The Crimea, 1854: The British Army is dying from its own mismanagement and incompetence. William Russell, the first war correspondent, defies his government to make sure the world knows their story.

SYNOPSIS:

The world’s first war correspondent defies government and military authority to expose the reality of the British Army’s disastrous campaign in the Crimea.

1850, after a failed career as a barrister, William Russell chooses journalism over a life in law. His employer, John Delane of The Times, sends Russell overseas as his ‘special correspondent’. Russell witnesses the Battle of Idstedt. His experiences disillusion him to the value of the truth. Delane reminds him how powerful a weapon the truth can be. Dubbing it ‘Miss Verity’, Russell is instructed to pledge himself to ‘her’.

By 1854, a devoted Russell is tasked with reporting the army’s campaign in the Crimea. Accompanying Guardsmen Captain Sinclair and Captain Topham to Gallipoli, Russell sees initial signs that the army are poorly prepared with men crippled by cholera and lacking crucial supplies. He encounters hostility from General Airey of the staff who judges him as a parasite sapping the men’s morale and jeopardising their security. Russell’s meeting with Sergeant Harris and other rank and file proves this is not the case. Russell’s relationship with the men helps him resist the general staff’s efforts to obstruct his work.

Russell witnesses the Battle of the Alma. Captain Topham is wounded and evacuated to the hospital at Scutari. When Russell visits he’s appalled by the conditions, causing the needless death of Topham. A scathing report of what he sees that strikes a chord with the public.

The British people start to question the war following Russell’s account of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Delane uses Russell’s work to persuade MPs to challenge the cabinet on their management of the war. The Liberal MP John Roebuck joins Delane’s campaign.

As winter sets in, a broken Captain Sinclair commits suicide, unable to bear the hardship. Russell is torn between exposing the reality of the soldiers’ misery, or lying to preserve his friends’ honour. He chooses to lie, but is emboldened when a soldier reveals his reports are making a difference. Russell learns Miss Verity is his most powerful weapon, especially when others support him.

Sergeant Harris suspects soldiers are being stolen from when his pipe from home is missing. Russell discovers commissariat officers are stealing from soldiers’ parcels. His report is the final straw for the British public. Delane and Roebuck push for a vote of no confidence in the government. Russell sits looking out over Sebastopol when he receives a letter stating the cabinet has resigned, and an inquiry into the management of the war has been approved. It is Russell’s proof that he and Miss Verity have won through.

MISS VERITY