Was that the one filmed over at Bruggen? It had a Phantom "ejection" and something bursting into flames or something like that?
Oh, and all the linies were Flight Sergeants, Warrants and Officers -
DT_Xtremez_42:
Main channel TV series that I can recall about the RAF in the last 25 years are as follows,
Fighter Pilot - BBC 1981/2 - a fly on the wall series, which followed 6 prospective RAF pilots from Selection to OCU over a three year period. One ended up on Buccs, one on Hercs and the rest got chopped.
Squadron - BBC 1982 - a drama series about at fictional RAF squadron (333 Squadron, if memory serves) which was supposed to be a Rapid Deployment Force. It was equipped with Harriers, Pumas, Herc's and (briefly) Phantoms. The series was filmed at Upavon, though they did run into some problems filming it as the Harriers the RAF give to the BBC to film the show had to go and fight a real war. Only 10 were made and it was let down by a low budget and wooden acting (though the series did show something of the life for the other ranks, including the unit's GD airman who had the misfortune of having to look after the Sqn Mascot, a very bad tempered Goat (head butts the AOC in the Ball's if I remember correctly)). In the first episode one of the unit's Phantom's also shots down a Jaguar (operated by a rebel african unit), after it shots down the unit’s puma while involved an evacuation of British nationals from a fiction African country. (bet they didn’t know that it was going to happen for real while they were filming it).
Rescue - ITV 1989/1990 - a fly on the wall series about a year of 202 Sqn Sea King operations at ISK, well known for the fact that the film crews on the Sea Kings got the some of the best footage of the Piper Alpha rescue operations.
Strike Force - ITV 1995 - a 90 min drama pilot about a fiction Tornado F3 unit. As Pie Sandwich has correctly stated it was utter p!sh, I watched about 10 minutes of it then switched channels.
BBC2 did run a series about the Hawk training at RAF Valley a few years back, but it was shown at 6 o’clock so I missed most of them.
The only other one I can recall was ‘Top Guns’ on Discovery, which covered 29 Sqn F3s on a det to Cold Lake in the mid 1990’s.
Saying that I was at the Fleet Air Museum a few weeks back, and found a DVD set of the BBC series 'Sailor' filmed aboard the old Ark Royal in 1976. Having only been 10 at the time it was shown, I bought it and noted how good it was, dodgy 70's shirts and all. The series had little narration and relied on the servicemen being filmed explaining what they were doing. The series covered the ship from the captain down to the Matloe banged up for desertion while the ship was docked in the USA, Flight and ships operations, matloe’s on the P!ss while a shore and getting charged, making their own entertainment, reading porn mag’s in the messes, the works, warts and all and nothing made up. Some good footage of Bucc’s and Phantoms as well.
If only something like that about the RAF could be done.
