Did we like it?

The legendary Steven Bochco depicts the Iraq War with harrowing honesty, intelligence and potency.

What was good about it?

• The drama succeeds in conveying the frightening, incoherent reality of the fighting in Iraq

• The mix of characters in the new squad sent to Iraq to undertake dangerous missions in the aftermath of the Coalition’s “victory”. Their attitudes range from blind faith to destructive cynicism to blind panic.

• Gung-ho Bo Rider is the stand-out character, and not just because actor Josh Henderson is the best of the eye candy available. Sergeant Scream (Erik Palladino) also stands out, bitter about being forced to stay for an extra 90 days with “a squad of virgins”. “Staying alive, that’s the job. Nothing else,” he tells them.

• There’s no schmaltz – maybe the reason why Over There is now over – it lasted just one series.

• There’s beauty amid the brutality in the way the series is filmed.

What was bad about it?

• There seems to be a formula at work in the death toll. For every dozen renegades blasted to bits by the Americans, one member of the squad must cop it. Female officer Mrs B was the first to die for daring to defecate in privacy.

• There’s no shying away from the long periods of boredom, waiting for something to happen, which could deter those who need the bullets to come thick and fast in their war dramas.