Despite the riotous action contained in the original Erskine Childers adventure classic, this brave attempt to pin down the narrative of the novel never quite succeeds, because it's too reverent for its own good. Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale - the best they've ever been - are the yachtsmen discovering a fiendish pre-emptive strike against England by the Germans, way ahead of the First World War. Tony Maylam's direction strives to make the most of authentic locations, but there's a glossiness to the production that itself launches a pre-emptive strike at our suspension of disbelief.

In the early years of the 20th Century, two British yachtsmen (Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale) stumble upon a German plot to invade the east coast of England in a flotilla of specially designed barges. They set out to thwart this terrible scheme, but must outwit not only the cream of the German Navy, but the feared Kaiser Wilhelm himself.