Log Line
When Britain stands alone against the conquering hammer of Nazi Germany, a determined Spitfire pilot and his family prepare for the national fight for survival against impossible odds.
Script Info
Script Type: Feature
Genre: Action/Adventure / Drama
Length: 120 pages
Est. Budget: Over $10M
Screenplay Synopsis
England, 1st September 1939: The day Germany invades Poland. The day Squadron Leader JULIAN COLVILLE (27) almost runs over ANNA WELAND (23), daughter of Lambden’s new vicar.
Anna is unlike any girl Julian has ever met. Gentle and wonderfully talented, Anna’s other-worldly innocence captures Julian’s heart. But two days later when Britain declares war on Germany, Julian and the privileged Colville family realise life is about to change forever, and ‘happy ever after’ may only now be for fools and poets.
As Western Europe crumbles under the Nazi onslaught, Julian and Anna try to shun the futility of their ill-timed relationship with the simple joy of just being together. But Dunkirk falls a few weeks later, despite air cover from Julian’s own squadron, and Julian’s brother CAPTAIN SAMUEL COLVILLE (25) is presumed a casualty of the retreat, falling valiantly to ensure his comrades have at least a chance of escape.
The loss of Samuel hits the Colville family hard, but there’s little time to grieve. With France surrendered, the eyes of the Nazi leadership fall on the Channel – onto the shipping lanes – and across to the British mainland itself in contemplation of the forthcoming invasion. Every member of the Colville family, and England herself, must now steel themselves for the national fight to the death.
While Julian’s father, Brigadier-General SIR ANTHONY COLVILLE (61), is coaxed out of retirement to form his own Home Guard battalion, Julian’s sister ELIZABETH COLVILLE (28), a WAAF Chief Commandant in MI5, works to uncover the German spies already on British soil. The new wave of enemy scouts now arriving by sea and air, and the far more dangerous, established agents – Oberon in particular – pose a terminal threat to the nation. Passing back military secrets to German High Command, highlighting key targets for the Luftwaffe to blitz, and capable of Morsing artillery fire control to the massive cross-Channel artillery batteries now erected on the French coast, Elizabeth and her team realise that if Oberon isn’t stopped, Britain itself will fall as a result.
Germany launches its long-awaited attack on England, and the Battle of Britain commences. The Colvilles find themselves in a desperate fight not only for their kingdom but also their lives. For when the RAF and Luftwaffe finally clash in the clouds over Kent, the war has come home to Anna and Lambden, and bombs, blazing aircraft and their baled-out occupants start dropping all over the fields and villages of the Garden of England.
The battle reaches its climax on Sunday, 15th September 1940. As cross-Channel German artillery batteries rain high explosive down on Kent’s ‘Hellfire Corner’, and huge Luftwaffe attacks are unleashed upon London, Elizabeth must track the Nazi agent Oberon to his lair for the final showdown to avoid Britain’s almost certain defeat.
Squadron Leader Julian Colville too must confront
the inevitable. Faced with almost
certain death against odds too grievous to contemplate, Julian clambers once
more – perhaps one final time – into the cockpit of his Spitfire to take the war
into the sky to an implacable enemy. To
fight for his homeland, his family, and above all his love Anna, the struggle
for survival in the clouds above only matched by the trials of his loved ones
below.
About This Screenplay
The Battle of Britain was fought over my village. Across the farms and villages hereabouts, as well as the overgrown churchyards, you come across little monuments or stones representing where allied and German aircrew died. It’s a poignant reminder of how ordinary people were thrown into extraordinary situations and most of them discovered reserves of strength and courage they never knew they had. I wanted to tackle this subject from the standpoint of, yes, war is hell, but the singular humour and ‘damn-the-torpedoes’ attitude the nation brought to bear against its frightening predicament was and still is a phenomenon to be experienced and celebrated. – Phillip Day
Contact:dayp777@gmail.com
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