Imaginary Loud Latvian Mercenary Soldier
in the BBC series “The Night Manager” (2016), based on a novel by John Le Carré
SOLDIER 1: Look sharp! Mr. Roper on deck!
SOLDIER 2: Morning!
ROPER: All right, all right, all right. You fellows been busy while I’ve been gone?
SOLDIER 1: All ready for you, Chief. Spick and span.
ROPER: Glad to hear it. Andrew, come here. Mr. Birch here wants to put on a good show for our guests tonight. So I want you to give him all the help he needs. He has worn khaki himself, so don’t feel you need to talk pretty.
BIRCH: Which regiment were you in?
SOLDIER 1: First Battalion, Fusiliers.
BIRCH: You lost two men in Basra, 2005. I was there.
SOLDIER 1: Yes, sir. Good friends of mine.
BIRCH: Why’d you leave?
SOLDIER 1: Same as you, I’d imagine. I’d done three tours. Time to cash in the chips.
BIRCH: And become a mercenary.
ROPER: Every soldier fights for money, Andrew, if he’s got half a brain. You were paid in Iraq, weren’t you? These men are selling their skills, same as anyone else. Actually, no, not the same. What you’re looking at here is the real United Nations. You’ve got Americans, Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Angolans…
LATVIAN SOLDIER: Latvian, come on!
ROPER: One Latvian, but a very loud one. All living, working together. One big happy family.
SOLDIER 3: Aye, but with no mum!
SANDY: Well, in that case, I will be mother.
ROPER: Don’t be a tit, Sandy. These men are about to operate some extremely heavy machinery. Besides, they wouldn’t be anything like cold enough.
ROPER: How have you been, Alexei? Leg all right?
SANDY: Something’s wrong.
