List of Secret Army Episodes - Series One: 1977 | Series: 1977

Series One: 1977

Series One was transmitted in 1977 and featured sixteen episodes. It is set in around 1941, when the Café Candide owner Albert Foiret and his mistress Monique Duchamps help Lisa Colbert (codenamed "Yvette") hide airmen and run the 'Lifeline' organisation. The principal Germans in this series are Sturmbannführer Ludwig Kessler and Luftwaffe Major Erwin Brandt. A British agent, Flight Lieutenant John Curtis is Lifeline's liaison with London.

#	Episode Name	Writer	Director	Guest Cast	Original airdate
01	"Lisa – Code Name Yvette"	Willis Hall	Kenneth Ives	Anthony Ainley (as Johnson), Mark Burns (as Gundell), Ian Liston (as Bartle), Eileen Page (as Andree Foiret), Tim Barlow (as Sgt. Major), Michael Napier Brown (as Husband)	7 September 1977 (1977-09-07)
Lifeline is threatened when Major Brandt succeeds in identifying a safehouse, and nearly captures Natalie. Lisa and Albert are suspicious when London sends Flight Lieutenant Curtis, a former evader, to help. Some of the people who Curtis knew previously have by now been killed or sent to a labour camp. Brandt has to deal with Gestapo Sturnbannfuhrer Kessler, freshly transferred from Berlin to re-enforce the investigation into the evasion lines. Kessler sends the family who owned the safehouse to a labour camp in Germany.
02	"Sergeant on the Run"	John Brason	Viktors Ritelis	Martin Burrows (as Sgt. Walker), Neville Barber (as Dr. Bogaerde)	14 September 1977 (1977-09-14)
While Albert and Lisa continue to worry about Curtis, Lifeline is tested attempting to help some more evaders. The Germans capture one of them, Sergeant Walker, who has previous knowledge of Lifeline. He makes a desperate bid for freedom to avoid talking, by throwing himself down a staircase at Gestapo HQ. Walker recovers in hospital in the company of an undercover German officer. Prompted by the doctor, he escapes from the surgery, and is hunted by both the Germans and Lifeline. He is found and killed by Albert, to avoid him talking and because he is too infirm for the escape line.
03	"Radishes With Butter"	John Brason	Paul Annett	Michael Burrell (as Schliemann)	21 September 1977 (1977-09-21)
Jews from Brussels are being transported according to colour-coded identification documents. Curtis befriends a Jewish family living in hiding and privation, and tries to involve Lisa. She however fears that the line, intended for RAF airman, may be compromised by involvement in another area of resistance. Albert continues to distrust Curtis, who brought forged Belgian banknotes from London. Kessler obtains some of these, and realises they have been made using Belgian treasury plates, which were evacuated to London before invasion. Whilst he thinks this will help trace the escape line, bank manager Gaston Colbert (Lisa’s uncle) floods Belgium with the forgeries to disguise their original source. The Jewish family are presumed to have been captured after the colour of the identification cards intended for deportees is changed.
04	"Child's Play"	Arden Winch	Paul Annett	Ian McCulloch (as Malaud), Mary Barclay (as Sophie Chantal), Ruth Gower (as Madeleine Chantal), John Bowe (as Maurice), Ken Stott (as Baroja), Jeffrey Wickham (as Stoph), Richard Reeves (as Baker), Ernest C. Jennings (as Old Man)	28 September 1977 (1977-09-28)
A suppressed magazine article by an American airman who was helped by the evasion line has been found by German agents working in the USA and has reached Brandt. He thinks this probably contains useful intelligence, and visits the Pyrenees. With the help of Malaud, a French gendarme, they identify potential escape routes. Meanwhile Lisa is also in the same area, and comes close to being detected.
