Mile High
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''Mile High'' is a British television drama based on the lives of the
cabin crew member A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
s of Fresh!, a
budget airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the
Mile High Club The mile high club is slang for the group of people who have had sexual intercourse on board an aircraft in flight. An alleged explanation for wanting to perform the act is the supposed vibration of the plane. Some theorize that people who enga ...
. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005 and then aired again on
Sky Three Pick (formerly Sky 3 and Pick TV) is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Sky UK. History Sky Three launched on 31st October 2005. It was essentially a barker channel for Sky's main entertainment channel Sky One and its other s ...
. In 2012, CBS Drama obtained the rights to the series.


Background

A Hewland International production, ''Mile High'' is a mix of drama, sex and comedy. The show is based around the flight crew of a young budget airline, in and out of
uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...
, in the air and on the ground. The series follows the flight crew as they travel and live in the London home they share.


Cancellation

In August 2005, shortly after the series two finale,
Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
's controller announced that the show would not return for a third series. In an interview with '' Digital Spy'', executive producer and creator Jane Hewland said, "Then finally, to make things worse, the policy at Sky changed 180 degrees right as we were in the middle of the 19 ep series. The previous boss had been pushing us to be more sexually explicit. That was the message. Sky had had lots of programmes like ''Naked in Westminster'' and '' Ibiza Uncovered'' which had done very well by being quite raunchy. Suddenly that went out of fashion. This wasn't anyone's fault. Times just change. I don't think the audience was ever comfortable with the more explicit things we did. It's not what people want in their living rooms. But the whole show got branded as tacky – the title MILE HIGH does encourage that. By now everybody but us had lost faith. I really enjoyed making the final episodes. I thought we'd come back and found our way again. But creatively I was knackered from having had to produce 58 hours of drama in a single year."


Filming locations

Although the airline flies all over the world, the show was filmed in two airports:
London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations ac ...
and the Palma de Mallorca Airport. Also used in filming on location were London and Spain. Scenes featuring the 'fresh centre' and the airport check-in desks were filmed at the ExCeL London centre on custom-built sets. The exteriors of the crew flat were the Clementina Court Building on Copperfield Road, Bow, London. The interiors and balcony scenes were filmed at 3 Mills Studios in Bow London.


Airline

''Mile High'' revolves around a fictional budget airline, Fresh!, that operates
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...
aircraft to destinations across Europe and North Africa. In series 2, Fresh! merges with long-haul airline Goldstar resulting in two subsidiaries - ''Fresh! Europe'' and ''Fresh! Global'' which operates a
Boeing 747-200 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
. The merger causes distress to workers, especially those from Goldstar. The original blue Fresh! uniform is retained for all crew, rather than the Goldstar crew's mustard colour uniforms. The airline's main base is
London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations ac ...
, sometimes referred to as ''London Airport'', where the airport's external and interior shots are filmed. Other destinations mentioned in the series include Leeds Bradford,
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, Manchester,
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Edinburgh, and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
domestically. Internationally, destinations include
Palma de Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...
, Amsterdam, Paris,
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, Brussels,
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,
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,
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, Faro, Málaga,
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and Monastir. Destinations incorporated after the merger with Goldstar include
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
and
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
.


Episodes

Series one consisted of 13 episodes. Series two consisted of 7 episodes followed by 19 in series three. Series two was the shortest series due to a compressed time scale for filming. Series two was a major success and as a result a further series of 19 episodes was commissioned. Episodes 14–20 and 21–39 were shown in four separate batches. Although episodes 21–39 were commissioned as a third series, episodes 14–20 and 21–39 were combined to create one large series classified as series two. Charlotte Taylor (Sarah Farooqui) departed after series two, causing her character to disappear without explanation in series three when it was combined with series two. This is one major difference between the series.


