But I see quite enough of the inside of airliners without having to watch Clarkson sitting moaning in First Class.
Quite so. It would have ben more realistic if he'd gone economy, with occasional visits to the front of the aeroplane to show how the other half live, rather than the other way round.
I thought the program was a bit light on fact. Whittle's company was never named and there were no deatials of what they developed and what later came out of the likes of Rolls Royce, Bristol de Havilland etc. How did the government 'take his company and the jet engine off him'? The post-war Labour government's giving for free the technonlogy and the engine to both USA and Russia was only briefly touched on (I don't think giving it to Russia was even mentioned). And a little bit (not much - it's only entertainment after all) of explanation of the technology wouldn't have been out of place for the lay audience - especially the difference between early turbojets and modern fan engines (that's why that cowling looked so empty, Jeremy - it was just the fan casing).
SSD