In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing the Nazi invasion of Britain.

Seventy years on, brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor take viewers through the key moments of the Battle of Britain, when ‘the few’ of the RAF faced the might of the Nazi Luftwaffe. As they fly historic planes, meet the veterans, explore the tactics and technology, Colin and Ewan discover the importance of the Battle and the surviving legacy of the 1940’s campaign for the modern RAF.

A young pilot, fresh out of training, is called to join a Flight while they wait for the call to scramble. Throughout a single day, he witnesses the skies of southern England filled with deadly dog fights, and after every exhausting battle the men return to their dispersal hut, only to find another of their number missing. Unwilling to surrender, the pilot and his comrades unite to take to the skies once more, determined to defend not only the airfield, but their entire country.

In this documentary, experts dissect the Battle of Britain, which took place on Sept. 15, 1940 — a day that determined the fate of the nation.

Culloden is a 1964 docudrama written and directed by Peter Watkins for BBC TV. It portrays the 1746 Battle of Culloden that resulted in the British Army’s destruction of the Scottish Jacobite uprising and, in the words of the narrator, “tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands”. Described in its opening credits as “an account of one of the most mishandled and brutal battles ever fought in Britain”, Culloden was hailed as a breakthrough for its cinematography as well as its use of non-professional actors and its presentation of an historical event in the style of modern TV war reporting. The film was based on John Prebble’s study of the battle.

The summer of 1940, Pilot Officer T.B. Baird arrives straight out of flight school to join a front line RAF squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain. After an unfortunate start and a drumming down from his commanding officer, Baird (nicknamed ‘Septic’ due to his initials) must balance the struggle to impress his Group Captain, regain his pride, fit in with his fellow squadron mates, and survive one of the most intense air battles in history. This is the story of just one of “The Few” and how they managed to fight off the might of the Luftwaffe, despite overwhelming German air power.

It is the mid-1930s and the storm clouds of WWII were forming in Germany. This films charts the work of Robert Watson Watt – the pioneer of Radar – and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems as he chases his dream. By 1939, Watson Watt and his team have developed the world’s first Radar system along the south east coast of England. A system that, in 1940, proved pivotal in winning the Battle of Britain.

The British High Command finds itself in the thick of a huge dilemma when it is realized that they have long been infiltrated by spies from a German intelligence group. This all happens during the preliminary stages of the Battle of Britain.

To celebrate the centenary of the Royal Air Force, Ewan and Colin McGregor take to the skies in some of the world’s most iconic planes. These are the planes that were involved in aerial combat at every stage of the RAF’s story, from the biplanes used in the early days of dogfighting in World War I to the beautiful Spitfire of the Battle of Britain, the plucky Lysander and on to mighty Vulcan nuclear bomber, as well as the Chinook helicopter and supersonic Typhoon that are still in service today. It is a story of amazing machines and epic battles, but above all it is the story of the men and women whose courage and ingenuity have been at the heart of the RAF for 100 years. On their journey Ewan and Colin meet an amazing cast of characters.

Brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor follow up their documentary The Battle of Britain with a film exploring Bomber Command, a rarely told story from the Second World War. The film focuses primarily on the men who fought and died in the skies above occupied Europe, with numerous examples of individual heroism and extraordinary collective spirit, and Colin learns to fly the key aircraft of the campaign: the Lancaster bomber. But this is also the story of a controversy that has lasted almost 70 years. The program covers six years of wartime operations, and traces the obstacles and challenges that were overcome as the RAF developed and deployed the awesome fighting force that was Bomber Command.

Soldier Brian Wood, is accused of war crimes in Iraq by the human rights lawyer Phil Shiner. The two men go head to head in a legal and moral conflict that takes us from the battlefield, at so-called Checkpoint Danny Boy, to the courtroom and one of Britain’s biggest ever public inquiries, the Al-Sweady Inquiry.

Roman teenager Atti is forced to join the Roman army when one of his clever schemes falls foul of Emperor Nero. He is sent to “miserable, cold, wet Britain” where “the natives are revolting – quite literally”. Things go from bad to worse when Atti is captured by Orla, a feisty teenage Celt desperate to prove herself as a warrior. After narrowly avoiding a very sticky end in a bog, Atti uses his Roman know-how to help Orla save her gran who’s been kidnapped by a rival tribe. Meanwhile a furious Nero is determined to crush the rebellion, led by Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni. Atti rejoins his Roman troops and discovers they are preparing for an historic showdown with the Celts at the Battle of Watling Street. Atti’s brains could save the day but they could also spell disaster for Orla as the two new friends find themselves lined up on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Through flashbacks, Full English Breakfast follows the violent career of Dave Bishop (Dave Courtney) a small-time London villain who kills his way to the top of Britain’s drugs empire. Now happily ‘retired’ on the Kent coast Dave becomes embroiled in a bloody battle of wits with Al Qaeda terrorists who want to take over his criminal empire. Adding to the old mobster’s woes is his younger trophy wife (Lucy Drive) wanting to play away with his new driver (Jamie Bannerman).