On a wing and a prayer
I’M surprised BRITISH AIRWAYS: 100 YEARS IN THE SKY (Channel 5) hasn’t been adopted by the airline as a slogan. Then again, perhaps not. As you wait for a landing slot over Heathrow, it can often feel like you’ve been in the sky for 100 years, whoever you’re flying with.
Despite wicker chairs and a curtained-off bowl for a toilet, the first passengers had an easier time. Departing from Hounslow Heath on August 25, 1919, Britain’s debut commercial scheduled flight took off and landed on time.
Over the next four months, 42 further flights plied the London-toParis route, 41 of which ran to schedule. This wasn’t, technically speaking, anything to do with the British Airways of today though.
The early British operators bore unwieldly names like Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), British Aerial Transport and North Sea Aerial Navigation.
In the Thirties, these carriers were offered staggering sums by the Government to merge into a national company, Imperial Airways. While Imperial kept the empire together, a minor short-haul outfit competed on some European routes and called itself British Airways. For this other BA, the crowning glory came when Neville Chamberlain flew back on one of its planes following his infamous meeting with Hitler in Berlin.
The promises Chamberlain won from Adolf were about as solid as BA’s bank balance and it vanished again, merging with Imperial to become BOAC. British Airways proper didn’t emerge until 1974 and they didn’t get that far in last night’s programme.
They did, however, pack in some interesting bits of aviation history. In the run-up to the Second World War, dummy BOAC flights, complete with stewards, passengers and all, went to Sweden to pick up vital components for our arms industry.
After the war, speed, comfort, safety and price jostled for pole position on the airlines’ agendas. Charter flights were banned from undercutting BOAC, a move which indirectly created package holidays, as extras like coach trips and meals were thrown in to add value.
In this way and others air travel truly changed the world. In the Fifties, first-class flyers were treated to high-end “exotic” foods like mango and avocado.
By the end of the Seventies so many people had flown abroad that the shops started stocking olive oil and pasta. “Fly the flag”, as that Seventies BA jingle had it, belonged to a much earlier era of air travel.
Alongside the welcome absence of courtroom scenes, the thing I’m most noticing about THE SPLIT (BBC1) is the poor quality of the blokes. It turns out long-lost dad Oscar (Anthony Head) didn’t vanish, he ran off with the au pair and he’s only back now because he wants his share of the law firm.
Sportswear mogul Davey McKenzie (Stephen Tompkinson) is carrying on with his wife’s best friend and lying about his assets. Hannah’s devoted hubby Nathan (Stephen Mangan) sits on the stairs listening to his daughter having sex. Youngest of the Defoe sisters, Rose (Fiona Button), is marrying a nerd with allergies.
That only leaves Christy (Barry Atsma) who at least looks good in suits. Then again, we only see Christy in suits because he spends his entire life in the office.
Abi Morgan’s drama is, of course, at heart, a drama about strong, interesting, powerful women.
Does that mean the men can only be nasty, neurotic or dull?