Fool Me Once: Film and TV military adviser challenges critics who think it's an easy job
Netflix's latest Harlen Coben novel adaptation, Fool Me Once, has angered some military viewers over what they say are inaccuracies in the portrayal of the Armed Forces.
Viewers took to social media to criticise details such as the uniforms, the actors' handling of assault rifles, their unshaven appearance and the inaccurate wearing of berets.
However, Paul Biddiss – a British veteran turned military/technical adviser to film and TV – has called out all those people demanding military advisers be sacked over inaccuracies.
He said: "Any one of these guys that comment 'oh, the military adviser should be sacked', I'd love to put any of these guys in that situation and see how they cope with it, because they wouldn't."
The eight episodes based on Mr Coben's bestselling novel of the same name explores what happens when British Army veteran Maya Stern, portrayed by actor Michelle Keegan, sees her murdered husband on a secret nanny cam and uncovers a deadly conspiracy that stretches deep into the past.
Some members of the military community believe the costume department has put either a King's Royal Hussars or post-1990 Polish Eagle cap badge on a Royal Military Police beret.
One viewer commented: "Over the wrong eye, unshaped. What on earth has gone on?"
Fool Me Once is not the first TV show to have its military accuracy questioned.
In December, BBC crime drama Vigil was also criticised by viewers on social media for "unforgivable inaccuracies" and Our Girl, also starring Michelle Keegan, was attacked in 2016 for showing soldiers wearing false eyelashes and fake tan while in uniform.
Many are calling for Netflix to employ a military adviser for future projects, but the post-show credits show Ben Simmons, a military adviser who has worked on TV shows such as SAS Rogue Heroes and season six of The Crown, was hired for the role.
However, a Reddit user commented that Mr Simmons' role was to help with the script of Fool Me Once and not as an on-set military adviser.
The beret causing the scandal is worn by the character Shane Tessier, portrayed by Emmett J Scanlan of Kin and Peaky Blinders fame, described by Netflix as Maya's former platoon mate who serves in the military police.
He is seen wearing a badly shaped beret that doesn't fit correctly over the wrong eye leaving him looking "unmilitary and ridiculous", according to a user on X.
Mr Biddiss says there is a lot of ignorance about how the film industry works and achieving 100% accuracy on military details is not as easy as people might think.
Speaking to Forces News, Mr Biddiss revealed that after Fool Me Once aired, people were tagging him on social media claiming he should have worked on the show to ensure mistakes weren't made.
However, he is siding with the military adviser who worked on the Netflix series, saying: "I've tried to explain to people that sometimes you're not always on set, sometimes you're ignored.
"The costume designer will just take the berets straight out of a bag and the first time you see him is literally 10 minutes before they're stuck on a guy's head.
"A lot of it is to do with having the experience to be able to liaise with all those different departments and trying to get ahead of the game, but that doesn't always happen.
"It's not always as easy as what people think."
According to Mr Biddiss, military advisers are not always on set due to the strict budgets assistant directors have to meet.
So sometimes it is decided that a military adviser is not necessary for a particular scene.
Mr Biddiss experienced the same backlash facing those who worked on Fool Me Once after the film Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix came out in 2023.
He said: "The director wanted to do things a certain way which is not historically accurate, and I offer advice.
"If the director takes it, brilliant, but a lot of time he's got his own vision and he wants to do what he wants to do, so I've got loads of historians and loads of reenactors saying 'oh, they wouldn't do it like this'.
"Yes, we know."
The veteran-turned-military adviser says to be successful in the role you must have fairly thick skin.
He also points out that many people forget that these programmes are dramas, not documentaries, and "it's made for the millions, not for the one or two historians to jump up and down and thrash themselves stupid over".
Mr Biddiss believes the backlash towards military advisers is unfair because people assume they control every aspect of the film but "we don't, it's not our train set".
He said: "We're simply on the ride or we try to move the drinks cabinet a bit closer to Berlin, but ultimately it's the director that's driving - and he's the man that makes the decisions."
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