Fighter Pilot (TV series)

Fighter Pilot
GenreDocumentary
Reality television
Created byColin Strong
Narrated byMichael Dean
Theme music composerDon Percival
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes8
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release9 September 1981 (1981-09-09)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Fighter Pilot is a BBC television documentary series that was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 9 September to 28 October 1981.[1] 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[2]). 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.

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. The series was nominated for a BAFTA award in 1982 for Television Factual Series.

  1. ^ "Fighter Pilot – Episode 1 – "Dreams" 1981 BBC". YouTube. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. ^ "RAF fast jet pilots: £4m training scheme selects only the most talented airmen". Retrieved 13 April 2011.