Secret Army (TV series)
| Secret Army | |
|---|---|
This is the main title caption that was seen throughout the series.
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| Created by | Gerard Glaister |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom Belgium |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 43 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC1 BRT |
| Original release | 7 September 1977 – 15 December 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Kessler |
Secret Army is a television drama made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT (now VRT) created by Gerard Glaister. The series tells the story of a fictional Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the Luftwaffe, to the United Kingdom. It was made in the UK and Belgium and three series were broadcast on BBC1 between 7 September 1977 and 15 December 1979.
Fay Weldon said of the series: "There is, in the making of such programmes, a level of professionalism, and sheer patient, largely unacclaimed, hard work from producer to script editor to writer to designer to vision mixer to editor by way of sound and lighting engineers that is probably equalled only in a heart transplant theatre".
Lisa Colbert (Jan Francis) runs Lifeline, a Brussels-based resistance organisation that helps Allied aircrew to evade capture and return to Britain via neutral Switzerland or Spain. She is helped by Albert Foiret (Bernard Hepton), proprietor of the Cafe Candide, his mistress Monique Duchamps (Angela Richards) and waitress Natalie Chantrens (Juliet Hammond-Hill).
Their operations are put under further strain when fervent Nazi Gestapo Sturmbannführer Ludwig Kessler (Clifford Rose) is assigned to work with Luftwaffe Major Erwin Brandt (Michael Culver) and close down the evasion line.
Flight Lieutenant John Curtis (Christopher Neame), a former evader, is sent back by London as a Special Operations Executive liaison officer to coordinate its activity. At first he is greeted with hostility and suspicion; there is also romantic tension between him and Lisa.
Series One introduces the main characters and the daily risks they take to rescue the young airmen whilst under German occupation, protecting their safehouses and evading investigation. By the end of this series Kessler and Brandt are closing in on Curtis, since their investigation into a murder in France has led them to the name 'Monsieur Maurice', which is Curtis' pseudonym. Brandt and Kessler pay their first visit to the Candide to locate him. Kessler's interest in Curtis poses a significant threat to Lifeline and so it is agreed that Curtis will return to England. However Kessler orders a troop encirclement of Brussels in order to trap him. Curtis manages to escape to Switzerland by posing as bus driver for a local Hitler Youth group that is travelling out of the city on a day trip.
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