From Trainspotting to Plane Spotting

From Trainspotting to Plane Spotting

My favorite Scottish Ewan, who leapt to fame in the film "Trainspotting" took to the air from the air base at Lossiemouth in an RAF fighter jet piloted by his brother this week. He then flew along Glen Tilt, known as "Star Wars Alley", where training flights roar across the countryside at low levels at 620mph. The valley is said to resemble the channel on the Death Star finale of the space epic. Ewan's sortie, with flight lieutenant Colin McGregor at the controls, raised £4,000 for the Children's Hospice Association of Scotland. It also gave some good publicity for two of Ewan's films - "Black Hawk Down" and the latest Star Wars film. The McGregor brothers were born in Crieff in Perthshire.

And there will be more programmes besides across BBC One, Two and Four, including a very exciting documentary featuring Ewan and his RAF pilot brother Colin calledThe Real Battle of Britain. They'll be getting very hands-on experience, flying through our skies, reliving the experiences of young airmen. For Colin it's a chance to see if his modern jet-fighter training compares to the seat-of-the-pants skills needed to master a Spitfire.

A BBC Four documentary I'm looking forward to is Spitfire Women, which tells the remarkable story of the women who flew planes for the Air Transport Auxiliary - the unsung heroines as it were.

I hope that together all these programmes will help persuade even the stoniest old sceptic that this aerial conflict, fought over the second half of 1940, really was as historically significant, and as personally resonant, as all the myths would have us believe.

Martin Davidson is commissioning editor for BBC History

The Battle Of Britain season will be on air in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the WW2 air campaign