I have to admit I was somewhat apprehensive about this series when I saw the first episode, despite the fact it is based on the true story of wartime pilot Richard Hillary. This is partly due to how modern film makers approach portraying the past, which either veers towards "grim realism" that is humourless and filled with modern dialogue, or given the "jolly hockey sticks" treatment that feels like a pastiche of 1940's war films. The opening episode was more like the latter.
The series focused on Hugh Fleming (Nigel Havers), a top fighter pilot in the RAF who gets shot down during the Battle of Britain and suffers terrible burns as a result. But early on it wouldn't of looked out of place as a Ripping Yarns spoof, just minus it's laughter track. It starts with a scene of Fleming and his fellow flying comrades sat outside in armchairs sipping drinks and listening to the gramophone as they wait for the call to take to the air. Although it shows Nicholas Pritchard throwing up due to nerves, everyone calls each other "old boy" and speak so clipped as to feel like a 1990's mickey take and therefore somewhat clunky at times. It also looks as if it's been shot on video tape rather than film, which gives it a somewhat unusual look for something that is attempting to look like a period piece. There are also flashbacks to Fleming's time at Cambridge University, with the forced "comedy fall" into the river (supplied by Pritchard again) as it shows how Havers' character was seemingly good at everything he turned his hand at, whether it was sports, flying or women, which only add to the feel of a unintentional spoof. One scene in particular that gave me unintended giggles is when Havers is in the hospital and sees his hands for the first time and freaks out. The prosthetic hands are such that I wouldn't of been surprised if Havers had decided to sprout fur and fangs right there and then!
And yet, despite the clunkiness of the first episode it actually got better as it went along and became a surprisingly absorbing series. As Havers' character lies in hospital the drama flashes back to his past, and in particular his many daliances with women who he loved and left or kept on the side - not ended even when engaged to be married to posh girl Bunty (Fiona Gillies). Yet what makes this interesting is that his former golden boy status is now irrevelant, with his hands now crippled and his burns disfiguring his once dashing looks. When Bunty turns up unannounced at the hospital for a surprise visit she is so horrified at what she sees that she runs out the hospital and later ends their engagement by letter. Dejected, Fleming calls up a farm girl who he had been dallying with only a few weeks before. She is eager to see him, but his actions lead to unexpected tragedy. When he is transferred to Dr Meikle (James Fox)'s Burns Clinic for further treatment, he is unexpectedly reunited with yet another girl he loved and left in Marjorie (Amanda Elwes), a physiotherapist assigned to treat his hands. In desperation he attempts to rekindle romance with Marjorie, but she rejects him, knowing he is only doing so because he knows he is no longer attractive to other women and unable to forget how badly he treated her.
In a way Fleming is a shallow character. Havers does well at conveying his bitterness and helplessness at no longer being able to jump back into his old life of the RAF and womanising, though Joanna Lumley's old flame film star Loretta Stone does help him out with the latter at one point. However, she is only interested in using him for his know how for the latest film she is in. Indeed, as Fleming progresses with his treatment at the clinic he discovers how people treat him differently, whether it is the looks of strangers or the fact he frightens his nephews when he goes to kiss them good night when he is allowed to go home for the weekend. His parents (Bernard Hepton and Barbara Leigh Hunt) try their best, though their efforts are a little clumsy at times. They arrange a job for him in an advertising agency, but realising that no one is really interested in his talents or opinion and that an ordinary job lacks any motivation for him, he decides the only thing that gives him purpose in his life is going back to flying in the RAF - something that is seemingly impossible.
While there are a few "stiff upper lip" performances in this series (mainly Havers' flying comrades, who gradually are whittled down as the effects of the war are made clear), there are also some subtlly affecting performances too, not least James Fox's portrayal as the eminent surgeon Dr Meikle, whose first scene with Havers is beautifully judged. Bernard Hepton has some touching scenes with Havers as his father, while I quite enjoyed Patrick Ryecart's robust performance as Tom Holland, Fleming's old flying instructor who has also ended up at the Burns Clinic, now as his room mate. Tom has also had bad luck in his life after his crash with his wife leaving him, but he has decided to take what life has to offer, which includes Nancy (Georgia Allen), a wren who chauffeurs the two about on trips. But the most affective portrayal is that of Amanda Elwes, who plays Marjorie. Reunited with the man she loved who cruelly abandoned her, she is torn by her duty of care towards him and her feelings, which range from anger and hurt to affection that has never really died. She knows when they first meet again that he is only attempting to rekindle their love affair because he is now disfigured, and angry because he knows she had a deep love for him that he was prepared to manipulate. As the weeks in therapy progress she begins to love him again, but does not want to be with Havers just because she's the best he can hope for. She wants him to want to be with her, but suspects he still carries a torch for former fiancee Bunty. She is also torn about her therapy on Fleming's hands, as while working on them means she gets to spend more time with him, she also knows any improvements will convince him to go back to flying to fight in the war, something that she is desperate for him not to do as he fears him being killed. For me her character is as well rounded as Havers' character, but also more sympathetic, and it is easily one of her best roles she had in her career. She was in no end of things during the late 80's/early 90's, and it makes you wonder how her career suddenly stalled after 1994.
Overall, if you can get past the somewhat clunky first episode this proves to be a riching rewarding drama. Admittedly there are a number of flaws. The jaunty theme tune feels somewhat at odds with it's serious subject matter, while the action sequences - including one involving a bomb blast, plus the aircraft action - look surprisingly cheap and amateurish. There also seems to be only two patients in the Burns Clinic for most of the time, Havers and Ryecart, and little room for developing the other patients there or the effects their injuries have on them. But this is more a human drama of the experiences of one man after a traumatic event and how he has to build back his life from scratch again. And the fact this was based on a true story is what makes this series all the more remarkable. It's certainly worth a watch.
