A truly great film which espouses the village character which Pimlico exudes.

Set in 1949 with WW2 just over and rationing still biting hard, some local children roll a tractor tyre down a hole, setting off an unexploded bomb left over from the Second World War. The explosion reveals a buried cellar containing artwork, coins, jewellery and an ancient parchment document, a royal charter of Edward IV that ceded the house and its estates to Charles VII (“the Rash”), the last Duke of Burgundy.

As the charter had never been revoked, Pimlico is legally part of Burgundy, the British government has no legal jurisdiction and requires the Burgundians to form a committee according to the laws of the long-defunct dukedom before negotiating with them.

Very quickly, Burgundy (followed soon after by the rest of London) realises that it is not subject to post-war rationing and other bureaucratic restrictions, and the district is quickly flooded with entrepreneurs, crooks and eager shoppers. A noisy free-for-all ensues, which Spiller, the Chief (and only) Constable of Burgundy, finds himself unable to handle. Then the British authorities close the “border” with barbed wire. Having left England without their passports, the bargain hunters have trouble returning home. The Burgundians decide that two can play this game and stop an underground train dead in its tracks. “The train is now at the Burgundy frontier”, explains an agent of the newly formed customs and excise department. They proceed to ask the passengers if they have anything to declare.

The infuriated British government retaliates by breaking off negotiations. Burgundy is cut off, like the western sectors of post-war Berlin, and the residents are invited to “immigrate” to England. But the Burgundians are “a fighting people” and, though the children are evacuated, the adults stand fast “We’ve always been English and we’ll always be English; and it’s precisely because we are English that we’re sticking up for our right to be Burgundians!”

Pimlico is cut off from electricity, food and water (though there is plenty of gin and crisps). The water problem is solved by a covert raid late one night, refilling the reservoir with hoses attached to the nearest fire hydrant on the British side of the border. Unfortunately, the food supply is spoiled when the cellar where it is being stored becomes flooded, and it appears that the Burgundians are beaten. Just in time, three Burgundian youngsters learn about this crisis and toss food across the border, setting an example for sympathetic Londoners; they begin throwing food parcels across the barrier in an improvised “airlift”, echoing the one that ended the Berlin Blockade.

Meanwhile, the government comes under public pressure to resolve the problem. It becomes clear to the bumbling British diplomats assigned to find a solution that defeating the Burgundians would be no easy task, so they negotiate. With negotiations successfully concluded, an outdoor banquet is prepared to welcome Burgundy back into the fold. Just as Big Ben strikes the hour of reunification, the Burgundians realise they truly are back in England when a torrential downpour sends everyone scurrying for cover.