70 minutes of forgotten history that'll wreck your heart.
In June 1940 Italy entered the war alongside Germany. With Britain threatened by a German invasion, thousands of ordinary Italians living in the UK were arrested and thrown into internment camps.
Acting
Higgins and Heggie's brittle, desperate friendship.
Writing
Sharp dialogue exposing bureaucratic evil as banal.
Director
David Maloney
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on a shoestring BBC budget in 1981; director David Maloney later became producer on Doctor Who.
Based on real events: over 4,000 Italian Britons were interned in 1940, and hundreds died when the Arandora Star was torpedoed transporting them to Canada.
GB
