RAF at 90 on BBC2

Picking up the threads after a long time abroad.

I missed this programme; does anyone have a DVD of it that they would be willing to copy for me please? I will obviously cover costs.

Thanks.

I suggested elsewhere that as the Beeb had a 90 minute slot over 90 years, then why could not the decades April 1st 1918 – 28, 28-38, 38-48 etc that would have been 10 minutes for each decade.

I along with many of my ex-colleagues were well miffed that Joe the Erk rarely got a mention, did the ‘fly boys’ in the MoD have an input I wonder?

Sorry to buck the trend but I enjoyed it! I found the human side was shown quite well and lets face if they really wanted to do the 90 years justice then it would have to be a series and not a one off.
It would have been nice if they had shown the flypast and celebrations from Fairford though.

Phill
www.outflankeduk.com

I was on night shift and it look’s like I have not missed much. Fed up with present day documentaries we need the likes of Raymond Baxter again, as there is too much celebrity around.

Quite agree Stephen, but then it’s easy to imagine that the programme was simply a “nice idea” that the BBC Wales people decided to try, after their dull programmes about Valley – and boy did it show. One would think that in this, the RAF’s 90th year, the BBC could have produced something nationally which was significant and at a worthwhile standard. However, given the over-beaurocratic, politically-correct, popularist nature of the modern BBC, and the way in which the RAF currently handles its publicity and promotion (where the best they seem to be able to achieve is a dodgy clothing range), it would have never happened in any case. The RAF’s PR machine is better-equipped to stick to packs of stickers for five year-olds and the BBC is better able to produce dumb dancing competitions for idiots to watch while they drool in on their sofas.

Given the huge sweep of history of the RAF just how do you tell the story in full in a short programme like this? It is not possible.So the producers did not try to do that.

There are series covering the RAF already in circulation for those who seek detail.

One highlight for me was a small clip of colour movie footage of Spitfire II/V P7447.

Although obscure, this aircraft seems to have been allocated to some movement or unit as ‘USA’, accounting no doubt for its exposure to the ‘Kodak’.

Mark

I share the disappointment that others have expressed. It was a good exposition of the views of of RAF personnel from different eras which would have been an interesting programme in itself, but this was supposed to be a history of the RAF.

The style of the programme followed the rules set by the cheaper documentaries in the remoter channels of Sky – have plenty of jumpcuts, some tired old controversies, over-used stock shots, and of course that irritating unnecessary background music.

This is from an organisation which should have enough resources and talent to research and present the subject properly, but is increasingly lazy when it comes to subjects which are not in its standard remit.

Steven

As I’ve said elsewhere, a great disappointment.

Too many disconnected camera flashes & no real story.

Even knowing our history, I found it too difficult to follow & switched off.

We had our Christmas Draw last night at Cranwell and I had forgotten this programme was on and so did not record it. Just as well really by the comments on this forum (which I’m sure are sound given that there are some very knowledgeable aviation folk who frequent it). Clearly I missed nothing and if I had watched it I’m sure it would have just wound me up!

It was rubbish! Ninety minutes to play with and the best they could do was to labour the same old topics – two world wars and Iraq, plus a few crumbs about Grapple. Quite how that is supposed to illustrate the RAF’s ninety years is quite beyond me.

It was also quite comical right from the start. The whole programme laboured this presupposition that the RAF comprises of fighter and bomber pilots (as if no other role or trade ever existed) and that the service is devoted to the ultimate personal goal of becoming a fighter pilot. It was vaguely amusing to hear Mr Peters waxing lyrical about this, even though he was a Bomber pilot, but to keep shoving the idea that the RAF’s pilots are heroically waiting by their aircraft to defend London was just cushion-bitingly awful.

