For some, the Dunkirk evacuations are inseparable from Sir Winston Churchill and his most defiant pledge to never surrender.

But a new blockbuster film about the little ships and the heroes within them will not feature the former Prime Minister at all, the director has revealed, for fear of getting audiences “bogged down” in politics.

Christopher Nolan, the director, said he had strived to make a film relevant for the modern day, disclosing that the on-screen action would instead focus on the survival story.

Writing for the Telegraph's Saturday Magazine, he said he wanted to create “virtual reality without the headset”, bringing the reality of Dunkirk home without touching its politics.