Series one (2003)

Series one follows the lives of Emma Coyle ( Emma Ferguson), K.C Gregory ( Sarah Manners), Jason Murdoch ( James Redmond), John Bryson (
Matthew Chambers Matthew Guy Charles Chambers (born 20 August 1968) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Daniel Granger in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. Early and personal life Matthew Guy Charles Chambers was born in London on 20 August 19 ...
), Janis Steel ( Jo-Anne Knowles), Lehan Evans (
Naomi Ryan Naomi Ryan (born 24 May 1977 in Bournemouth, England) is a British actress who has appeared in ''Dream Team'' as Ashleigh King, ''Mile High'' as Lehann Evans and ''Coronation Street'' where she played Underworld factory worker Bobbi Lewis. TV ...
), Marco Bailey ( Tom Wisdom) and
Will O'Brien ''Mile High'' is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of Fresh!, a budget airline based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the Mile High Club. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 20 ...
( Adam Sinclair). The main storyline for series one is the love triangle between Emma Coyle, John Bryson and Emma's husband Ian. In episode one it is the eve of Emma's wedding day and she has a one-night stand with John. Later in the series it is revealed that Emma is pregnant with John's baby whilst married to Ian. Janis reveals the truth to Ian causing their marriage to end and Emma to have a breakdown. Another major storyline in this series is the complicated relationship between Janis and Marco. The characters Jason Murdoch, K.C Gregory, Emma Coyle and John Bryson depart the show at the end of this series.


Series two (2004–2005)

Series two introduces Poppy Fields ( Stacey Cadman), Jack Fields ( John Pickard), Charlotte Taylor, Nigel Croker (
Christopher Villiers Christopher Francis Villiers (born 7 September 1960) is an English actor, screenwriter and producer. Biography Villiers was born in London, the son of Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Wing commander David Hugh Villiers (1921–1962) and his s ...
), Lorna Newbold, Rachel Potter, Dan Peterson ( Luke Roberts) and Ed Russel (
Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boy ...
) to the show. Janis Steel ( Jo-Anne Knowles), Lehan Evans (
Naomi Ryan Naomi Ryan (born 24 May 1977 in Bournemouth, England) is a British actress who has appeared in ''Dream Team'' as Ashleigh King, ''Mile High'' as Lehann Evans and ''Coronation Street'' where she played Underworld factory worker Bobbi Lewis. TV ...
), Marco Bailey ( Tom Wisdom) and Will O'Brien ( Adam Sinclair) were the only returning cast. The main storyline in series two is the merger between Fresh! and GoldStar. The storyline of Janis' and Marco's complicated relationship continues this series with the addition of Poppy and Nigel. Poppy is a new love interest for Marco and Nigel is a new love interest for Janis. Series two has the main storyline of Nigel and his love interests. It is revealed that Nigel is a habitual cheater and has dated many women in the time in which he was married to his wife Denise. This storyline continues throughout the series until the series finale where all his love interests get revenge. The series finale sees some of the staff at Fresh! lose their contracts, leaving Ed and Poppy out of a job. The series finale also shows Lehan Evans (
Naomi Ryan Naomi Ryan (born 24 May 1977 in Bournemouth, England) is a British actress who has appeared in ''Dream Team'' as Ashleigh King, ''Mile High'' as Lehann Evans and ''Coronation Street'' where she played Underworld factory worker Bobbi Lewis. TV ...
) dying in a plane crash caused by Nigel's heart attack upon landing. As a result of his girlfriend's death, Dan Peterson descends into alcoholism. Ed and Poppy move to
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, Belarus and have a child. Janis Steel and Will O'Brien leave the airline to open their own bar named 'Mile High' on a Spanish beach. The last episodes of the second season were broadcast on Finnish station
MTV3 MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisemen ...
before British channel Sky One aired them.


Cast


Main characters


Recurring cast


Guest characters


Home media

* Series one, two, and the complete series are available in the UK. * The complete season one seven-disc boxset was released in Australia on Region 4 DVD in November 2006. The complete season two boxset was released on 21 March 2007. * Season one 1 was released in the USA by
Koch Vision Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
on 13 March 2007, with season two volumes 1 and 2 being released later in 2007. Unlike the broadcasts, the DVD episodes do not include recaps of the storyline and the music is replaced by a different soundtrack.


Theme song

* ''Mile High''s theme song is "The World Is Mine" by
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
band
Hooverphonic Hooverphonic is a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a singular genre, but rather encompass altern ...
.


References


External links


Episode guide
* {{Sky1 Sky UK original programming 2003 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series Aviation television series Television shows set in Essex Television shows set in London Television series about flight attendants