On the big screen: Journey’s End

Director: Saul Dibb.

In March 1918, C-company arrives to take its turn in the front-line trenches in northern France, led by the war-weary Captain Stanhope.

A German offensive is imminent, and the officers and their cook distract themselves in their dugout with talk of food and their past lives.

Stanhope, meanwhile, soaks his fear in whisky, unable to deal with his dread of the inevitable.

A young new officer, Raleigh, has just arrived, fresh out of training and abuzz with the excitement of his first real posting, not least because he is to serve under Stanhope, his former schoolhouse monitor and the object of his sister’s affections.

Each man is trapped, the days ticking by, the tension rising, and the attack drawing ever closer.