Viewers have hailed a BBC drama chronicling the harrowing experience of a Spitfire pilot as an underrated gem that should be shown in “high school history class.”
Helmed by Matthew Whitman, this remarkable cast produces a distinguished work amongst the abundance of BBC wartime dramas, based on the real-life account of Geoffrey Wellum, the youngest pilot at the Battle of Britain.
RAF fighter pilot Wellum authored his autobiography First Light: The Story of the Boy Who Became a Man in the War-Torn Skies Above Britain, chronicling his Second World War service. The volume was published in 2002.
The story begins at the war’s outbreak in May 1940 when 18-year-old Wellum, portrayed by Sam Heughan (Outlander, Born to be Great), joins the Royal Air Force’s 92 squadron.
He heads to the pub the night before his first day when, despite having no flying experience, he’s required to operate a Spitfire, reports Wales Online.
Thrown into battle against the Luftwaffe, he takes part in the Battle of Britain and earns a medal.
View 2 ImagesBen Aldridge stars as Brian Kingcome and Wellum is played by Sam Heughan(Image: Lion Television)
Yet by 1942 the pressure causes his breakdown, and audiences witness his ordeal as he grapples with the horrors he has endured.
Scoring 7/10 on IMDb, this wartime drama starring Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot, Gangs of New York) as Mac and Ben Aldridge (Fleabag, Our Girl) as Brian Kingcombe has garnered considerable acclaim from audiences.
One viewer said: “I’m not much for war movies. I watched this because I wanted to see some of Heughan and Lewis’s earlier works. I was impressed with both actors performances. The movie wasn’t so much about Spitfires as it was on the effects the fighting had on the pilots. It was well produced for a TV movie.”
They continued: “Heughan does a great job playing the part of a young inexperienced Spitfire pilot. Lewis also performs well as the “father” to all the pilots. I like the voice-over inserted into the film of the actual pilot Heughan played. All in all it was a good TV movie. There is strong language, so I would not recommend it for children under 16. It would be a good film for a high school history class.”
A second viewer added: “I have always wanted to know of the real experiences of the WW2 Battle of Britain fighter pilots and here is one of the best presentations of one man’s personal experiences. His story is beautifully dramatised, with some great air fights and on the ground the boredom, the fears as well as the good times. What the movie does best is convey the men’s struggle to keep going when utterly exhausted and facing the possibility of death at any time.
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“It’s an intimate study and I believe a truthful one. The pilot Geoffrey ‘Boy’ Wellum was still alive at the time of the making of the movie (because he was only a teenager when he first flew) and in voiceover reflects on those days.
“His final words are heart-breaking. Was it all worth it? To complement this film, a wonderful history of the Battle of Britain is in an episode of Battlefield Britain presented by Peter and Dan Snow on BBC DVD.”
The film is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.