Very Important Person

Sir Ernest Pease is the subject of a television program based on This Is Your Life, where he is re-united with old acquaintances. He does not remember the senior British Army officer he is shown with, which triggers a flashback. The room is tense as memories are stirred and questions about his past begin to surface.

In 1942, Pease is in charge of crucial aircraft research and must see the environment in which his equipment will operate. To do so without revealing his identity, he travels on a bomber incognito as Lieutenant Farrow, a Royal Navy public relations officer. The mission requires him to balance secrecy with hands-on observation.

The bomber is struck over Germany, and despite a crewman's warning, Pease is sucked out through a hole in the aircraft. He parachutes to the ground and survives the harrowing escape. The peril marks the true start of his POW ordeal.

Pease is captured and sent to a prisoner of war camp largely populated by Royal Air Force officers. His fluency in German raises suspicion that he might be a spy, which complicates his status. Group Captain Travers learns his true importance and makes his escape a top priority.

Within the camp, Pease shares a hut with Jimmy Cooper, Jock Everett, and Bonzo Baines. They become his companions and help him endure the captivity as plans for possible escape begin to form. The camaraderie strengthens as the men learn about each other's backgrounds.

Pease proposes a daring plan: to stage a fake escape, hide for two weeks, then walk out disguised as Swiss Red Cross observers with Cooper and Baines. Everett would escort the group by impersonating Major Stampfel. The plan hinges on convincing the Germans that Pease has truly escaped.

The escape committee, led by Wing Commander Piggott, doubts the feasibility of Pease's plan. Pease remains determined to carry it out, convinced that a bold move offers the best chance for freedom and to outsmart the guards. The tension between caution and audacity runs through their debates.

As the plan approaches execution, Grassy Green, a shrewd undercover Luftwaffe intelligence officer, discovers the ruse. He confronts the party at gunpoint, mistaking Everett for Stampfel, and the moment nearly collapses the escape. The threat is neutralized, but the danger remains.

Pease, Cooper, and Baines manage to walk out of the camp and begin their journey back toward safety. They navigate the countryside and the uncertainty of capture while trusting in their plan. The escape becomes a blend of risk, luck, and resolve as they press on.

After their escape, the men make their way back to safety and the wider world. The war's end comes later, but their successful breakout leaves a lasting mark on their memories. The escape serves as a turning point in Pease's wartime life.

Back in the present-day program, Pease is reunited with the four who played roles in his escape: Baines, Cooper, Everett, and Stampfel. The meeting gives each man a sense of closure and continuity with their wartime past. The show ties their disparate lives into a shared memory.

In separate postwar chapters, Baines becomes a leading designer of ladies' foundation garments, Cooper serves as a missionary in India, Everett works as a West London undertaker, and Stampfel transitions into entertainment management at a British holiday camp. Their lives diverged dramatically, yet the war years connect them forever. The timeline emphasizes how the war reshaped ordinary people's destinies.

The program closes with the memories of the POW escape and the unlikely reunion. Pease's scientific career, his secret mission, and the people who accompanied him are framed as a testament to resilience. The audience is left with a sense of the past echoing into the present.