"Piece of Cake" (1988) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Stories of the men of the RAF Hornet Squadron during the early days of World War II.

Plot Keywords:

1940s | Food In Title | Battle Of Britain | Pilot | WWII

Cast

Tom Burlinson	...	'Fanny' Barton (6 episodes, 1988)
Neil Dudgeon	...	'Moggy' Cattermole (6 episodes, 1988)
George Anton	...	'Pip' Patterson (6 episodes, 1988)
Nathaniel Parker	...	'Flash' Gordon (6 episodes, 1988)
Boyd Gaines	...	Christopher Hart III (6 episodes, 1988)
David Horovitch	...	'Uncle' Kellaway (6 episodes, 1988)
Richard Hope	...	'Skull' Skelton (6 episodes, 1988)
Michael Elwyn	...	Air Commodore Bletchley (6 episodes, 1988)
Gordon Lovitt	...	'Sticky' Stickwell (5 episodes, 1988)
Gerard O'Hare	...	'Flip' Moran (5 episodes, 1988)
Tim Woodward	...	Squadron Leader Rex (4 episodes, 1988)
Stephen MacKenna	...	'Micky' Marriott (4 episodes, 1988)
Jeremy Northam	...	Fitz (3 episodes, 1988)
Mark Womack	...	'Moke' Miller (3 episodes, 1988)
Tom Radcliffe	...	'Dicky' Starr (2 episodes, 1988)
Patrick Bailey	...	'Mother' Cox (2 episodes, 1988)
John Bleasdale	...	L.A.C. Gullet (2 episodes, 1988)
Helena Michell	...	Mary (2 episodes, 1988)

Runtime:

52 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:12 (re-rating) (2006) (uncut) | UK:PG (original rating) (censored version)

Filming Locations:

St Michael's Church, Syde, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: All of the Spitfires had propellers with 4 blades on them. At the beginning of WWII, and the Battle of Britain, Spitfires only had propellers with 3 blades on them. The 4 bladed props were only introduced later in the war, after the Battle of Britain.

Quotes:

'Sticky' Stickwell: Damn good show, Fanny!
'Fanny' Barton: I think we recruited ourselves rather well!
'Pip' Patterson: You got the first kill! Do you realise that? HORNET got the first kill!

For once, a movie (or TV series) better than the book

Forgiving the various historical inaccuracies (Spitfires instead of Hurricanes, aircraft colour schemes, etc) this is a very enjoyable piece of TV.

Though it may be hard to choose one truly great character in the programme, as there are so many, I really have to admire 'Moggy' Cattermole. Moggy gets the best lines, without a doubt, and he is undeniably the one we'd all want to be. Unbelievably charming, absolutely dashing and the definition of wit itself, Moggy steals the show on the ground. But it is the aerial content that I wanted to watch in this - the fight scenes are well done, and the way in which the whole thing is brought together (well explained in a very informative and thought provoking book, 'How They Made.....') is quite remarkable.

Throughly enjoyed over and over on video, too.