ATA Girl 2

This has a somewhat different format to ATA Girl #1, with just two hour-long episodes, both of which really just comprise a single story, albeit one more complex than any individual tale in the original release. The framing device has moved on, too, contrasting the modern world with the limitations of 1940s society.

• The Hardest Day – The first half of the story takes place during the titular air battle, a part of the Battle of Britain that saw the Luftwaffe attempt to destroy RAF Bomber Command. There is considerably more action than in the stories of the first release, with the story split between a pair of ATA pilots trying to get unarmed aircraft to safety while pursued by the Germans and others on the ground as their airfield is bombed. But the emotional drama is here, too, with one female pilot having to deal with a domineering husband and another attracted to someone that the culture of the day would very much disapprove of. The focus on a wider range of characters than in the individual episodes of the first release gives it a larger scope, exploring multiple storylines that lead into the second half.

• Au Revoir – The final episode takes us from New Year's Eve 1944 through to VE Day, as the action of the first half gives way to a more emotional story in the second. It follows on, not only from the events of the previous episode, but from one of the stories in the original collection. The open-ended conclusion to that story worked well at the time, but there's no harm in wrapping it up here and revealing what did really happen. Like much of this episode, it's fairly dark; there's a lot to wrap up from the various plotlines and most of it brings emotional trauma to the characters involved. But, in amidst the despair, there's at least one happy ending, and, while we don't know the full outcome for everyone else, this feels like a good conclusion.