The aerial sorties are stunning, but where’s the bigger journey, asks Peter Fincham

Most drama series set against the backdrop of World War II have one thing in common: they take longer to produce than the war took to fight.

The arrival of Masters of the Air in early 2024 completes a trilogy that began with Band of Brothers in 2001 and continued with The Pacific in 2010. You could fit both world wars into that timespan twice over and still have a few years to spare.

Band of Brothers, which told the story of a US army regiment from D-Day until VE-Day, first aired on HBO and was executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. In those distant days when we only had a handful of channels to choose from, the BBC bought the UK rights and decided to play it on BBC Two. Challenged with this decision, the controller of BBC One – my predecessor in the role – declared the series “wasn’t commercial enough” for the main channel. This earned a rejoinder from Steven Spielberg himself, who said something along the lines of “We tried like hell not to make it too commercial.”

It may not have been commercial, but it was a huge success, ushering in a generation of new talent such as a youthful Damien Lewis, and winning six Emmys. I’m guessing fewer of us remember The Pacific, which followed a group of US Marines in that more remote theatre of war, but it won even more Emmys, eight in total. Among the emerging talent was a young Rami Malek.

After dramatising the exploits of the army and the navy, the only way was up, so Masters of the Air looks at a group of US airforce men as they fly staggeringly dangerous missions from England to Germany. As before, Spielberg and Hanks are on exec duties.

Once again there’s an emphasis on new talent, but because of pandemic-related delays some of them have already emerged in other contexts. Here’s Barry Keoghan playing a relatively minor role; he’s great, but we’ve seen him in The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, so we know what he can do. Ditto Austin Butler who gave a dazzling performance in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. To be fair, the character he plays in Masters of the Air is more Elvis-like than Elvis himself.

To start with the positives, the flying sequences are utterly spectacular. Spielberg and Hanks clearly weren’t taking any chances so they hired James Bond director Cary Joji Fukunaga – he directed No Time to Die and now he’s doing telly! Fukunaga knows how to deliver an action sequence. You find yourself thinking, how on earth did they film this? More to the point, who in their right mind would fly a lumbering old bomber across the Channel in broad daylight, to be greeted by a swarm of German fighters and anti-aircraft guns? They must be mad.

I watched the first two episodes and was duly overwhelmed, but when it came to ep three I found myself thinking – hmm, not sure. My expectations were high, not least because it’s on Apple TV+. Here in the UK Apple are on a purple patch that started with Bad Sisters and extended through Slow Horses, Hijack and most recently Criminal Record.

Masters of the Air isn’t from the same stable as those shows. It’s American. By which I mean, it’s very American indeed. All those British and Irish actors are showing off their best midwest/southern/Noo Yoik accents, and after a while you find yourself thinking, hang on, isn’t this supposed to be East Anglia? Why is hardly anybody English?

But that isn’t really a problem. Nor is the fact that, not surprisingly, it’s all a bit Steven Spielberg. The music has got that “this must be important, we booked a 90-piece orchestra” feel – swelling strings and sonorous melodies. Where are the bold juxtapositions that you get in, for example, Saltburn? Barry Keoghan dancing naked to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor is, it turns out, a more memorable sequence than anything $250 million can buy you. Watching Masters of the Air is like eating in an expensive restaurant your parents might take you to. It’s impressive, but it isn’t cool.

The real issue though – based on two episodes, and it might change – is that, like the lives of the airmen it depicts, it’s repetitive. The first time you watch one of the aerial sequences it’s mind-blowing, the second time it’s thrilling, and the third time you just think “whatever”. There’s a narrative problem that’s impossible to overcome. The band of brothers were on a journey – they started in northern France, advanced to Germany and eventually closed in on Berlin. Here each mission simply brings you back to where you started, unless you get shot down and killed.

Back at base there’s what you would expect: parties, girls, drinks, fights, wounded airmen, letters from home. There’s surprisingly little historical context – no Churchill, no Roosevelt – and the women, broadly speaking, exist to be flirted with.

As I say, I’m only two episodes in. Some of the performances are excellent, Callum Turner and Anthony Boyle in particular. It may well be in line to bag a hatful of Emmys. But if you’re browsing the Apple TV+ menu it wouldn’t be the first thing I’d recommend. If you want something airborne, there are more thrills in Hijack. Or take a look at the excellent new cop show Criminal Record with Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo. The whole series probably cost as much as a single flying sequence in Masters of the Air. Don’t mention it to Steven or Tom – it’s better.

Peter Fincham is co-founder of Expectation TV. Previously he was Managing Director of Talkback, Controller of BBC One and Director of Television at ITV.

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