Piece of Cake - 30 years ago....

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20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Nice wee article on the filming of the classic TV series, which took place 30 years ago this month.....

https://warbirdtails.net/2018/03/17/when-piece-of-cake-came-to-headcorn-30-years-on/

Original post

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20 years 9 months

Posts: 645

Blooming marvellous, thanks for sharing Daz! Been meaning to give it another watch, it's been a while. I used to have it on repeat as a lad, wearing out my Dad's VHS recording from the original showing on ITV.
Also, I've lived down the road from Headcorn all my life and never realised it was used as a base for filming; you learn something new every day.

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20 years 7 months

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When i watch Midsomer Murders i still think of him as Moggy Cattermole :)

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18 years 10 months

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Picked up the series on DVD about 12 months ago, and have only just watched it. Some glorious air to air shots over the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs around Friston/Beachy Head.

Thirty years ago - it was filmed just after I moved down to that part of the world (East Sussex), and I remember desperately hoping to catch sight (or sound) of the filming that was rumoured to be going on not too far 'down the road'... (no Internet forums, and few mobile phones, to spread the word in those days...)...

The series feels a little dated in places, even allowing of the fact that it is a 'period piece', but its still well worth tracking down a set of DVDs.

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20 years 9 months

Posts: 378

Still remember when the series was first released, seems like it was only yesterday and when you think, Danger UXB (ahhhh Judy Gleason) will be 40 next year????

Hmmmm Judy and Sally Gleason.....

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6 years

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It was quite controversial at the time for the historical inaccuracies. The main problem being that it was set during the Phoney War and there was quite a severe shortage of Hurricanes at the time of filming, hence the later marks of Spit. Charlton Park was used for the chateau. One of the family is a co-owner in a Nanchang...

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17 years 11 months

Posts: 2,605

About time for a remake then?

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24 years 2 months

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I bought a previously unknown (to me) book on ‘the making of’ the other day. Interesting reading. I remember reading in Flypast about the use of a high tech film format. Did this medium have the same fate as Laserdisc, anyone?

Equally of interest was Derek Robinson’s intention to portray a more realistic portrayal of the pilots as an antidote to established heroic accounts. I felt this approach had some value, but it was perhaps applied somewhat coarsely.

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 10,029

It is not widely known that Mk I Spitfire AR213 made an appearance in PoC.

Here a shot by Herbie Knott with AR213 fourth in line. Note the slightly different radii on the fuselage roundel.

I missed catching an image at DX by about 15 minutes...they were taking off as I approached from Royston.

Yet here we are 30 years on and not one ground shot to my knowledge has surfaced of AR213 in PoC livery.

Anybody out there? :)

Mark

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Album%206/1-AR213%20583df28d_zpsqzfjoto5.jpg

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20 years 9 months

Posts: 645

Yet here we are 30 years on and not one ground shot to my knowledge has surfaced of AR213 in PoC livery.

Anybody out there?

Is this not AR213 in the set from the material Daz posted?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/25983165537/in/album-72157664760665087/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/39960761925/in/album-72157664760665087/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/40146384264/in/album-72157664760665087/

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18 years 4 months

Posts: 271

Yep, that should do it.

Steve

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17 years 10 months

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30 years, 30 YEARS!!!!! where has that gone? half my life away but feels like a few years not decades

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24 years 2 months

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I was about 16 at the time and already adored the book; I was aware enough that it was a fiction, and took it for what it was. I remember the anticipation of seeing my favourite characters brought to life, particularly of course Moggy- and yes, even today, whenever I see Neil Dudgeon in something, I think of Cattermole. Interesting that he and a few others of the young cast went on to have solid careers- Jeremy Northam and Nathanial Parker, particularly- so they were a well chosen bunch.

Happy days :cool:

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 10,029

I'll re-phrase that:-

Yet here we are 30 years on and not one ground shot to my knowledge has surfaced of AR213 in PoC livery...until Daz posted the link yesterday

There are five images there that include a partial AR213 of which this one, cleaned up, is the best.

I am delighted.

Mark

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Album%206/1-AR213%20Headcorn%201988%20image%20by%20Warbird%20Tails%2001a_zpsbbg3phtf.jpg

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20 years 9 months

Posts: 645

Aha, understood Mark. How different she looks now!
I'm surprised there are none in the 'making of' book? I don't have it to hand at the moment, a great little eBay purchase that was.

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20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

I have that "making of" book - it's a fantastic read. Just goes to show how difficult it was "back in the day", without CGI etc.

And there are STILL people on Farcebook who think that the infamous shot of Ray Hanna going under the bridge was faked.....! :stupid:

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19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

I haven't seen it since it was first shown on television.
Aircraft aside...how does the series "hold up" today as entertainment?

Also, at the time it was considered somewhat controversial. Is that still the case?

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,000

The controversy surrounding PoC was red hot at the time, the veterans really didn't like it one bit. I'm not sure about the chronology of events, but certainly at one point the novel was subject of a legal case brought by Paul Richey (ex 1sqn Battle of France) who felt that the novel was heavily based on his autobiography Fighter Pilot and that the characters portrayed were an insult to the memory of real people. Did this come after the novel was made into the series?? Sadly Richey died while proceedings were underway, and the case petered out.

When the series was aired it got an equally cold reception from veterans as a whole, the main gripe being that it portrayed nothing like the real spirit of the time and that the war would have been lost if things had really been like PoC (Bee Beamont for one was very vocal on the subject). I've heard that ITV ended up promising never to show a repeat of the series as a result.

On a more personal note, PoC forms a strong part of my childhood memories and was probably one of the catalysts of my interest - the plot and characters may have drawn criticism, but the set and the flying scenes were great. I've since watched it on DVD, and it's poignant to see the likes of Ray and Mark Hanna, Reg Hallam and Hoof Proudfoot doing their stuff, including the famous bridge scene flown by Ray.

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,183

Fornicating spheroids!

I was at school almost within sight of Headcorn (used to watch the Islander dropping parachutists from the front stairwell) at the time - and this is the first I've heard of it!

I guess it's a bit late to go and take a butchers...

Adrian

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20 years 9 months

Posts: 645

Fornicating spheroids!

I was at school almost within sight of Headcorn (used to watch the Islander dropping parachutists from the front stairwell) at the time - and this is the first I've heard of it!

I guess it's a bit late to go and take a butchers...

Adrian

Still plenty to see down here on a good day at Headcorn. Aero Legends put on a veritable treat at the weekend with their two Spitfires and the Bygone aviation Hurricane, along with their Dove and T6 of course.