 Manchester 1961 At the dawn of the space age, one man dared to be first. For 10-year-old John Thawaite, his only hero is Yuri Alexsayavich Gagarin. The first man in space. Three months after his pioneering flight Major Gagarin is due to visit Manchester and John is desperate to meet him. Trouble is, it s a school day and everyone is conspiring to stop John meeting his hero. Battling all odds, John journeys across Greater Manchester to bring back proof of his contact with a man who has touched the stars and returned to tell the tale.