What’s on TV – 17 August 2019

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The sky’s

the limit!

Fighter pilots train to fly state-of-the-art jets

in Britain and America’s real-life Top Gun

D

o you feel the need? The

need for speed? It’s been

more than 30 years since

Tom Cruise roared on to the big

screen in 1986 hit film Top Gun,

which followed high-flying fighter

pilots at a US naval school.

A sequel is due to land next

year, but this week ITV journeys

into the ‘danger zone’ with a new

three-part documentary series,

which charts the highs and lows

for real pilots at Top Gun-style

academies in Britain and the US.

Steady nerves

At RAF Valley in Anglesey,

North Wales, a new squadron

is in training to learn how to fly

Britain’s most advanced fighter

jet to date – the F- 35 Lightning.

They need skill, determination

and a steady nerve, but only the

very best will be chosen to join

the Lightning force.

‘I think I’ve got what it takes,

but I don’t want to make any

mistakes,’ says student pilot

Sedge. ‘I wouldn’t say I have

an issue with authority, but

I do like to unwind and

have a bit of a laugh.

‘I’m coping with the

course so far, but every

time you go up there,

you’ve got to be at the

top of your game.’

Meanwhile, at the US Marine

Corps base in South Carolina,

trained pilot Bally is preparing to

take the £100million jet for a spin.

‘The excitement comes before

and after the flight,’ says Bally.

‘While you’re actually up there,

you focus on the task in hand.’

But logging into the F- 35 ’s state-

of-the-art computer system is

Bally’s first test...

‘Sometimes you have to turn it

off and on again to get it to work,’

he says. ‘But the F- 35 is light years

ahead of anything I’ve ever flown,

and probably anything that’s ever

existed. It’s breathtaking!’ Q

NEW FACTUAL

Fighter Pilot:

The Real Top Gun

Tuesday, 9pm ITV

Reality star

Jade Goody

passed away

in 2009

after being

diagnosed

with cervical

cancer...

Jade’s final

farewell

J

ade Goody had lived
her life in the glare of
the media spotlight, so
it was a cruel twist of fate
when she received the
devastating news that she
had cancer, live on air.
After her disastrous
appearance on 2007’s
Celebrity Big Brother, in
which she was accused of
racially abusing
Shilpa Shetty, a
year later Jade
signed up for an
Indian version of
the series. Yet
after just two days
on the show, she
received a call
that changed
her life for ever.
‘I had a
smear test
before
I left for
India,’
said
Jade
prior to
her death.
‘Then I had a
call from my consultant
while I was in the house.
When he said the words,
“Jade, you’ve got cancer,”
my heart just sank.’
Jade immediately came
home, yet despite chemo
and an operation to remove
her uterus, doctors gave
her just months to live...

‘I couldn’t breathe when

they told me it was terminal,’

she said at the time. ‘I know

they’ve done everything

they can,

but I really

thought

I might

be okay.’

The final

episode of

this three-

part series

tells the tale

of Jade’s

final days,

in which

she raised

awareness

of cervical-

cancer screenings and

continued to work to

earn money for her two

sons, Bobby and Freddie.

With never-seen-before

footage and interviews, the

film also remembers her

last-minute marriage to

Jack Tweed and her final

farewell to her sons.

‘Mummy’s going to

heaven soon,’ she told

them. ‘But you don’t need

to be scared. I wish I could

stay, but I can’t.’ Q

Flying high...

Putting the Hawk T2

through its paces

26

Best of the best...

Pilot Bally, and the

1986 film Top Gun

FACTUAL

Jade: The

Reality Star Who

Changed Britain

Wednesday, 9pm C4

Devoted...

With Bobby

(left) and

Freddie

Row... CBB’s

Shilpa Shetty

Valuable legacy...

Jade worked hard to raise

awareness of the disease