In 2001, thirteen British and Dutch male aviation enthusiasts which included Paul Coppin and his wife Lesley had gone on a tour of a Greek military base in Kalamata.
They wrote down the numbers of the planes. They were picked up by the police and were accused of spying.
Now planespotting is not illegal, although military installations are sensitive about it. Especially if foreigners are hanging near the bases.
This drama documentary charts the judicial nightmare these planespotters went through.
Mark Benton plays Paul Coppin and Lesley Sharp plays his wife. It starts as a romantic love story. They were in relationship with other people, get married and go to Greece for their honeymoon. Only for Paul and his mates, it will also involve looking at planes.
What looked like some farcical nonsense, became an ordeal as they languished in a Greek prison. With the prospect of spending years in jail.
The lighthearted tone worked for the earlier scenes. After all the film depicted the group as weird obsessives. The rest then treads a well worn path that has been charted in dramas ranging from Midnight Express to Bangkok, Hilton.
Plucky foreigners against a possible corrupt legal system. The jails are atrocious. None of them asked their lawyers how the Greek court system worked. Lucky for them the British press were on the case.
