Masters of the Air: the lessons to learn from Band of Brothers, the Jubilee... and Poldark

Visit East of England executive director Pete Waters on the potential of film and TV tourism for the region and an opportunity coming the down the tracks…

‘For our air superiority, which by the end of 1944 was to become air supremacy, full tribute must be paid to the United States Eighth Air Force. Now we were the masters in the air’

Winston Churchill, May 1945

A few years ago, we invited the Chief Executive of Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell, to a conference to talk about marketing his fine South-West destination. He spoke of understanding customers’ motivations, how research was invaluable, the need to invest in PR and social media and creating great content. Then, for his pay-off, Malcom said, ‘And, of course, if you have Poldark taking his shirt off on Sunday prime time TV then you’re laughing!’

Actor Aidan Turner scythes the fields topless as Ross Poldark on BBC1 and next day the papers and social media are full of it. Cornwall finds itself at the centre, and the dramatic backdrop, of a priceless PR coup and every destination organisation marketing exec in the country is shaking a fist at the gogglebox, exclaiming, ‘Cornwall. Again!’

The county is undeniably as handsome a place as Turner is a brooding landowner, but Cornwall really does get more than its fair share of free on-screen publicity. Cornwall with Simon Shreeve. Cornwall with Caroline Quentin. My Cornwall with Ferne Britton. Cornwall: A Year by The Sea. Devon and Cornwall (nice of them to share some love, there).

Not that we’re jealous (no, really!), but it does highlight the value of getting your destination into films and TV programmes.

Department of Culture, Media and Sport research in 15 countries suggests that two thirds of visitors to the UK have been motivated by film or TV locations. Holkham Hall and Estate in north Norfolk is a good example, location for amongst others The Duchess, Shakespeare in Love and Natalie Portman's Annihilation.

Can you imagine the soft power of the Platinum Jubilee Weekend. All that pomp, pageantry, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, an 18th century Royal Gold Carriage, The Queen and… Paddington Bear. It’s said that Rishi Sunak set aside ￡28m to pay for the celebrations, but to see the publicity it’s got across the world, HM Government’s UK Visas and Immigration had better be ready for a tsunami of demand. Which equates as much-needed cash into our hospitality and tourism sectors.

Next year, Apple TV+ will stream Masters of the Air, the third in Tom Hanks’ and Steven Spielberg’s second world war trilogy after Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

No matter that it was filmed last year in the north-west Home Counties and on a sound stage in Aylesbury and is being completed in Virtual Production in California. The fact is, the actual locations featured in the series belong to the East of England.

Based on Don Miller’s eponymous book, Masters of the Air tells the stories of crew members of The Mighty Eighth Air Force who were stationed in around 40 airfields, predominantly in the flatlands of Norfolk and Suffolk, from 1942-45. They were called ‘The Fields of Little America’. Thorpe Abbotts near Dickleburgh in south Norfolk will be a focal point.

The $250m+ TV series will be catnip not just to military enthusiasts, but also to the descendants of the 350,000 United States servicemen who transitioned through the region during those three years, many of them bravely giving their lives to rid Continental Europe of Nazism. The attrition rate of the flyers based here was the highest of any US service, including the Pacific Marines who were against Japanese fighting to the death.

The Masters narrative is compelling. Without their sacrifices, there would have been no D-Day Invasion. The Special Relationship forged between them and local communities brought us peanut butter, chewing gum, Coca Cola, nylons and Swing music. We gave them warm beer and around 50,000 wives and girlfriends who went to start new lives across The Pond. We might even claim that the American Civil Rights Movement began here in the East of England where black servicemen, segregated from their white compatriots, were nonetheless welcomed into village pubs and communities. For us, this was a Friendly Invasion.

It is no exaggeration to say that The Mighty Eighth had the biggest cultural and landscape impact on this region since the Norman Invasion, almost 900 years earlier.

So, no matter that this region didn’t supply facilities or crew for Masters of the Air. The downstream beneficiary will be the visitor economy.

To give you an indication of the potential, I spoke last year to the Head of Normandy Tourism about the impact of Band of Brothers, based on the true story of Easy Company’s journey from the D-Day Beaches to the capture of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden. He told me there was an immediate 40% uplift in visitors from across the Atlantic. And that’s to a destination that is seen as a Rite of Passage for many North Americans.

Imagine what Masters of the Air could do for the East of England, not just in the immediate launch of the series but with its long tail. Band of Brothers was being streamed or screened on three separate channels in the US last week, encouraging new generations to visit Normandy. There’s no reason to think that Masters of the Air won’t be the gift that keeps giving.

In fact, Band of Brothers inspired not just countless guided tours and individual visits, but also a new D-Day Museum and Widescreen Movie Theatre. Is there potential in this region for a new Masters-inspired visitor attraction?

Possibly, but like Cornwall and the six-packed Poldark, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Friendly Invasion was a Discover England Fund project by Visit East of England that brought to the region Masters of the Air author Donald Miller, scriptwriter John Orloff and Kirk Saduski, a producer at Tom Hanks' Playtone. They are pictured here at Thorpe Abbotts.

Read?The Friendly Invasion e-magazine, with forewords by HRH Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, and Tom Hanks.