[3] Captain Povey has built a reputation for shutting down redundant naval bases, and now has his eye on the minesweeping detachment on Boonsey (a fictional Channel Island, 55 mi (89 km) off Portsmouth).

The crew were supposed to find "Bessy", a mine-shaped object used to collect Lifeboat funds but found a real mine instead, which Pouter bashes about in an effort to take it apart.

Gaston Higgins, a Frenchman, owns the local bar and when he gets drunk he talks of revolution and kicking the British off the island.

Ready to hand out courts-martial all round, Povey is confronted with a picture Binns took of him leading an all-out attack on what is now known to be a hoax, which will be front-page news across the world tomorrow.

[5] A nod to the radio series appears during the fake revolution in the news headlines of The Daily Telegraph referring to "Admiral Troutbridge".

'); and a marked absence of gusto makes the transition from half-hour radio programme to feature-length film seem a rather wearisome business.