When I popped this DVD into the player, I was expecting to be taken on a journey into the underground world of bare-knuckle fighting in Ireland.  I expected it to be brutal and compelling; difficult to watch, but impossible to turn away.  It was all those things, and much more.

The Irish Travellers are an itinerant people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a set of traditions and a distinct ethnic identity.  They live mostly in Ireland as well as having large numbers in the United Kingdom and in the United States.  It is to this world we are introduced.

There is a feud between two Traveller clans: The Quinn McDonaghs and their cousins, the Joyces.  It seems that all the clans within the Traveller community are related to each other in some way, by blood or marriage or both.  There were two separate incidents between the clans that have provoked a war of words, curiously conducted through an exchange of videotapes and DVDs.  When words aren’t sufficient they resort to fists.  Yet it isn’t mere brawling.

Even though this is a blood feud, there is a strict set of rules for conducting the bouts, referred to as “fair fighting”.  Hands can be bandaged or bare, no gloves.  You must use closed fists.  No kicking, gouging, biting, holding, or butting.  You can be disqualified by the two neutral referees for breaking those rules.  Bouts run continuously, without rest until one man is knocked out, or concedes, or they both agree to stop, in which case it is considered a draw.  It seems pretty clear that the feud is superimposed over top a much older bare-knuckle fighting tradition, and is used, at least in part, as an excuse for staging the bouts.

The principals in this documentary are James Quinn McDonagh, his younger brother Michael, and Big Joe Joyce, head of the Joyce clan.  It opens with James training for a fight with Paddy “The Lurcher” Joyce, who James dispatches in under 15 minutes.  We aren’t spared the brutality as we watch James bust up The Lurcher’s face pretty badly.  James seems to be a reluctant warrior, but tends to get caught up in the idea of family honor, and cannot help but rise to persistent challenges.  Michael is more enthusiastic about fighting, but much younger and less skilled than James.  As a result he finds himself overmatched in a bout with a much larger man.  He resorts to biting and is disqualified.  Joe Joyce is a hard-as-nails man in his 50s and seems to be unwilling to let any slight to his family pass, no matter how small.

This documentary was shot over 12 years, 1997 to 2009.  It follows the evolution of the feud between the Quinns and the Joyces, as well as a separate feud with a clan called the Nevins.  As we watch we see in James a man increasingly reluctant to fight, and the most willing to bury the hatchet.  Michael grows into a skilled fighter looking to redeem himself after his humiliating loss.  Joe Joyce cannot seem to let go of the past and even finds himself, as a grandfather, in a bout with one of his many enemies.  It is a riveting glimpse into life in a little-known world, and I must confess that I found myself caught up in the excitement.  Dana White of UFC himself could not hope to put on such a show.

The final instalment of my series on English actors in American TV series looks at a show that explores the existential threat of global terrorism.

Homeland.  The main character, played by London-born actor Damian Lewis: Sgt. Nicholas Brody, USMC.

Long-missing and presumed dead, incredibly, Sgt. Brody is found by a Navy SEAL rescue team in a hovel in Iraq, filthy, with long, matted hair and beard.  The country is overjoyed with the news of his rescue, and he is given a hero’s welcome upon his return to the United States, though at first he feels anything but heroic.  The reunion with his wife and children is awkward, to say the least, as they too had given him up for dead and had begun to move on emotionally.

The one person who finds his rescue too good to be true is CIA agent Carrie Mathison, powerfully portrayed by Claire Danes.  She suspects that he has been turned by his captors and is a potential serious threat to national security.  The problem is that Carrie, who has a reputation for aggressive, even reckless actions, is not trusted by her superiors.  She is humored reluctantly by her boss and mentor, Saul Berenson, played by veteran actor Mandy Patinkin.  Things are further complicated by the fact that she is hiding a serious mental illness, bipolar disorder inherited from her father, which at times causes her to seriously doubt her grasp on reality.

Homeland is a show where the male lead does not clearly dominate.  One might say that Brody isn’t really the main character at all, but instead that place is reserved for the frenetic and intense Carrie.

Damian Lewis, English-born of Welsh ancestry, is a veteran actor who has appeared on stage, screen, and television in a variety of roles in Britain and the United States, including an adaptation of Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher, and the acclaimed miniseries Band of Brothers.

I hope you’re enjoying this series of blog entries on English actors in popular American TV series.  Let’s look at another show that has literally “walked” off the pages of a tremendously popular graphic novel series.

The Walking Dead.  The lead character, played by London-born actor Andrew Lincoln: Rick Grimes, a small-town Georgia sheriff, and reluctant leader of a group trying to survive in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Having been seriously injured in a car chase and subsequent shootout, Rick wakes up to find himself alone in an abandoned and ruined hospital.  Weak and in pain from his bullet wound, Rick explores the rubble-strewn corridors and comes upon barred steel doors with the frantic and frightening message painted on them: DON’T OPEN, DEAD INSIDE.  He recoils as something horrible pushes its weight against the doors, and dozens of dead hands reach through the gap, sensing his presence.  Rick makes his way outside and discovers the true scale of what had gone on as he lay unconscious in the hospital.

Though still very weak he makes his way back to his neighborhood, instinctively seeking his wife and son.  He finds them gone but is assisted by a man and his son who have barricaded themselves in their home.  He recovers from his wound and makes his way to Atlanta, where he hopes his family has gone.  When he gets there he finds the city has been overrun by “walkers” and very nearly meets his end.  He also meets up with survivors of a group foraging in the city but living outside it, a group he will eventually find himself leading.  Though the walkers are a constant and inexorable threat, the greatest danger is the human survivors, whose motives and agendas remain unpredictable.

Born Andrew Clutterbuck, Andrew Lincoln has spent the bulk of his career as a television actor in Britain, with his lone foray onto the big screen being in the hit movie Love Actually in 2003.  One of his quirks as an actor is that he never watches any completed production of anything he’s performed in.