05	"Second Chance"	James Andrew Hall	Paul Annett	Paul Copley (as Eric Finch)	5 October 1977 (1977-10-05)
Lifeline is placed in jeopardy when Albert decides that a customer at the Candide is a Gestapo spy, whilst Lisa continues to dislike Curtis’s controlling attitude. Finch, a downed airman, is hidden by Van Broecken, a Dutch bargee, and his wife Lena. Finch intends to desert and sit out the rest of the war in Switzerland, and discovers that Hans, who is in reality German, went AWOL in World War I. Whilst he wishes to help Finch, Lifeline becomes aware when Lena is reunited with Natalie, her niece. The customer at the Candide is found to be employed by the Gestapo. Finch's plans conflict with Lifeline’s philosophy, and so Finch is betrayed by Albert in order to end the surveillance.
06	"Growing Up"	Willis Hall	Kenneth Ives	Norman Eshley (as Clifford Howson), Max Harris (as Jean-Paul Dornes), Susan Tracy (as Anna Dornes), Brian Glover (as Cpl. Emil Schnorr), Vivien Merchant (as Mlle. Gunet), Stanley Lebor (as Shopkeeper), David McAlister (as Navigator), Alec Wallis (as Guide)	12 October 1977 (1977-10-12)
A wounded airman Sergeant Howson was stranded by an unwilling colleague, and hides in a barn. Because Germans are in the area searching for airmen, Lisa and Albert are unable to help. Howson gets to know a boy, Jean-Paul Dornes, but needs medical attention. The boy's mother Anna is a lone parent following the death of her husband in the war, and is now close to German Corporal Emil Schnorr. Unfortunately Howson has given the boy a small gift, which reveals his presence and leads to tragic consequences as the woman then has to be killed in a road accident as a security measure.
07	"Lost Sheep"	N. J. Crisp	Paul Annett	Peter Barkworth (as Hugh Neville), Joanna Van Gyseghem (as Dorothy Neville), Christopher Guard (as Flight Lt. Peter Romsey), Bruce Montague (as Insp. Dubois), Ivor Roberts (as Victor), Dominic Letts (as Jones), Ray Armstrong (as The Hunter)	19 October 1977 (1977-10-19)
Flight Lieutenant Peter Romsey is an RAF navigator, involved with developing the Oboe navigation system; London urgently requires his safe return. Romsey is accompanied by Natalie down the line with other serviceman, but is parted from them and catches the wrong train. He is lost in rural France, and Lifeline tries to track him down. Romsey finds the house of Hugh Neville and his wife Dorothy; Neville is an expatriate English author with a pessimistic attitude to the war. He is a friend of the local police inspector, who organises a search of the novelist's home. Romsey is hidden in a motorcycle sidecar by Victor, who is the Neville's handyman and the local Lifeline contact, but they are betrayed. Victor is killed and Romsey captured.
08	"Guilt"	N. J. Crisp	Paul Annett	Peter Barkworth (as Hugh Neville), Joanna Van Gyseghem (as Dorothy Neville), Christopher Guard (as Flight Lt. Peter Romsey), Bruce Montague (as Insp. Dubois), Ivor Roberts (as Victor), Pauline Letts (as Patronne), Roy Pattison (as German Officer)	26 October 1977 (1977-10-26)
In the aftermath of events in France, a German newspaper publishes British operational secrets. Curtis concludes that the traitor must be located, and goes to France to retrace Romsey’s travels. Meanwhile Albert remains distrustful of him. Monique tails him to France in order to ascertain whether Curtis is genuine. Curtis comes to believe Hugh Neville is responsible for Victor's death and Romsey's capture. Posing as a downed airman, he visits the Neville's home and fatally stabs Hugh Neville.
09	"Too Near Home"	Robert Barr	Viktors Ritelis	James Bree (as Gaston Colbert), Maria Charles (as Louise Colbert), Gerald James (as Inspector Landre), Mary Barclay (as Sophie Chantal), Shaun Curry (as Julius), Damien Thomas (as Jan), Helen Gill (as Denise), Souad Faress (as Maria), Jeffrey Holland (as Michel), Daniel Hill (as Taff), John Alkin (as Mac), Brenda Kempner (as Wardress)	2 November 1977 (1977-11-02)
A resistance contact near Paris is killed by the Germans whilst Lisa is visiting. She is arrested, but claims she was simply attempting to hire a bicycle from him. Her uncle is held and questioned by Kessler, and Lifeline's survival is now at risk. In custody other prisoners suspect Lisa's true identity, and she decides to trust them in order escape before her true identity is uncovered. She escapes but Gaston is not so fortunate and dies when he attempts to escape (or more likely tries in order to be shot rather than tortured).
