''Castles in the Sky'' is a British fact-based television drama first broadcast on BBC Two on 4 September 2014. The movie shows

Robert Watson-Watt Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...

and other British scientists' struggle to invent

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

in the years leading to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Plot

It is the mid-1930s and Germany is making rapid advances in weaponry, especially aircraft. Suspecting that a war is likely, the British War Ministry look to new and advanced inventions of their own. This film charts the work of Robert Watson-Watt, the pioneer of Radar, and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they abandon their initial direction of a death ray and struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a small budget, challenging technical problems and even a spy, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems. By 1939, Watson Watt and his team have developed the world's first Radar system along England's south east coast - a system that, in 1940, will be critical in winning the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

Cast

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'', Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'', Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series ''Lip Service'' and Lydia Rodarte-Quay ...

as Margaret Watson-Watt *

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace i ...

Frederick Lindemann Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...

Julian Rhind-Tutt Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt (born 20 July 1967) is an English actor, best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series ''Green Wing'' (2004–2006). Early life Rhind-Tutt was born in West Drayton, Middlesex, the youngest o ...

Albert Percival Rowe Albert Percival Rowe, CBE (23 March 1898 – 25 May 1976), often known as Jimmy Rowe or A. P. Rowe, was a radar pioneer and university vice-chancellor. A British physicist and senior research administrator, he played a major role in the developme ...

Karl Davies Karl Davies (born 6 August 1982) is an English actor, and voice actor, who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series '' Kingdom''. Previously he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career Davies took over the role ...

as Arnold "Skip" Wilkins *Celyn Jones as "Taffy" Bowen *

Iain McKee Iain McKee is an English actor best known for his role as Frank Gadney in BBC1 drama series ''Lilies'' and Michael in BBC sitcom ''The Visit''. He is originally from Bolton and now lives in North London. Filmography * 2001 - ''The Parole Office ...

as Higgy *Joe Bone as Bell

Production

''Castles in the Sky'' was commissioned by

Janice Hadlow Janice Vivienne Hadlow (born November 1957) in Lewisham is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. A ...

for BBC Two and Kim Shillinglaw, head commissioner for science and natural history. It is produced by Simon Wheeler for Hero Film and Television with Arabella Page Croft and Kieran Parker as co-producers for

Black Camel Pictures Black Camel Pictures is a production company based in Glasgow and founded by Arabella Page Croft and Kieran Parker. Overview Their first feature film was zombie horror '' Outpost'' shot on a very small budget it was commended on achieving "smar ...

. The director is

Gillies MacKinnon Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948, Glasgow) is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this tim ...

and the writer is Ian Kershaw, who has previously worked on '' Shameless''. ''Castles in the Sky'' is produced with

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, BBC Two, BBC Scotland, BBC Worldwide and

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

with

Glasgow Film Office Glasgow Film Office (GFO) is the film commission for Glasgow, Scotland, tasked with supporting all productions wanting to film in the city. The office was established in 1997 for Glasgow City Council to support the logistical needs of film and ...

, Robert Watson Watt Trust and Brechin Civic Trust. Filming took place in various locations on Scotland's east coast; on Dunbar Beach and Hedderwick Sands in East Lothian,

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey ( gd, Abaid a' Bhatail Nuaidh) was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by ...

and Arniston House in Midlothian,

Gosford House Gosford House is a neoclassical country house around northeast of Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland, on the A198 Aberlady Road, in of parkland and coast. It is the family seat of the Charteris family, the Earls of Wemyss and March. It was ...

Longniddry Longniddry ( sco, Langniddry, gd, Nuadh-Treabh Fada)
...

, and in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. Mark Russell composed the musical score, whilst the costume designer was Gill Horn. Producer Wheeler said that he hoped the film would illuminate the "sex appeal" of science. He said, "The time is right for a contemporary approach to this rich and under-reported vein of British history—it's not like other war stories—if anything it's more akin to a combination of ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking websi ...

'' and ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

'' than '' The Dambusters'' or '' Reach for the Sky''."

Reception

The film was previewed at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June 2014. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' took the view that there were "many ways in which 'Castles in the Sky' adheres timidly to biopic convention...from Mark Russell’s sugary score to Gill Horn’s elegant but unworn costumes. Watson-Watt may stress the importance of 'free thinkers, rule-breakers and men without ties,' but this tweedy portrait never undoes its top button." Andrew Pulver in ''

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 ...

'' said that the film "has been framed as a rousing patriotic story, with a side-order of bash-the-establishment", having the humble Scot Watson-Watt and his team pitted against snobbish upper-crust figures: "to suit the we're-all-in-this-together mood, Watson-Watt's team are carefully pan-British, with Welsh and Yorkshire scientists in there too." After the television broadcast, writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', Jake Wallis Simons said of the film, "The problem was that this was a story in which nothing very dramatic happened. A moment in history, however significant, doesn’t automatically make a compelling piece of television." He added, "Izzard did his best, but neither story nor script worked in his favour.." concluding: "Overall, it all felt a bit worthy. This was history that everybody should know, but the erection of a statue might have done the job just as well."

References

External links

* {{Gillies MacKinnon BBC television dramas 2010s British television series Television shows set in the United Kingdom BBC television documentaries English-language television shows Films shot in Edinburgh Films shot in East Lothian Films directed by Gillies MacKinnon