Viewers have praised a BBC drama depicting the harrowing experiences of a Spitfire pilot as a hidden gem worthy of a “high school history class.”

Helmed by Matthew Whitman, this stellar cast delivers a masterpiece among the wealth of BBC wartime dramas, drawing from the real-life story of Geoffrey Wellum, the youngest pilot at the Battle of Britain.

The narrative opens at the war’s beginning in May 1940 when eighteen year old Wellum, portrayed by Sam Heughan (Outlander, Born to be Great), enlists with the 92 squadron of the Royal Air Force. He’s taken to the pub the evening before his first day when, with no flying experience, he’s expected to pilot a Spitfire.

Thrust into combat against the Luftwaffe, he participates in the Battle of Britain and receives a medal. However, by 1942 the strain leads to his breakdown, and we follow his struggle with the violence he’s witnessed.

With a 7/10 rating on IMDb, this war film featuring Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot, Gangs of New York) as Mac and Ben Aldridge (Fleabag, Our Girl) as Brian Kingcombe has garnered significant acclaim from viewers.

One fan said: “I’m not much for war movies. I watched this because I wanted to see some of Heughan and Lewis’s earlier works. I was impressed with both actors performances. The movie wasn’t so much about Spitfires as it was on the effects the fighting had on the pilots. It was well produced for a TV movie.

“Heughan does a great job playing the part of a young inexperienced Spitfire pilot. Lewis also performs well as the “father” to all the pilots. I like the voice-over inserted into the film of the actual pilot Heughan played.

“All in all it was a good TV movie. There is strong language, so I would not recommend it for children under 16. It would be a good film for a high school history class.”

Another viewer said: “I have always wanted to know of the real experiences of the WW2 Battle of Britain fighter pilots and here is one of the best presentations of one man’s personal experiences. His story is beautifully dramatised, with some great air fights and on the ground the boredom, the fears as well as the good times. What the movie does best is convey the men’s struggle to keep going when utterly exhausted and facing the possibility of death at any time.

“It’s an intimate study and I believe a truthful one. The pilot Geoffrey ‘Boy’ Wellum was still alive at the time of the making of the movie (because he was only a teenager when he first flew) and in voiceover reflects on those days.

“His final words are heart-breaking. Was it all worth it? To complement this film, a wonderful history of the Battle of Britain is in an episode of Battlefield Britain presented by Peter and Dan Snow on BBC DVD.”

Viewers can watch the film on BBC iPlayer now.