The Jumbo Jet: 50 Years in the Sky - Channel 5

The Jumbo Jet

As the 50th anniversary of the Boeing 747 nears, this documentary celebrates the Jumbo Jet and examines its lasting impact on the world

To celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Boeing 747 – which came to be known as the jumbo jet – this two-part documentary features fascinating archive footage and interviews with some of the engineers, including Barry Latter, below, and pilots who made the prototype a reality.

This first episode, subtitled ‘Creating an Icon’, looks at the variety of challenges that hampered the design and construction of the world’s first wide-body plane, and reveals how a highly ambitious delivery deadline meant the ‘plane that shrank the world’ nearly didn’t get off the ground.

The Jumbo Jet: 50 Years in the Sky C5

Barry Latter, former Chief Engineer for the Boeing 747 in the 1970s

An interesting look at an invention that has changed most of our lives.

TV Times rating: ****

Mandy Cooper
TV Times Highlights Editor

As TV Times Highlights Editor I get to hear about all the latest TV shows coming soon. Here at TVT HQ we are in the privileged position of selecting the best programmes from across all the channels and streaming platforms. Our mission is to make it easier for our readers to decide what to watch - and give them lots of choice of genres - all the latest shows, plus some nostalgic choices we call hidden gems, too. My career began with a postgraduate degree in periodical journalism (ahem, yes old school!) in 1991 and I’ve worked in TV media since 2000.