Set in 1960s Dublin, a fatherless eight-year-old boy who feels alienated by his family, escapes his reality by deciding he's been sent from Mercury to study life on Earth. His fantasies mirror the life of his hero, Flash Gordon, from the serial he watches each week at the local cinema. His escapades result in dilemmas that drive his mother to such distraction that she turns to the boy's strange uncle for help.

Rita Tushingham
May Cronin

Tom Courtenay
Uncle Tony Cronin

Hugh O'Conor
Paul
James Hickey
Harry Cronin

Ian McElhinney
Brother Dowdall
Kevin James
James "Mucker" Maguire
Gerard Cannon
Classroom Schoolboy

Johnny Ward
Classroom Schoolboy
Joanne Gerrard
Sarah

Sean Flanagan
Sean McCarthy
Liam Heffernan
Usher
Rachel Martin
Ice Cream Girl

Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon (Archive Footage)

Charles Middleton
Ming the Merciless (Archive Footage)

Van Johnson
Game Show Contestant (Archive Footage)