Created by Colin Strong Theme music composer Don Percival Original language(s) English First episode date 9 September 1981 Language English | Narrated by Michael Dean Country of origin United Kingdom No. of episodes 8 Number of episodes 8 | |
Nominations British Academy Television Award for Best Factual Series, British Academy Television Craft Award for Film Editor Genres Documentary film, Reality television | ||
Fighter pilots episode 1 dreams 1981 bbc documentary series complete
Fighter Pilot is a BBC television documentary series that was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 9 September to 28 October 1981. It was about the training of fast jet pilots in the Royal Air Force and followed the progress of six candidates as they went through the three-year programme. The BBC and the RAF first agreed to work together on a documentary in 1978, when there was a poor level of recruitment and a shortage of pilots in the service. At the time it cost £1 million to train a pilot (£4 million in 2011). The training process, from selection to operational service has a high drop-out rate and only one of the six original candidates went on to fly fast jets.
Contents
- Fighter pilots episode 1 dreams 1981 bbc documentary series complete
- Fighter pilots episode 4 going solo 1981 bbc documentary series complete
- Book
- References
Three of the candidates were airmen who already served in the RAF, while the others were from civilian backgrounds (qualified nurse, zoologist and milkman/farm worker). The series was produced by Colin Strong, who closely followed the candidates for three-and-a-half years. To gain a detailed insight in to the process, he undertook the RAF basic flying training course himself and flew solo in a Jet Provost.
Fighter pilots episode 4 going solo 1981 bbc documentary series complete
Book
A book of the television series was produced by Colin Strong and co-written with the author, Duff Hart-Davis.