South Atlantic Raiders
| South Atlantic Raiders | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Richardson |
| Produced by | Lolli Kimpton |
| Written by | Peter Richardson Pete Richens |
| Starring |
Nigel Planer Adrian Edmondson Dawn French Jennifer Saunders Robbie Coltrane Peter Richardson Kathy Burke Derren Nesbitt |
|
Release date
|
1 February 1990 |
South Atlantic Raiders is a two-part 1990 comedy film made for British television as part of The Comic Strip Presents... series and was originally broadcast on BBC 2. It is a satire of the Falklands War.
The story revolves around Stan (Planer), a lonely and not-very-intelligent Midlands security van driver and ham radio enthusiast who strikes up a long distance romance with Frances (French), an ornithologist on expedition to the Falklands with Kathy (Saunders), a lazier woman she detests immensely. One night while trying to contact her, Stan hears the sounds of a violent altercation and becomes convinced that the island is under attack and that Frances' life is in danger.
After his attempts to report his concerns to the police are rebuffed, he and his military-obsessed best friend Billy (Edmondson) decide to rescue her themselves, and hatch a plot to rob a bank that is on their route to finance their expedition. They break into the house of the manager, Max (Coltrane), an alcoholic with a crumbling marriage, and hold his wife Mary (Burke) hostage until he opens the vault and gives them the money; unfortunately, the bank vault has a time lock, meaning it cannot be opened until the next morning and forcing the two would-be robbers to stay overnight. As a consequence, they strike up a friendship with Max, try to help him bond with his wife by cooking them dinner, and thwart the attempts of Rollo (Richardson), a smooth-talking burglar, to steal from him.
Rollo is persuaded to join the bank heist and Max, having been fired from his job and with nothing left to lose, throws his lot in with the robbers as well. The robbery goes well, but their attempt to purchase a jet from British Aerospace to get to the Falklands ends with everyone except Stan arrested and sent to Dartmoor. Resolving to get them out, Stan learns from the widow of an ex-convict that there is an unused tunnel dug as part of a failed escape attempt that has never been discovered leading from Cell 109b to the outside world.
On learning this, at his request Billy is moved into the cell with the tunnel, only to discover too late that it is now also occupied by Randy Ron, a violent prison rapist, while Rollo and Max are moved into the cell next door, a scene of horrific squalor. Breaking into Billy's cell, they rescue Billy from Ron as Stan arrives to lead them through the tunnel to freedom, and the episode ends with the main characters fleeing Dartmoor in an ice cream van.
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