The original script by A.F.N. Clarke was a faithful adaptation of his book of the same name which was a memoir about his two tours of duty in Northern Ireland in 1973 and 1976. Director Alan Clarke was not happy with the script, feeling it would not be possible to make with the limited budget and shooting time he had. So A.F.N. Clarke had to scale everything down in the script and take out a lot of dialogue, something he was not happy with as he wanted to keep the essence of his book intact.
In the end, Alan and A.F.N. had a lengthy discussion about the essence of the book and decided that by taking out the dialogue, it made it a very visceral film in the style of the visceral nature of the book.
In the end, Alan and A.F.N. had a lengthy discussion about the essence of the book and decided that by taking out the dialogue, it made it a very visceral film in the style of the visceral nature of the book.
The script went from being a biopic about A.F.N. Clarke's experiences as a soldier in Northern Ireland to a work of fiction, a drama which kept the edge of the book.
For a long time, it was thought that Alan Clarke wrote the screenplay for the film under the pseudonym of A.F.N. Clarke. But it's not true. A.F.N. Clarke is an author who wrote the script based on his book "Contact". Although they have the same surname, there is no relation.