''South Atlantic Raiders'' is a two-part 1990
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
made for British television as part of ''
The Comic Strip Presents...'' series and was originally broadcast on
BBC 2. It is a satire of the
Falklands War.
Plot
Part One
The story revolves around Stan (Planer), a lonely and not-very-intelligent
Midlands security van driver and
ham radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
enthusiast who strikes up a long-distance romance with Frances (French), an
ornithologist on expedition to the Falklands with Kathy (Saunders), a lazier woman she detests immensely. One night while trying to contact her, Stan hears the sounds of a violent altercation and becomes convinced that the island is under attack and that Frances' life is in danger.
After his attempts to report his concerns to the police are rebuffed, he and his military-obsessed best friend Billy (Edmondson) decide to rescue her themselves, and hatch a plot to rob a bank that is on their route to finance their expedition. They break into the house of the manager, Max (Coltrane), an alcoholic with a crumbling marriage, and hold his wife Mary (Burke) hostage until he opens the vault and gives them the money; unfortunately, the bank vault has a
time lock
A time lock (also timelock) is a part of a locking mechanism commonly found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. The time lock is a timer designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until it reaches the preset time, eve ...
, meaning it cannot be opened until the next morning and forcing the two would-be robbers to stay overnight. As a consequence, they strike up a friendship with Max, try to help him bond with his wife by cooking them dinner, and thwart the attempts of Rollo (Richardson), a smooth-talking burglar, to steal from him.
Rollo is persuaded to join the bank heist and Max, having been fired from his job and with nothing left to lose, throws his lot in with the robbers as well. The robbery goes well, but their attempt to purchase a jet from
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...
to get to the Falklands ends with everyone except Stan arrested and sent to
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
. Resolving to get them out, Stan learns from the widow of an ex-convict that there is an unused tunnel dug as part of a failed escape attempt that has never been discovered leading from Cell 109b to the outside world.
On learning this, at his request Billy is moved into the cell with the tunnel, only to discover too late that it is now also occupied by Randy Ron, a violent
prison rapist, while Rollo and Max are moved into the cell next door, a scene of horrific squalor. Breaking into Billy's cell, they rescue Billy from Ron as Stan arrives to lead them through the tunnel to freedom, and the episode ends with the main characters fleeing Dartmoor in an
ice cream van
An ice cream van (British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near ...
.
Part Two: Argie Bargie!
The episode opens with Stan and Frances facing an Argentinian firing squad before
General Galtieri (Nesbitt), about to be executed as spies. It transpires that while Stan's initial impression of Frances' life being in danger was mistaken, there was in fact an Argentinian military force hiding on the island, preparing to retake the Falkland Islands. Stan manages to get a stay of execution by telling Galtieri and his men the story of how he reached that point; after the escape from Dartmoor, Stan and his accomplices sneaked about a passenger jet heading to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
by pretending to be the crew, Max having had some limited experience in flying
Cessna aircraft "before my first breakdown."
Once in flight, Max is surprised to discover Mary aboard, intending to move to Canada and start a new life; he resolves to try and win her back. After numerous set-backs and calamities on the way, the plane is safely landed on a beach on the island, and Stan and Billy set off to find Frances. They instead find Kathy, who has attacked Frances and left her on the rocky cliffs to die—however, having previously mistaken her for Frances, Stan is unaware of the difference, and Kathy begins to seduce him. Discovering evidence that she is not Frances, Stan confronts her; Kathy reveals herself to be both an Argentinian agent and Galtieri's lover and attacks him. Fighting her off, Stan escapes and discovers Frances on the cliff-edge. While he manages to rescue her, they are discovered by the Argentinians and captured. Billy, having left Stan and Kathy alone to give them some privacy, discovers the Argentinian forces.
Stan concludes his narrative by proposing marriage to Frances, who accepts. Galtieri mocks Stan's story, before suddenly collapsing; Max has infiltrated the Argentinian base posing as a cook and has fed him a poisoned omelette. Billy at that point attacks the camp wearing a
Ned Kelly
Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
-style suit of armour and firing flare guns at the Argentinians, while Rollo and Mary stage an attack by British forces. Kathy, distraught over Galtieri's death, commits suicide and the Argentinians flee in disarray. Having thwarted the invasion, the group return to Britain as heroes and it is revealed that in light of their actions the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
has commuted the thirty-year prison sentence that Stan, Billy, Max and Rollo were facing into a sentence of "one year at an easy prison".
Music
The soundtrack of the episodes is largely composed of excerpts from tracks on
Jeff Beck's 1989
studio album ''
Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop
''Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop'' is the sixth studio album by guitarist Jeff Beck, released in October 1989 through Epic Records.Astarita, Glenn"Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop - Jeff Beck" ''AllMusic''. RhythmOne. Retrieved 31 March 2020. The album reached ...
''. Beck also appears in the episode in a brief cameo role as himself.
Cast
*
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, novelist and playwright. He played Neil in the BBC comedy '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in ''Filthy Rich & Catflap''. He has appeared in many West End mu ...
as Stan
*
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series '' The Young Ones'' (1 ...
as Billy
*
Dawn French as Frances
*
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...
as Kathy
*
Robbie Coltrane
Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. H ...
as Max
*
Peter Richardson as Rollo
*
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...
as Mary
*
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...
as Prison Warden
*
Derren Nesbitt
Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he also appeared in many television series in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He is known for his role as Major von ...
as General Galtieri
References
External links
The Comic Strip Presents– the BBC's guide to ''The Comic Strip Presents''
* (Part 1)
* (Part 2)
{{The Comic Strip
1990 films
The Comic Strip Presents... episodes
British comedy films
1990 comedy films
1990 British television episodes
1990 short films
Films directed by Peter Richardson (British director)
1990s British films