information overload.
Health and safety, and working time directives are added to the mix, just the make the job even harder.
Try training 300 men during a productions strict COVID policy. start at 8am, every one is tested and can only start training once everyone’s results are clear, around 10am. one hour lunch break, and I must have all weapons handed in and the volunteers heading home by 1700.
During the boot camp, uniform fitting will take place which gives me even less time with each volunteer.
I run a selection day a week before the bootcamp. This insures the volunteers understand what they are letting themselves in for, and allows me to asses their suitability to attend the boot camp.
Good fitness is a must as filming days are long and can be physically demanding when required to perform intense action sequences.
The selection day allows the costume department to ensure the Volunteers can fit in the uniforms provided.
I have put together some of the action from Vanity fair and Napoleons Battle of waterloo and War and Peace Battle of Borodino. Its not a great edit, but hope you enjoy.
Firstly, a big thank you to all the hard work and resilience of the supporting artists who helped make this movie.
My job is to train mass numbers in the basics of drills and tactics of the projects target period in the shortest time possible in a safe and controlled environment.
Everyone is required to go through a rigorous assessment to ensure everyone is fit and healthy.
Prior preparation and training before a shoot ensures everyone knows their role in the bigger picture on the day.
More photos will be posted in due course.
We can advise, not dictate.
Historical advisors are on hand to advise on the history of the project.
Military advisors are on hand to assist the director in forming the supporting artists to the desired look of his direction.
Advisers can only advise. We cannot insist as its not our train set.
We make drama, not documentaries.
A few Behind the scenes photos and clips from the training and preparation for Malbatt MISI Bakara.
Filmed primarily in Turkey, Gaziantep, and Kilis.
IMDB Paul Biddiss Military Technical Adviser for film and TV Ltd