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Castles in the Sky

  • 2014
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Eddie Izzard, Alex Jennings, Tim McInnerny, and Julian Rhind-Tutt in Castles in the Sky (2014)
BiographyDramaHistory

Eddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War.Eddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War.Eddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War.

  • Director
    • Gillies MacKinnon
  • Writer
    • Ian Kershaw
  • Stars
    • Eddie Izzard
    • Laura Fraser
    • Arran Tulloch
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Gillies MacKinnon
    • Writer
      • Ian Kershaw
    • Stars
      • Eddie Izzard
      • Laura Fraser
      • Arran Tulloch
    • 19User reviews
    • 9Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Photos8

    Castles in the Sky (2014)
    Eddie Izzard & Karl Davies in Castles In The Sky
    Joe Bone, Eddie Izzard, Celyn Jones, Iain Mckee & Karl Davies in Castles In The Sky
    Karl Davies & Eddie Izzard in Castles in The Sky
    Eddie Izzard and Iain McKee in Castles in the Sky (2014)
    Karl Davies, Celyn Jones, Iain McKee, and Joe Bone in Castles in the Sky (2014)
    Karl Davies, Eddie Izzard, Celyn Jones, Iain McKee, and Joe Bone in Castles in the Sky (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Eddie Izzard
    Eddie Izzard
    • Robert Watson Watt
    Laura Fraser
    Laura Fraser
    • Margaret Watson Watt
    Arran Tulloch
    • Pat
    Lesley Harcourt
    Lesley Harcourt
    • Helen - Secretary
    Alex Jennings
    Alex Jennings
    • Henry Tizard
    David Hayman
    David Hayman
    • Frederick Lindemann
    Julian Rhind-Tutt
    Julian Rhind-Tutt
    • Albert Rowe
    Karl Davies
    Karl Davies
    • Arnold 'Skip' Wilkins
    Stephen Chance
    • Scientist
    Carl Heap
    • Scientist
    Celyn Jones
    Celyn Jones
    • Edward 'Taffy' Bowen
    Iain McKee
    Iain McKee
    • Higgy
    Joe Bone
    Joe Bone
    • Bainbridge Bell
    Nick Elliott
    • Navy Guard
    Tim McInnerny
    Tim McInnerny
    • Winston Churchill
    Neal Stewart-Roxburgh
    • The 7th Boffin
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Gillies MacKinnon
    • Writer
      • Ian Kershaw
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Goofs
      The aircraft in the initial test is of the right era but the wrong type - it looks like a de Havilland Rapide, while it should be a Handley Page Heyford, something in which the film makers had little choice, since not a single example of a Heyford survives, flying or not.

    User reviews19

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Shows us how the Battle of Britain was won.....Before it was Fought!
    A local theatre has been showing little-known WW II films this month (August 2015) on the 70th anniversary of the end of that war, and this film on the British development of radar for the RAF prior to WW II was one of them. I'm interested in the historical development of technology plus I had seen a PBS Nova show several years ago on WW II's spur to radar's development, so I was interested in this BBC production. In addition, Ian Kershaw, a well-respected British historian, wrote the script. I was not disappointed; it was a very enjoyable film for me.

    I had also seen earlier this year "The Imitation Game" featuring Alan Turing and his team of British mathematicians and codebreakers at Bletchley Park, and the parallels with "Castles" are striking. Both films have groups of unconventional geniuses monitored by class-conscious representatives of Britain's ruling circles and sequestered in rural hideaways where they work under great pressure to help win the war ("Imitation") or prepare for war ("Castles"). Robert Watson Watt, played by Eddie Izzard, is the Alan Turing of "Castles", and although not as eccentric as Turing, is sufficiently unconventional to warrant suspicion and doubt by those in the British government in the late-30s who must trust him with their scarce resources. His idea is to use a series of radio beams: (1) of sufficient strength to echo off incoming objects, e.g., bombers, at a sufficient distance, (2) and of sufficient number to ascertain their direction. The senior officials want him to use the nation's top physicists from Oxford and Cambridge to assist him, but Watt is an engineer for the Meteorological Service and wants to use his fellow "weather engineers" who can think outside-the-box. He gets his way against the rigid class structure of pre-war Britain, and for my money the visible drama of demonstrating radar's efficacy in detecting planes from 60 miles out (as shown in "Castles") is more striking than the drama that unfolds in "Imitation" where the group is finally able to read a coded message. The end of "Castles" shows how well radar has been integrated into RAF's Fighter Command by taking us inside their command centers that are ready to scramble fighters at the first ping on the radarscope on the eve of the Battle of Britain (when the Luftwaffe had three times as many planes at the outset).

    Modern wars, for better or worse, are said to be won with economic production and technology, and it's thus gratifying to see little-known figures like Watt featured in a film like this. It's sad to compare, however, that Watt was rewarded with a knighthood in 1942 for his pre-war development of radar, while Turing, pledged to secrecy by the British government for his war-time codebreaking, was not honored during his lifetime and apparently committed suicide.
    helpful•9
    2
    • don2507
    • Aug 6, 2015

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    FAQ1

    • Why was the expression "castles in the sky" chosen to be the title of this film/television production.

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 23, 2014 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Hedderwick, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland, UK(Cricket match in the mud)
    • Production companies
      • Hero Productions
      • Black Camel Pictures
      • The Open University
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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    Eddie Izzard, Alex Jennings, Tim McInnerny, and Julian Rhind-Tutt in Castles in the Sky (2014)
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