A young man’s unsettling homecoming reveals his village is in thrall to the cryptic and authoritarian world of a local aerodrome.
Young Roy (Peter Firth) returns to the village of his birth for his twenty-first birthday. He finds the community transformed, living under the shadow of a nearby aerodrome and its charismatic, unnamed Air Commodore (Richard Johnson). The old world, represented by the bumbling village Rector (Richard Briers), is being supplanted by the aerodrome’s clean, efficient, yet sinister ideology.
Roy becomes entangled with the Air Commodore’s daughter Eustasia (Jill Bennett) and a local girl, Bess (Natalie Ogle), whose mother Florence (Mary Peach) was once the Air Commodore’s lover. As Roy is drawn deeper into this strange new order, he uncovers disturbing truths about his own parentage and the aerodrome’s seductive, fascist philosophy.
Robin Chapman’s adaptation of Rex Warner’s 1941 novel preserves the book’s surreal and allegorical power. Produced as a single film, it is a disturbing examination of the allure of fascism, contrasting the messy vitality of traditional village life with the sterile, disciplined order of the Air Force.
The production deliberately avoids locating the story in a specific time or place; the result is a disquieting, dreamlike narrative. Giles Foster’s direction creates a potent atmosphere of creeping menace, where the seemingly benign English countryside becomes a landscape for a battle of ideas. A strong cast gives weight to the allegory, with Richard Johnson’s performance as the seductive, paternalistic Air Commodore a particular highlight.
Broadcast: BBC One, 1 Episode, 13 December 1983
Adapted by: Robin Chapman
From the novel by: Rex Warner
Director: Giles Foster
Producer: Kenith Trodd
Music: Carl Davis
Main Cast: Peter Firth (Roy), Richard Johnson (Air Commodore), Richard Briers (Rector), Jill Bennett (Eustasia), Natalie Ogle (Bess), Mary Peach (Florence), Dominic Jephcott (Flight Lieutenant Mark), Mary Macleod (Mary), John Sharp (Squire), Sheila Reid (Bess’ Mother)
