In telling Spike's life story this documentary makes extensive use of broadcast material as well as his music, books, poems, war memoirs and writings for children. Most particularly, it utilises correspondence from and to Spike, taken from the BBC Written Archives, much of it never before seen or heard by a wide audience. Spike's correspondence with the BBC covered many topics and was never less than hugely entertaining; this tribute contains the best of it.
Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured...