''Summer of Rockets'' is a six-episode British

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

television miniseries, which premiered on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in the United Kingdom on 22 May 2019. The series was written and directed by

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown". Early ...

and stars

Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and ''Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Haw ...

Linus Roache Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He is known for playing Executive ADA Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas ''Law & Order'' (2008–2010) and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2011–2012). More recently, Roach ...

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' S ...

and

Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for the ...

. It is a semi-autobiographical story based on Poliakoff's childhood and his father, Alexander Poliakoff.

Plot

Samuel Petrukhin, a Russian-born Jewish inventor living in England, is given a secret mission by

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

. Samuel, who specialises in the development of hearing aids, is asked to use his expertise to contribute to western

efforts. Following the tensions of the

Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

and the first

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, Samuel's work plays a part in the emergence of the modern world.

Cast

as Samuel Petrukhin *

as Kathleen Shaw *

as Lord Arthur Wallington *

as Richard Shaw MP *

Lily Sacofsky Lily Sacofsky (born 1994) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC Two miniseries '' Summer of Rockets'' (2019), the ITV period drama ''Sanditon'' (2019–), and the crime drama ''McDonald & Dodds'' (2020–2021), also on IT ...

as Hannah Petrukhin *Toby Woolf as Sasha Petrukhin *

Lucy Cohu Lucy Ann Cohu (born 2 October 1970) is an English stage and film actress, known for portraying Princess Margaret in ''The Queen's Sister'', Evelyn Brogan in ''Cape Wrath'' and Alice Carter in ''Torchwood'': ''Children of Earth''. Background Lu ...

as Miriam Petrukhin *

Gary Beadle Gary Beadle (born 8 July 1965) is a British actor, best known for playing Paul Trueman in '' EastEnders'' and Gary Barwick in ''Operation Good Guys''. Life and career Beadle was raised as one of five children in Bermondsey, South London, wh ...

as Courtney Johnson *

Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty'', Detective Finney in ''Psychoville'', DCC Mike Dryden in ''Line of Duty ...

as Field * Suanne Braun as Matron Jeffry *

Ronald Pickup Ronald Alfred Pickup (7 June 1940 – 24 February 2021) was an English actor. He was active in television, film, and theatre, beginning with a 1964 appearance in ''Doctor Who''. Theatre critic Michael Billington described him as "a terrific sta ...

as Walter *

Rose Ayling-Ellis Rose Lucinda Ayling-Ellis (born 17 November 1994) is an English actress. Deaf since birth, she is a British Sign Language user. She is best known for playing the role of Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2020–2022). In 2 ...

as Esther * Greg Austin as Anthony Shaw *

Jordan Coulson Jordan Coulson is a British actor. His next role will be portraying the role of Howard ‘Hambone’ Hamilton in ‘Masters of The Air’ Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg on Apple+ In 2023. Jordan is also known for roles such as playin ...

as Kevin *

Matthew James Thomas Matthew James Elwyn Thomas (born 3 March 1988), also occasionally credited as Matthew Thomas, is a British actor who has made appearances in television, film, and theater. He is known for his television roles including the BAFTA and Emmy Award- ...

as Nicolas Halliday *Fode Simbo as Joel *

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

as Aunt Mary * Leo Staar as Denning *

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 (TV s ...

as Max Dennis

Episodes

Production

Development

''Summer of Rockets'' was originally announced in May 2017 alongside two other

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

commissions, which were 2017's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

'' and 2018's ''

A Very English Scandal ''A Very English Scandal'' is a true crime non-fiction novel by John Preston. It was first published on 5 May 2016 by Viking Press and by Other Press in the United States. The novel details the 1970s Thorpe affair in Britain, in which former L ...

''. In May 2018,

and

were announced as joining the project.

Filming

Filming began in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in May 2018. Filming also took place in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

in July 2018 at Benington Lordship, and at

Reddam House, Berkshire Reddam House Berkshire is a co-educational, independent school in Wokingham, in the English county of Berkshire. Reddam House provides education for boys and girls aged between 3 months and 18 years. The school is set in 125 acres of wood and ...

in August. Filming also took place at

The Royal Masonic School for Girls The Royal Masonic School for Girls (RMS) is an independent school in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England, with day and boarding pupils. The school was instituted in 1788, with the aim of caring for the daughters of poor Freemasons. In 1978, t ...

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and t ...

, Hertfordshire in August 2018 and at the former

RAF Upper Heyford RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the Second World War the airfield was used by Bomber Command. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford was one ...

air base in Oxfordshire. The streets outside the Ropery at the

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

were used to film the 1950s civil defence exercise in the series and the upper floors of the Ropery itself featured as civil defence training rooms.

Reception

Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Emine Saner gave the first episode four stars out of five. ''The Times'' gave it three stars out of five, praising the production but found it inconsistently engaging. ''The Evening Standard'' found the episode 'hammy' but complimented the acting and mystery.

References

External links

* * {{Stephen Poliakoff 2010s British drama television series 2019 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 2010s British television miniseries BBC television dramas English-language television shows Television series set in the 1950s Television series set in 1958 Television shows set in the United Kingdom