All Along the Watchtower

1 9 9 9 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes

RAF Auchnacluchnie is a nearly abandoned and long-forgotten remote early-warning radar station situated in the highlands of Scotland overlooking a small picturesque fishing village. Designed in the 1950s, once there were 300 men on the base, now there are just two.

The two remaining staff – Airman Tench (Felix Bell) and Wing Commander Campbell-Stokes (Roger Blake) – don’t seem to realise that the cold war is over and continue to ward off the threat of Soviet nuclear attack. All continues peacefully until Flight Lieutenant Simon Harrison (Chris Lang) arrives to assess the usefulness of the station, with a view to closing it down.

But the charm of the place, – and of local auburn-haired village teacher (and publican’s daughter) Eilidh (Zoë Eeles) – quickly persuades Simon to change his mind and take up a permanent posting.

Campbell-Stokes advises Harrison that in the event of a nuclear attack, he should ring Mrs McNulty at the Post Office, and she’ll know where to find him.

The BBC series was filmed at Pennan, the whitewashed coastal village (with 13 permanent residents) nestling in the shadow of cliffs on the Northeast coast between Macduff and Fraserburgh which had already been immortalised in the 1983 film Local Hero.

Flight Lieutenant Simon Harrison
Chris Lang
Airman Tench
Felix Bell
Wing Commander Hilary Campbell-Stokes
Roger Blake
Eilidh Guthrie
Zoë Eeles
Iain Guthrie
Tony Roper
Douggie Maclaggan
Tom Watson
Mrs Mulvey
Georgie Glen
Callum
Michael B. Blair
Fraser the Fisherman
Cameron Jack
Fisherman Andy
Ian Bustard
Mrs Patterson
Linda McGuire

Video