Willie's War is a film produced by the Children's Film Unit in 1994

1994 in film

1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

, directed by Colin Finbow and distributed by Channel Four Films. It was filmed in and around Frensham Heights

Frensham Heights School

Frensham Heights School is an independent school located in Surrey, United Kingdom, run by the registered charity, Frensham Heights Educational Trust Ltd. It was founded in 1925 and formed as part of the movement for progressive education...

 school in Surrey, and received its TV transmission on Channel 4

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Willie is evacuated from the East End of London, he is chosen by Zander, 13-year-old son of an army captain, to be his companion in a rambling country house. Zander's upbringing makes him snobbish and a bully. Willie does not enjoy shooting birds, playing with toy soldier

Toy soldier

A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, pirates, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic...

s, or boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

; his only friends are Zander's nanny

Nanny

A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...

, and a young soldier called Blake. His father turns up in the nearby woods, having deserted

Desertion

In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...

 the army. The nanny gives him food till one night, in panic, Blake shoots him.

Cast

• Lee Turnbull
  Lee Turnbull
  Lee Turnbull is an English actor who has appeared in The Famous Five, Making Waves and The Bill. He appeared on stage at the Old Red Lion in 2004 as part of the cast of Cherry Picnic....
  
   - Willie
• Charles Kay
  Charles Kay
  Charles Kay is an English actor.Kay was born in Coventry, West Midlands, the son of Frances and Charles Beckingham Piff....
  
   - Captain Bassett
• Jean Alexander
  Jean Alexander
  Jean Alexander is a BAFTA Nominated English television actress. She is best known to British television viewers as Hilda Ogden on the soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played from 1964–1987 and also as Auntie Wainwright on the longest running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010...
  
   - Nanny
• Philip Boddy - Zander
• Jemima Rooper
  Jemima Rooper
  Jemima Rooper is an English actress.- Background :Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journalist Alison Rooper. She attended Redcliffe Primary School in Chelsea, London and Godolphin and Latymer girls' school. While working on The Famous Five, she passed eight GCSEs with A*...
  
   - Annabel
• Jack May
  Jack May
  Jack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow and after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in India was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford...
  
   - grandfather
• Tat Whalley - Soldier Blake

Credits

• producer: Brianne Perkins
• art direction: Carol Rennie, Maria Trevis
• director: Colin Finbow
• continuity supervisor: Ledie Toscano
• director of photography: Jamie Cairney
• costume design: Len Kerswill
• production manager: Marc Baker
• assistant director: David Weeks