Secrets, lies and life after war

Andy Rodoreda as Lucas.

So Andy Rodoreda, Anzac actor, the question is: War, what is it good for? Specifically the Bosnian conflict, which he plays a troubled veteran of, in new local series Doves of War.

"It was always a bit of a dog's dinner that war," says Rodoreda.

"It's just so steeped in cultural bias and it had been brewing for 500 years - so it was a complex piece of work."

So, you didn't know too much about it then?

"No", admits the laid-back Australian, "I didn't."

But when he took the part of ex-SAS Sergeant Lucas Crichton he learned more about what had happened in the former Yugoslavia during the mid-90s.

"Although, the show does only focus on a part of that war and we didn't go in depth into the cultural clash of the conflict. It was more of a human thing really."

The six-part series revolves around fallout from the discovery of a mass grave in Bosnia. The revelation is a catalyst for Crichton to track down the men who served under him to protect the secret of what happened more than a decade ago.

Doves of War also stars Australian actress Kate Atkinson as Sophie Morgan (a feisty war crimes prosecutor), and a bunch of locals, including Blair Strang as Joe Matich (Crichton's ex-best friend), Scott Wills as Brad McKechnie (Crichton's corporal) and Robbie Magasiva as Xavier Collins (a soldier turned cop).

Rodoreda says the war depicted in Doves Of War could be any war, but the point of the series is, "just a good yarn".

"It's not really a war film. It's not the Saving Private Ryan sort of thing. It's more the story springing from the Bosnian conflict.

"The actual complexity of that war and what it was all about isn't really documented.

"You're aware something awful has happened. You're not sure what, but you know it's pretty horrific. You don't want to believe this guy has been involved in something because he seems genuine and there is a dark side.

"But I think initially, at least, you're with him because he's lost his wife and he's got integrity."

Rodoreda admits, albeit wearily, that there are qualities in Lucas that he possesses himself.

"Without blowing up my better qualities, he has integrity, but he's also a very considered person and really is at battle with himself about his actions and what his decisions are, and where his morals and scruples lie.

"He's constantly having to make decisions and comes up against moral decision after moral decision. There must at least 40 of them.

"But I wasn't much one to play with guns myself growing up though," he laughs. Unlike Strang who says playing a soldier was great fun. "Although the actual event that takes place is pretty disturbing, dressing up in army gear and going into caves shooting guns has to be every male actor's dream."

"Yeah," agrees Rodoreda, "it was fun firing blanks with an M16. Good for bonding. But some guys got a little too keen and you could see it in their eyes."

To prepare for the role he talked to an Australian SAS helicopter pilot. "We had a couple of yum chars together, which gave it a real Vietnam feel," he laughs.

"He was an interesting character. The experiences these guys go through are so far removed from civilised living, and everyday life, that that straight away unites them.

"They've gone through a certain experience that no one else can touch and that's what separates them - not in an elite way - just in terms of what glues them together. You can sort of understand that pack mentality.".

And that mentality, with its code of secrecy, is what's at the heart of Doves of War, he says.