Don't be deceived into thinking that this is a political drama unworthy of your attention. From the opening battle scenes, in strife-torn India before the turn of the century, to Winston Churchill's hair-raising adventures as a correspondent caught up in the Boer War, the exploits of the great man's youth are rousingly recalled by director Richard Attenborough and a stalwart British cast. Simon Ward's portrayal of the young Winston is quite faultless, even if it lacked the magnetism to make him a superstar. But there are colourful characterisations from Anne Bancroft (as Jennie, Lady Churchill), Robert Shaw (as Randolph Churchill), Anthony Hopkins (as David Lloyd George) and especially Pat Heywood as Winston's loving nanny - while the spectacularly-shot scenes of desert warfare offer John Mills the chance of a sharp little cameo as General Kitchener.

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