Necrothesp

17th Sep 2021

Vigil (2021)

Show generally

Factual error: Most of the crew seem to be Scottish. Even though the submarine is based in Scotland, the Royal Navy is a national service and its crew's composition would reflect that of the UK in general: the majority would therefore be English.

Necrothesp

4th Sep 2021

Before We Die (2021)

4th Sep 2021

Before We Die (2021)

Show generally

Factual error: Superintendent Kane wears the insignia and uniform only worn by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, not only six ranks above the rank he is supposed to be, but in an entirely different police force.

Necrothesp

2nd Jun 2021

Peter Rabbit (2018)

Factual error: Thomas McGregor asks at the station in London for a 'round trip' ticket to Windermere. It's called a 'return' in Britain and no British person would ask for anything else.

Necrothesp

20th May 2021

Tin Star (2017)

All Roads - S3-E5

Factual error: When Detective Inspector Sara Lunt's photograph in uniform is shown on the TV news she is wearing a double row of silver lace below her hat badge. Only chief constables wear this insignia, well above the rank of inspector.

Necrothesp

19th Apr 2021

Unforgotten (2015)

Episode #4.2 - S4-E2

Factual error: Ram says he has two "Chief Constable's Commendations" (which are also shown on his office wall). He has spent his entire career in the Metropolitan Police, which has a Commissioner instead of a Chief Constable.

Necrothesp

5th Apr 2021

The Terror (2018)

Show generally

Factual error: Sir John Franklin's wife is consistently addressed and referred to as Lady Jane. Since she only held a title due to her husband's knighthood and not in her own right, she was actually Lady Franklin. Nobody in the circles in which she moved would have addressed or referred to her as Lady Jane.

Necrothesp

5th Apr 2021

The Terror (2018)

Show generally

Factual error: Sir John Franklin, Francis Crozier and James Fitzjames all wear a crown over an anchor on their epaulettes, the rank badge for a captain with over three years in rank. This is correct for Franklin and Crozier, but Fitzjames only held the rank of commander, and should therefore only be wearing an anchor on his epaulettes.

Necrothesp

Show generally

Factual error: The Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police is depicted as a mixed-race woman named Tyler. At the time, the chief constable was actually Terry Grange, a white man. The only woman to ever head the force, temporarily in 2012 (after the period covered by the series), was Jackie Roberts, who is also white. This is a factual series covering real events, not a work of fiction.

Necrothesp

28th Jan 2021

The Serpent (2021)

Episode #1.6 - S1-E6

Factual error: The Indian police officer who arrests Sobhraj after the jewel robbery is a detective sergeant. The Indian police do not use the rank of sergeant. Head constable is the equivalent.

Necrothesp

24th Nov 2020

The Crown (2016)

Season 4 generally

Factual error: Sir Martin Charteris, depicted as being Private Secretary throughout the series (which begins in 1979), actually retired in 1977. Sir Philip Moore and Sir William Heseltine were the real Private Secretaries during this period.

Necrothesp

21st Nov 2020

The Crown (2016)

48:1 - S4-E8

Factual error: Michael Shea was not forced to resign ignominiously as Press Secretary in 1986. He actually left in 1987 and was appointed Companion of the Royal Victorian Order for his service.

Necrothesp

21st Nov 2020

The Crown (2016)

Fagan - S4-E5

Factual error: The Guards band playing at the garden party (in 1982) includes female musicians in the same uniform as the men. Until integration in 1992, the only female musicians in the British Army were members of the Band of the Women's Royal Army Corps. Women did not join Guards bands and wear their uniform until well into the 1990s.

Necrothesp

Show generally

Factual error: The show doesn't seem sure what Henry and Dominic's titles are. Dominic is referred to as both Lord Wingrave and Mr Wingrave (and his wife as Lady Wingrave). Henry is referred to at various times as Lord Wingrave, Lord Henry Wingrave, Sir Henry Wingrave and Mr Wingrave. Dominic is the elder brother, so if the title was inherited only he would hold it. When he dies, it would pass to his son, Miles, not his younger brother. If they held the titles as younger sons of a duke or marquess (although there is never any indication that they have an elder brother, so this seems unlikely) then they would be Lord Dominic and Lord Henry, not Lord Wingrave. In neither case would they be addressed, especially not by their staff who would definitely know the correct form, as Mr Wingrave or Sir Henry.

Necrothesp

21st Oct 2020

Lovecraft Country (2020)

Show generally

Factual error: In Massachusetts, Atticus, Leti and George are attacked by the local sheriff and his deputies, who are patrolling the county roads. In Massachusetts, sheriffs run the county jails, but they do not (and did not) handle routine policing, which is the responsibility only of municipal police departments.

Necrothesp

The Two Faces, Part One - S1-E3

Factual error: The British policeman carries an American-style long baton on his belt. No British police force used batons before 1994 (the series is set in 1987), and batons of this pattern were never used in any case.

Necrothesp

13th Oct 2020

Ratched (2020)

Show generally

Factual error: The show, which is set in California in 1947, mentions the gas chamber, lethal injection and the electric chair as methods of execution in the state. Two murderers are sentenced to death by lethal injection and one is depicted being instead executed in the electric chair, which the governor states has been brought out of retirement for the occasion. In fact, California adopted the gas chamber as its sole method of execution in 1937 (having previously used hanging). Lethal injection was not used in the United States at all until 1982 and not adopted in California until 1993 (becoming the prime method in 1996). California has never used the electric chair.

Necrothesp

1st Sep 2020

Wild Bill (2019)

Show generally

Factual error: By law, an officer must already be a serving senior officer in a British police force to be appointed a chief constable. Foreigners, even if serving police officers in their own country, can't just be parachuted in as chief constables.

Necrothesp

1st Sep 2020

Homeland (2011)

Prisoners of War - S8-E12

Factual error: At the beginning of the last sequence a city centre is shown with the caption "Moscow." In fact, the city shown is Budapest, with the Danube, Castle, St Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and Chain Bridge visible.

Necrothesp

1st Sep 2020

The X-Files (1993)

Unrequited - S4-E16

Factual error: By its uniforms, rank insignia (i.e. point-down chevrons), drill and instrumentation (e.g. tubas instead of sousaphones), the military band performing at the re-dedication ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial in Washington is a Commonwealth (probably Canadian) band and not an American band. Unlikely at a formal military ceremony in the United States.

Necrothesp

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