Wings (1977)

Directed by

Jim Goddard, Gareth Davies, Desmond Davis

Genre

drama, action & adventure, war & politics

Country

United Kingdom

Length

2 seasons, 25 episodes

Rating

8.3 of 10 from 6 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young blacksmith becomes a fighter pilot in the First World War. He and his fellow airmen face unreliable planes and class prejudice from both officers and soldiers.

grittymelancholicgroundedhistoricalslow-burnunderstatedreflectivetensethoughtful

What happens

Wings is a drama series about the Royal Flying Corps that ran on BBC television from 1977 to 1978. It stars Tim Woodward as Alan Farmer, a young blacksmith turned fighter pilot in the First World War. Nicholas Jones played his teacher and mentor, Captain Triggers and Michael Cochrane played his upper-class friend, Charles Gaylion, who began a relationship with Farmer's girlfriend while Farmer was believed dead, shot down over France. The series reveals that the British pilots are struggling with aeroplanes which are unreliable and inferior to the German machines and with an Establishment that classes voicing an opinion to that effect as being tantamount to cowardice. The airmen must also face the resentment of British soldiers who see them having an "easy" life. The rigidity of the British class structure is highlighted when Farmer becomes an officer in the second series – he faces resentment from some officers because of his class and NCOs because of his new rank. The series takes great care with historical accuracy, covering the early days of the parachute, the fitting of weaponry to British biplanes (lacking the Germans' interruptor gear, they had to be fired at an angle rather than between the propeller blades) and the horrors of trench warfare. Wings depicts a Britain that is, in some areas, struggling to adapt in the face of change, at a period that was a turning point for many people's way of life. The series was created by Barry Thomas. Twenty-five episodes were made in all. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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