Castles in the Sky is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on British television (BBC) in 2014.
This is the true story of how the British scientist Robert Watson-Watt and a team of other British scientists managed to develop a functioning radar system in the years up to the beginning of World War II.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Gilles MacKinnon
** Writer: Ian Kershaw
** Released on DVD in 2014
** Run time: 90 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Eddie Izzard as Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973) – leader of the team that developed radar in Britain
** Laura Fraser as his wife Margaret Watson-Watt
** Alex Jennings as Henry Tizard (1885-1959) – a chemist and chairman of the committee on aerial defence
** Tim McInnerny as Winston Churchill (1874-1965) – a prominent British politician and later prime minister
** David Hayman as Frederick Lindemann (1886-1957) – a British scientist of German origin and a close friend of Winston Churchill
** Julian Rhind-Thott as Albert Percival Rowe (1898-1976) - a scientist and a member of the team
** Karl Davies as Arnold “Skip” Wilkins (1907-1985) – a scientist and a member of the team
** Celyn Jones as Edward George “Taffy” Bowen (1911-1991) – a scientist and a member of the team
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone, but I have to mention a few basic facts in order to explain and justify my rating.
The plot
This drama follows the life and career of Robert Watson-Watt over five years (1935-1940). He is a family man, but he offers to work for the government in order to develop an early detection system (known as radar).
The word “radar” is not used in this drama, because it was coined by the US Navy in 1940.
When his offer is accepted, he assembles a team of scientists who work together on the secret project.
The team faces two problems:
The first problem is economic. They must secure funding for their ideas. They have to prove that their efforts are helpful.
The second problem is scientific. They have to develop a system that can detect enemy airplanes at a long distance, so British pilots have time to get into the air and meet the enemy before he strikes a British target.
In the beginning, they had only one station, later they had five stations, and when the Battle of Britain began in 1940, they had a network of multiple stations that covered the southern and eastern coast of England and Scotland.
Thanks to this early warning system, the British won the Battle of Britain, even though the German Luftwaffe had three times as many aircraft as the British.
The Battle of Britain lasted for three months and three weeks: from 10 July to 31 October 1940.
Watson-Watt’s work for the government put a strain on his marriage. His wife decided to leave him, because she could not accept that he was absent from the family so often and so long.
The flaws
This historical drama covers an important chapter in the history of the twentieth century and in the history of technological development.
The movie-makers want to show us a scientific process; from an idea to a practical application, through trial and error, from failure to success.
If we look at the drama as an isolated episode, it works quite well. But things change a great deal, if we consider the real historical facts.
While the drama is based on a true story, we cannot say that the level of historical accuracy is high. In fact, there are several flaws. Let me explain:
# 1. When we are watching the drama, we get the impression that Watson-Watt and his team are just weathermen, hopeless fools, who know little or nothing about hard science.
This is not true.
Watson-Watt and the members of his team were real scholars, real scientists, and they knew what they were doing.
Here is one example:
Edward George “Taffy” Bowen later played a key role in the design of the radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, which was used to relay the first images of man on the moon in 1969.
[This case is dramatized in the movie The Dish which premiered in the year 2000; it was released on DVD in 2001.]
# 2. When we are watching the drama, we get the impression that Robert Watson-Watt and his team of scientists invented radar.
This is not true.
The idea of using radio waves can be traced back to the German scientist Christian Hülsmeyer (1881-1957), who developed a system that allowed him to detect a ship in dense fog. His system was patented in 1904.
Amazingly, the German army was not impressed with what they saw and did not want to support his work. They failed to see the perspectives of his work.
During the 1920s and the 1930s, all major powers conducted research into some kind of radar system, but the research was top secret, so scientists in one country knew little or nothing about the work done in other countries.
Today we know that scientists studied and tried to develop a radar system in several countries, including the UK, the US, France, Germany and the USSR.
# 3. When we are watching the drama, we get the impression that the British radar system developed by Robert Watson-Watt and his team was excellent.
This is not true.
The British system, known as Chain Home, was ready by 1939; it was based on land, but it could only work over the sea; and it demanded huge stations.
The German system, known as Freya, was ready by 1938; it could be based on a ship; it could be used over land as well as over the sea; and the stations were not very large. In short, the German system was more advanced than the British.
Chain Home was based on existing technology. Robert Watson-Watt and his team did not aim for perfection. His argument ran something like this:
“I want a good system that can be ready on time. I do not want a better system that will be available too late or never come at all.”
# 4. In the drama, the chronology of the development of the radar system is not clear. The only time a date is mentioned is at the end of the drama where an on-screen message says:
9th July 1940
The eve of the Battle of Britain
Here is a proper chronology:
1935 – The team begins the work
1936 – Five stations are ready
1939 – A full system of multiple stations is ready
1940 – The system proves its value during the Battle of Britain
The drama implies the full system was not ready until the very last moment, on 9 July 1940, which is the day before the Battle of Britain began. In fact, the full system was ready before the war broke out in September 1939.
# 5. The locations used are wrong. The first experiments were done at Orford Ness, a long peninsula in Suffolk. But these scenes are shot on Dunbar Beach and Hedderwick Sands.
Later experiments were done at Bowdsea Manor, also located in Suffolk. But these scenes are shot at Arniston House and Gosford House.
# 6. Even minor details are wrong. As stated above, the time frame of the film is 1935-1940, but the movie-makers do not always seem to remember this.
They show us a television set from 1946 and an ambulance from 1952!
# 7. There are also problems with some of the actors.
As stated above, Frederick Lindemann was of German origin. He had a German accent, but in this drama, he speaks perfect English.
The actor Tim McInnerny tries hard to sound like Churchill and while he does perhaps succeed on this front, he does not look like Churchill at all.
Reviews and ratings
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some answers:
54 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
67 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
68 percent = IMDb
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 350 ratings of this product, including 125 with a review.
The average rating is 4.6 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 82 percent
Conclusion
I cannot look at this drama as an isolated episode. I have to consider the true historical facts.
This drama is produced in collaboration with the Open University. This is why I expect the movie-makers to strive for historical accuracy in every area where it is possible. Unfortunately, they did not do this.
I wanted to like this drama. I am sure the movie-makers have good intentions, but good intentions do not guarantee a good result. I think the actors do their best, but sometimes doing your best is not good enough.
This topic is interesting and important, but this drama has some serious flaws. When you are watching it, you must remember that the movie-makers play fast and loose with the historical truth.
While it is based on a true story, not everything we see and hear in the drama is true. Not everything happened the way it is presented in the drama.
I have to remove two stars because of the flaws. I think it deserves a rating of three stars (60 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Radar: A Wartime Miracle
by Colin Latham & Ann Stobbs
(1997)
Radar: Britain’s Shield and the Defeat of the Luftwaffe
by David Zimmerman
(2001)
Radar Origins Worldwide
by R. C. Watson
(2009)
Building Radar
by Colin Dobson
(2010)
Spies in the Sky
by Taylor Downing
(2012)
Most Secret: The Hidden History of Orford Ness
by Paddy Heazell
(2013)
# 2. Film and video
Battle of Britain:
The Race for Radar
This documentary film premiered in 2020
** Writer and director = Brian Marshall
** Run time = 45 minutes
** Rating on IMDb = 70 percent
*****
The British scientist
Robert Watson-Watt
(1892-1973)
*****
Battle of Britain:
The Race for Radar
This documentary film premiered in
2020
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment