The concept behind making a film about the town of Southampton's response to the Armada developed from a meeting with the research team at the University of Southampton. Research had uncovered information about the events of 1588 that did not align with the traditional narrative about how people responded to the threat. The film takes the perspective of the ordinary people of Southampton and on the extraordinary events they were living through. All the characters in the film, except for the Chronicler, were real people, and the characters and attitudes they portray reflect our knowledge of them from contemporary sources. The actors, from the Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre, are also from the local community, portraying people who could have been their ancestors. They were also joined by friends and relations who agreed to take part as extras and in one scene to portray the Spanish.

Logistically, along with time and budget restrictions, there was also the challenge of locations. However, although Southampton appears to be a modern town, original settings can still be found. These included the church of St Michael’s, which dates to 1070, original vaults used to store privateer cargoes, the gun tower and battery at God’s House, and the Guildhall, where the mayor and burgesses would have met to discuss important events of the day. Although some original period inns survive, as they are still thriving as pubs, attempting to film there would have been a challenge; however, the Tudor House Museum provided an excellent substitute.

Disguising modern surroundings and working around how to film the sea battle off the Isle of Wight required a creative response led by filmmaker James Henderson and Joey Pate, who was currently studying film and joined the team for his college work placement.

The dialogue is modern, but hopefully with not too many anachronisms, but the script was inspired and drawn from contemporary documents, letters and proclamations.  Filming took place over three days in April 2025. The premiere of the film is on 27 May 2025  at Hangar Farm in Totton. The play will be made available through the Maritime Britain project website.