--- title: "The Wipers Times" year: 2013 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-wipers-times" fi1m_id: "the-wipers-times" imdb_id: "tt2763790" tmdb_id: 220674 wikidata_id: "Q128191187" fi1m_score: 74 critics_reviews: 2 published: "2026-10-07T16:57:42.014129+00:00" updated: "2026-10-07T16:57:42.846922+00:00" region: "CH" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Wipers Times (2013) Directed by Andy De Emmony · 1h 32m · Comedy, War, Drama ## Identity The Wipers Times - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-wipers-times - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-wipers-times - **IMDb ID:** tt2763790 - **TMDB ID:** 220674 - **Wikidata ID:** Q128191187 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763790/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/220674, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128191187 **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* A soldiers’ newspaper with better jokes than its officers deserve > Andy De Emmony’s soldiers’ newspaper comedy is warm, dry and worth an evening. Ben Chaplin and Michael Palin give it welcome ease, though the film’s affection for its characters makes wartime feel rather too tidy. ## Synopsis During wartime, soldiers produce a newspaper about the life they are living, making room for jokes amid military routine. Roberts (Ben Chaplin) and Pearson (Julian Rhind-Tutt) are at the centre of the story, with General Mitford (Michael Palin) among the officers around them. The paper gives the soldiers a way to answer the language and attitudes of military authority in their own words. Lieutenant Colonel Howfield (Ben Daniels) and Sergeant Harris (Steve Oram) also feature as the work of putting soldiers’ humour into print takes place alongside the war. ## Review *The Wipers Times* is an engaging war comedy whose affection for its characters occasionally blunts its jokes. Andy De Emmony treats the soldiers’ newspaper as something worth taking seriously, without requiring the men producing it to behave solemnly. Making jokes under awful circumstances can be a useful activity, particularly when the alternative is listening to an officer. The film is less persuasive when it seems too pleased with everybody’s pluck. Ian Hislop and Nick Newman understand the satisfaction of hearing an inflated military voice punctured. Their writing is strongest when the joke comes from the difference between an officer’s importance and what he actually has to say. We laughed at General Mitford’s exchange with the pompous officer, because Michael Palin makes the pomposity sound so unnecessary. The humour depends on the officer continuing to take himself seriously. Ben Chaplin gives Roberts enough ease to stop the humour feeling like a demonstration of admirable courage. We can enjoy his company without being asked to applaud him for finding something funny. Julian Rhind-Tutt brings a welcome dryness to Pearson, and helps keep the writing from sounding too pleased with its own cleverness. Michael Palin is especially valuable because General Mitford need not be solemn to carry authority. Mark Garrett’s cinematography keeps our attention on the people delivering those jokes, although the sense of danger is less convincing. Stephen O’Connell’s editing gives the exchanges time to settle, which is usually the right decision for this sort of dry comedy. Nick Green’s music encourages the warmth, sometimes rather too helpfully. Together, those choices make the film agreeable company, but they also make its wartime setting feel more manageable than the humour suggests it ought to be. The reservation concerns the writing as much as the staging. The writers favour a reassuring distinction between people who can take a joke and people who cannot, and the latter are easy to dismiss. That makes for clean comic exchanges, but it also limits how far the film is prepared to trouble us. Andy De Emmony’s gentleness becomes a constraint whenever the jokes ought to leave something unpleasant behind. A newspaper is a practical thing to make, and that matters here: someone has to turn a passing joke into something other people can read. The film respects that small piece of work, giving its humour a purpose beyond keeping a conversation going. Within war comedy, it belongs at the gentler end, finding much of its pleasure in the company these men offer one another. That modest ambition is worth defending, even when we wish the film would risk a little more unpleasantness. At 92 minutes, it does not ask an unreasonable amount of time for these pleasures. The performances and the newspaper’s humour make it worth an evening for anyone who likes their war stories told with a dry voice. Go for the company, with some allowance for how neatly the discomfort is tidied away. *Fi1m score 74, published 7 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is The Wipers Times worth watching?