Far too much time was wasted on the first three decades of the RAF’s existence, as if nothing of any significance had ever happened since. It’s fine to include lots of first-hand accounts but they didn’t exactly spread their coverage very far. As ever, they fell into the same trap that publishers fall into when they tackle the RAF’s history. They obsessed over WWII and largely ignored everything else. Quite hilarious that they could ramble endlessly about Cody, Blackpool, Zeppelins and the like, but could barely manage to mention anything that happened post-1945, save for a slightliy confusing visit to Basra, where we were merely told that some RAF guys are defending an airfield while the locals want us to leave. How bizarre (and pointless) was that? No mention as to why we were there or what we were doing… but then that would have required some effort on the part of the production team.

It was poorly prepared, poorly written and very disappointing. Cheap television written by idiots for idiots. I think the clue to the programme’s inferiority came in the closing credits – BBC Wales. I assume it was the same bunch that made the tedious documentaries about Valley a while back. Doubtless the production team whipped themselves into a frenzy while they were at Valley, about how they could make a new programme about the RAF’s 90th anniversary, but when they actually did the job, they didn’t have a clue what they were doing. You get the impression that the RAF’s support for the project comprised of a one-day visit to Coningsby and another one-day trip to Basra. The rest of the programme was a confusing (and cheap) mix of images drawn from all over the place, including the BBC’s Coast series, and their own documentaries about Valley, plus all the same old film clips that we’ve seen time and time again. That clip of the Spitfire scramble must be worn-out by now, isn’t it?

As ever, a golden, ninety-minute opportunity wasted on fools who are over-financed by the licence payer.

………..but don’t forget that it was made for an audience who have little or no interest in aviation history and who would switch off – or turn over in search of a re-run of the last dose of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or ‘The X Factor’ – if they found that it was a real historical documentary. It’s probably in consequence of that fact that we’re using this forum!

Sadly I agree, but I can’t see that this will have inspired any of them to keep watching……

The director and script writer lost the plot about half way into the programme and although they had some excellent source material (and no doubt a budget to die for), they missed a great opportunity.

“The Incredible Mr. Spitfire” documentary was on satellite in the hour before and demonstrated just how it could, and should, have been done.

It was enjoyable, but trying to cover all the history and constituent parts of the RAF was a bridge too far…..
what about:-
Training command and the huge logistics of that? And the debt we owe them
Air Sea Rescue and all the other branches (police, surgeons)
The biggest ommission in my eyes was the complete lack of Helicopter coverage….they may not be glamourous but are the most important air assets in Iraq, and Afghanistan…

Odd mish-mash I thought

usual cheap and cheerful “Lancasters attacked Germany”… ah, what about the aircraft, Hali-somethings, Short whatsit, Wellington ? ? And shots of a Battle squadron while talking about 19 Squadron getting Spitfires – but, some of those interviews were very moving, John Peters especially saying that he felt he failed as his mission failed, and he was captured. Very very moving along with some of the others.

There are already a good selection of standard style history films about the RAF. It would have been easy to copy that format. The producer choose to make a film with interviews contrasting older and newer experiences, adding in documentary footage. Having served on the ground for a quarter of the RAF s 90 years I felt the programme did a good job of reflecting the views of those involved.

I do hope that the gun on the QRA Typhoon was loaded, as it was scrambled with no other armmament on board.

As usual, no mention of the roles played by groundcrew and all the other supporting trades, and the sacrifices they made.

………..but don’t forget that it was made for an audience who have little or no interest in aviation history and who would switch off – or turn over in search of a re-run of the last dose of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or ‘The X Factor’ – if they found that it was a real historical documentary. It’s probably in consequence of that fact that we’re using this forum!

…You know, it was designed to fight gorilla wars.

ROTFL 😀

Moggy

It was a shame it didnt give an overview of the whole 90 years, naturally i suppose it kind of concentrated on WWII. Would have been nice to see a bit more of the cold war era.

The most poignant bit for me was the Basra guy and the way he summed up the Iraqis; that they were civil and eloquent but deep down he knew they wanted us to go home. Very honest and touching I thought.

MH