A slice of life in an RAF fighter station during the Battle of Britain. Under played semi-documentary drama with stiff upper lips all round and the emphasis on characterisation rather than action. A huge commercial success in Britain.

HALLIWELL'S FILM GUIDE ,1990

An unromantic view of Britain's air war, with heavy empahasis on the mysteries of the control room. TV pioneer O'Ferrall brings to bear his WW2 experience at Fighter Command HQ to depict a nervy, uncertain Battle of Britain. His slice of life realism reveals a world where heroism, pragmatism and fear are inexstricably entwined, and easily ridiculed stiff-upper-lip restraint is a nescessary defence against panic and despair.

TIME OUT FILM GUIDE, 1998

By modern standards the special effects are not up to much, but the film cleverly gets around this by centering much of the action in the operations room, which helps to build up the tension and adds to the sense of desperation.

Touching little scenes, such as hanging out the light on landing, when the rest of the house has been reduced to a pile of rubble, help to capture the spirit of a nation which simply refused to be beaten.

The ending of the film is also very memorable, when the young pilot, who is as keen as mustard and raring to get into the scrap, is very quickly shot down and killed. It serves to remind us that most of "the few" who lost their lives were indeed very young men.

Overall - a very good film.

IMDB, Reviewer: Leslie Willan