Reply With QuoteThanks for the message I have received re. this. My status apparently doesn't allow me to send or reply to msgs as yet, but I will reply as soon as I'm able.
This rather surreal drama was based on the 1941 novel by Rex Warner. I had never heard of it before seeing the drama, but it is now my favourite novel and scarcely seems dated at all.
In the sterotypical village of some alternative England, the Air Force (not the RAF, note) arrives and takes over. They even take over the running of the church, and the military officer conducting the service takes out his revolver and shoots dead one woman who objects to his unChristian words.
Living in the village is young Roy, who is disconcerted by the recent knowledge that he is actually adopted. In an attempt to forge a new sense of identity, he joins the dashing Air Force, seduced by their dynamism and their direct and brutal ways. The programme, like the novel, is an allegory of fascism, set in some sort of nowhere England, where the women wear Edwardian clothes but the men wear more modern styles, and the cars are from the 1930s, whilst the jets are totally modern.
Roy falls in love, and there is a comic subplot as he tries to find out who his real parents are. Roy is played by Peter Firth (and there was a time when he appeared in all the best plays), and eventually he becomes shocked and disillusioned by the Air Force and turns against it. All ends well, and the tolerant English system is restored.
I watched it more than once at the time, as my dad had recorded it on video, and I remember him running the tape back and forward until he was able to read the markings on the side of one of the modern jets. He'd been in the RAF for his National Service, but he never piloted a plane. It's a pity he didn't keep that tape, as I'd love to see the programme again.
Can anybody else remember it?
Last edited by icetorch; 08-11-10 at 11:05 PM.
Thanks for the message I have received re. this. My status apparently doesn't allow me to send or reply to msgs as yet, but I will reply as soon as I'm able.
A distinguished member was kind enough to send me a copy of the drama. I am interested in how many different national influences you can recognise in the invented uniforms.
Last edited by icetorch; 25-11-10 at 09:05 PM.
A distinguished member was kind enough to send me a copy of the drama. I am interested in how many different national influences you can recognise in the invented uniforms.
"The Aerodrome: a love story has been called the best novel ever written about fascism. Certainly no other novel - none written in English, at any rate - captures so well the sinister glamour it radiated in the period between the two world wars. None probes so deeply into the confused yearnings that led many people, even in the relatively settled climate of Britain, to see in fascism and Nazism a viable alternative to the liberal democratic societies that were falling apart all over Europe."
New Statesman - Bookmarks - our occasional series when writers return to works of great personal or public moment
I have now uploaded this 1983 BBC drama to YouTube. I didn't make a total success of this conversion from a TV recording. Occasionally, for a few seconds, the vision goes into slow motion, but the sound continues, before returning to normal. Annoying, but you don't lose any of the plot, and since it is not available anywhere else on the web, it's still far better than NOT seeing The Aerodrome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sif-8uoypVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1mZeDVuVms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOQ6U_YQ31M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYaBw3vzPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX3ysC0xI2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWhsBFh8-vo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71a1VU00IoM
I've uploaded some new edits of these videos, without the glitches I described in the previous post. (I've now deleted the glitchy videos).
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 1 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 2 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 3 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 4 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 5 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 6 of 7 - YouTube
The Aerodrome - BBC drama, part 7 of 7 - YouTube
Only problem is, when I uploaded one part, in which the actors in the church scene are singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers", the YouTube software detected it and posted a copyright claim(!), which I've contested. The video is still viewable in the meantime.
Hi! Any ideas where I can buy a copy. I'm desperate to find one. Thanks :)
It was never released on video or DVD. That's a private recording by a forum member. It was only shown once on TV, so you have to be happy it's even there for you to view.
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