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First Light

Drama-documentary telling the story of Geoffrey Wellum who, at the age of just 18, was one of the youngest Spitfire pilots to go into combat in the Battle of Britain.

Thrown into the crucible of the most violent air war ever seen, a boy barely out of school is determined to fight for survival. However, the price of victory will be more than he can bear. Seventy years later, that same boy is still yearning to be free.

At the age of just 18, Geoffrey Wellum was one of the youngest Spitfire pilots to go into combat in the Battle of Britain. Desperately fighting to survive from moment to moment, Geoffrey's rites of passage are unimaginable to most - but his experience is a direct parallel with the intensity of back-to-back conflicts faced by so many young men and women serving in our armed forces today.

The universality of his story is as relevant today as it was in 1940.

1 hour, 19 minutes

Last on

Sat 1 Aug 201522:10

Credits

RoleContributor
BoySam Heughan
Older BoyGeoffrey Wellum
Brian KingcombeBen Aldridge
Tommy LundAlex Robertson
MacGary Lewis
BevingtonPaul Kynman
DavyPaul Tinto
Trevor 'Wimpey' WadeJordan Bernarde
DrummondAlex Waldmann
GraceTuppence Middleton
DadRichard Walsh
ProducerMatthew Whiteman
DirectorMatthew Whiteman
WriterCaleb Ranson
WriterMatthew Whiteman

Broadcasts

  • Tue 14 Sep 201021:00
  • Tue 14 Sep 201022:30
  • Mon 27 Sep 201002:40
  • Sat 22 Oct 201122:30
  • Sat 1 Aug 201521:10
  • Sat 1 Aug 201522:10