Our Girl started as a one off film written by Tony Grounds before it was developed by the BBC as a regular television series.Lacey Turner is Molly Dawes, a teenager in Newham, living in an overcrowded house with her siblings. Mum (Kerry Godliman) is pregnant again, Dad (Sean Gallagher) is a bit of a layabout and an unpleasant racist and sexist of the east end type.Molly's boyfriend is a young Muslim who also is another worthless individual who easily cheats on her and really does not value her.So Molly who looks like a bright girl, seems to already have a life which is taking her nowhere with people who are just shiftless. Molly ends up joining the army which gives her life purpose and self esteem.The problem is her family and boyfriend are left befuddled by her decision.However basic training allows her to turn her life around and give her life renewed purpose as she makes new friends and finds out that it is better to help out fellow recruits rather than be a put upon babysitter at home.The series started out with a lot of grittiness of inner London domestic life. Lacey Turner puts in a convincing performance as Molly and it is a refreshing positive portrayal of army life, not sure whether it is very realistic vision of army life and does felt a bit like propaganda as well.Yet the film was better than the subsequent series in my opinion and at least it offered a positive note that a person can have the courage of their convictions to turn their life around.

If there's any downside in Britain stopping conscription ( And I don't believe there is any downside to this ) it's that the general mainstream civilian knowledge of the military is rather ignorant , uninformed or misinformed . Certainly no one was happier than the British military forces themselves when conscription was scrapped in this country in 1960 but media depictions of the British military rarely paint a convincing picture with one or two very notable exceptions like the late 1970s ITV drama SPEARHEAD and this BBC drama entitled OUR GIRL is the latest in a long line to not get it right One gets the feeling it's produced as more of a star vehicle for some soap opera actress in this case Lacey Turner a former EASTENDERS regular who plays protagonist Molly Dawes in much the same way as a not very good actress would play a role in EASTENDERS . You don't really get the impression you're watching a real character called Molly Dawes who exists in the real world , more of a caricature of the BBC view of urban teenage girls from the East End of London . Also despite the use of some strong language in a very vain attempt to make this seem like a tough gritty real life drama involving the military it does have a very BBC 3 cheap production value feel to it . I wasn't expecting APOCALYPSE NOW style helicopter assaults filmed in Afghanistan but even so the budget seems lacking Artistic license such as a protagonist miraculously staggering around and stopping to vomit outside an army recruitment office thereby setting up a very weak inciting incident can be forgiven but a " realistic portrayal of the modern day British army " ( it says here ) it's somewhat lacking . Molly actress woman just passes the one and a half mile within the set time but no one mentions what this set time should be ! I've no idea what it is in 2013 but do know that it was 7 minutes 30 seconds in 1988 for most recruits and I guess if I really wanted to know what it was in 2013 google would be my friend . Also you don't address female officers as " Ma'am " it's always " sir " regardless of gender etc etc . Remind me what branch of CND the military adviser was in ?Some people might say it's good that the BBC are showing the military in a good light but would this be the same television company who employed the likes of Rageh Omar who was the station's main correspondent during the invasion of Iraq who equated that conflict with Vietnam simply because both countries have palm trees ! and who constantly used the phrase " heavy coalition casualties " when daily coalition fatalities were in single figures . I can't think of the BBC making any dramas showing the British military in a good light since the Pertwee era of DOCTOR WHO and even then that was fighting alien invasions . Pro military ? When you've got the BBC as allies who needs enemies

I must say that this Film 'Our Girl' is one of the most compelling things i have watched for a very long time. I felt it was so fantastic that i have watched it several times this week and i have expressed the same emotion (cry) every time i have watched it. Lucy Turner takes the title role of a London girl who has a very chaotic life who feels that she wants more from it than she and those around her have. She ends up in an Army recruitment office and the story of how she ends up there becomes clear as you watch the film. As the film progresses and i felt that it was compelling watching you see Molly Dawes (Lucy Turners character name) change her outlook on life and develop qualities and attributes which she had always had but she was not aware of them.Her friendship with Katie a fellow recruit who came from Leyland who had self confidence issues and how they helped each other achieve what they both wanted was an added bonus to this story. The very moving way that the corporal brought the best out of Molly was well done. This whole film is worth watching time and time again and each time i watch it i can see so many different things that the writers wanted to express and bring to our screens. The ending of this film is so well written and acted that my tears flowed even more. Well done BBC and Lucy and everyone who brought this to our viewing. I must say that after watching this I sent a text to each of my three daughters telling them how very proud of them i am and what they have each achieved in life which was not always easy for them either. This Film is a must watch. I know it was only a one off film but if the BBC were to do a series on Molly Dawes i feel it would be compelling viewing.

This TV Movie is not Full Metal Jacket, or any other military film focused on coming of age which I have seen. Its heroine is not an introspective youth contemplating the truth of what is going on with the world around her. Instead, she is a highly common modern girl who chances upon the British Army. Like all films of its genre, there is a good deal of yelling and screaming, this is after all boot camp. The characters though do not display heroism or bravado through their yells or screams. Instead it is shown in soft spoken scenes which chronicle Molly's progression. The yelling and screaming is there to create the boot camp atmosphere, not to build character or to be the centre of the film.Some plot holes do exist, and some of the side characters could have done with much more development. However when the constraints of a 90 minute TV Movie, which certainly with the BBC's current climate did not have a very large budget, are applied, these faults become understandable. Also, while I am not sure, I get the feeling that scenes where these grey areas in the plot and the characters are fleshed out were written, but left out do to time constraints.I personally think that Molly speaks to all of us who once dreamed of being in the Army. She is simply an ordinary girl who is given the opportunity to apply herself, and finds that she capable of much more than she thought possible. All of us have a little bit of ourselves that likes to think so. Through her journey Molly most certainly fulfils that part of ourselves which dares to dream upon a whim.