A Matter of Life and Death (Part 1&2)

The 1946 film "A Matter of Life and Death" starred David Niven as Squadron Leader Peter Carter. Carter is returning from a bombing mission over Germany in 1945, when his Lancaster is badly hit by enemy fire over the English Channel.

His crew have all bailed out, but he has no working parachute left. He prepares to die, has a brief radio call with an American radio operator, June, and dictates a final letter to his mother.

Carter however doesn't die but finds himself washed up on the beach in Kent. He is able to locate June, and romance ensues. Up in heaven (or the "other place") panic has ensued - Carter should have died, but the Angel sent to retrieve his soul couldn't find him in the thick fog over the channel. The celestial records are now all wrong, and the accountants want it corrected.