- HD 1080
- Runtime: 100m.
- Status: Released
0
- Languages: en
- Country: United Kingdom
- Director: Clive Rees
- Stars: Paul Scofield, David Threlfall, Helen Mirren, Helen Pearce, Max Rennie
- keywords: hermit, island, beach, whale, cornwall, england, based on children's book, 1910s, puffin
- Production_studio: American Continental Corp., Golden Swan, ITV Central
- Slogan: A story so enchanting you'll wish it were real.
- The When the Whales Came is featured in the top rankings of 1989
- #88 in Top Drama Movies of 1989
A pair of children befriend an eccentric old man, who lives isolated on the far shore of their island home. But it turns out that the old man knows a terrible secret about the island and the whales who sometimes come. Meanwhile WWI is making life hard in the village.