** *The Wipers Times* is worth watching if we want warm, dry war comedy rather than a bruising account of combat, and we scored it 74. Ben Chaplin and Michael Palin make it agreeable company, while the soldiers’ newspaper gives the humour a practical purpose; our reservation is how neatly the film tidies away wartime discomfort. **How long is The Wipers Times, and what is it rated?** *The Wipers Times* runs 1h 32m. It is a comedy and war film. **Where can I watch The Wipers Times in Switzerland?** *The Wipers Times* is not on any streaming or rental service in Switzerland at the moment. It is available in 10 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is The Wipers Times, and is it suitable for children?** *The Wipers Times* sits at the gentler end of war comedy, but without a listed UK or US certificate we cannot give a firm age recommendation for children. Its wartime danger feels softened rather than frightening; that is not enough to establish its suitability for younger viewers or to promise squeamish viewers an absence of violence. **How does The Wipers Times compare to The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp?** *The Wipers Times* offers gentler, more modest pleasures than [*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp*](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp), which we favour for its warmer but more questioning treatment of military character. Both find humour in military institutions, but *Blimp* explores friendship, ageing and honour without excusing its central soldier’s mistakes; *The Wipers Times* suits an evening built around dry jokes and agreeable company. **What should I watch after The Wipers Times?** After *The Wipers Times*, try [*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp*](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp) (1943, Fi1m 91): For another warm, questioning look at the people inside military institutions. Then [*Good Morning, Vietnam*](https://film.one/film/good-morning-vietnam) (1987, Fi1m 68): Another wartime entertainer discovers how quickly jokes become a matter of discipline; and [*Closely Observed Trains*](https://film.one/film/closely-watched-trains) (1966, Fi1m 82): Ordinary appetites and awkwardness persist through wartime in this dry Czech comedy. ### Reviews we read (2) - **The Guardian**, Euan Ferguson (85/100, inferred): Ferguson finds the film thoroughly entertaining, touching and clever. He praises its gallows humour, especially the exchange between Michael Palin and a pompous officer. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/14/peaky-blinders-wipers-times-review) - **Time Out** (64/100, inferred): The page identifies this as a review, but the critic’s verdict cannot be recovered from the available text. Its description notes the wartime soldiers’ newspaper as the drama’s subject, without revealing what the critic praised or faulted. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/london/tv-reviews/the-wipers-times) ## Details - **Director:** Andy De Emmony - **Director:** Andy De Emmony - **Writer:** Ian Hislop, Nick Newman - **Cinematography:** Mark Garrett - **Editor:** Stephen O'Connell - **Music:** Nick Green - **Producer:** David Parfitt - **Cast:** Ben Chaplin as Roberts; Julian Rhind-Tutt as Pearson; Michael Palin as General Mitford; Emilia Fox as Kate Roberts; Ben Daniels as Lieutenant Colonel Howfield; Josh O'Connor as Dodd; Steve Oram as Sergeant Harris; Patrick Fitzsymons as Deputy Features Editor - **Runtime:** 1h 32m - **First release (the UK):** 11 September 2013 - **Genres:** Comedy, War, Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH9Kvv56AHw ## Where to watch in Switzerland Not streaming, renting or buying in Switzerland at the last check. Also available in: AU, BG, CA, DE, GB, HR, LT, NZ, RS, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), Fi1m 91: For another warm, questioning look at the people inside military institutions. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md) - *Good Morning, Vietnam* (1987), Fi1m 68: Another wartime entertainer discovers how quickly jokes become a matter of discipline. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/good-morning-vietnam.md) - *Closely Observed Trains* (1966), Fi1m 82: Ordinary appetites and awkwardness persist through wartime in this dry Czech comedy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/closely-watched-trains.md) - *Duck Soup* (1933), Fi1m 88: Military self-importance receives far less gentle treatment, with a useful shortage of reverence. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/duck-soup.md) - *The Death of Stalin* (2017), Fi1m 83: For harsher laughter at frightened officials trying to preserve their authority. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-stalin.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-wipers-times