10	"Identity in Doubt"	Simon Masters	Viktors Ritelis	Christopher Douglas (as Noel Uys), Barry Jackson (as Lock-Keeper), Edmund Pegge (as Teddy Marsh), John Cannon (as Belgian), Ernest C. Jennings (as Belgian)	9 November 1977 (1977-11-09)
Lifeline is under pressure. Jacques and Natalie have to evaluate South African airman Noel Uys, and conclude he must be killed after finding flaws in his story. Uys threatens Natalie with a shotgun and she becomes his prisoner in a windmill. Meanwhile another surviving member of his aircrew persuades Lifeline that Uys is genuine, but the new information may have come too late.
11	"A Question of Loyalty"	Willis Hall	Kenneth Ives	Clive Arrindell (as Ernst Stoller), William Simons (as Lebrun), Jon Laurimore (as Staff Officer), Richard Wren (as Oberleutnant), Hugh Martin (as Peasant)	23 November 1977 (1977-11-23)
The crew of a British Wellington bomber are all believed killed near Brussels, providing Kessler with a chance to penetrate the escape line. German officer Ernst Stoller, who was raised in England, is chosen to go undercover as an escaping airman. At the same time Monique is frustrated by the situation with Albert and his wife, and romantically drawn to Stoller. With the help of London Stoller's story is found to be flawed, and Monique is forced to help Albert kill the man before he can betray their operation.
12	"Hymn to Freedom"	Michael Chapman	Kenneth Ives	John Carson (as Hans Van Reijn), Frank Barrie (as Becker), Paul Jerricho (as Horst Schmidt)	30 November 1977 (1977-11-30)
A Lifeline safehouse is discovered. Van Reijn, a Belgian minister in the puppet regime, wants to defect to England and communicates with Curtis. Curtis realises it would be a propaganda coup if Van Reijn reaches Britain, although Lisa is initially unconvinced. Lifeline has been penetrated by another German agent, who is discovered and shot. Whilst dealing with this distraction, Lifeline is unable to save Van Reijn, who is terminally ill and returned to office by the Germans and kept under constant surveillance.
13	"Bait"	James Andrew Hall	Viktors Ritelis	Barbara Cochran (as Madame Bidout), Malcolm Bullivant (as Pasco), Sylva Langova (as Madame Gerome), Kathleen Byron (as Madame Lekeu)	7 December 1977 (1977-12-07)
The population of Brussels is compelled to celebrate the Fuhrer's birthday, and Café Candide is obliged to hang a Nazi flag outside. An airman finds refuge with Catherine Bidout, an elderly Englishwoman whom the Germans have not interned in the hope she would lead them to the resistance. Gossip concerning her situation reaches Albert, and he investigates. Madame Bidout is frightened and seeks help from Brandt - who was a childhood a friend of her late son. However it transpires that the hidden man is really another German plant. Brandt is forced to persuade the woman to seek help from the resistance, and a photograph of Brandt with her son risks his exposure for helping the enemy.
14	"Good Friday"	John Brason	Paul Annett	Maurice Denham (as Father Girard), Brewster Mason (as Father Pierre), Richard Gale (as Brother Anselm), Kathleen Byron (as Madame Lekeu), Bartlett Mullins (as Brother Saul), Peter Grayer (as Brother Hugues)	14 December 1977 (1977-12-14)
Just before Easter, a Dominican Friar Father Girard is hearing Andree’s confession at the Candide. Already known to Lifeline, he inadvertently overhears them talking about their hidden airman. Girard offers to hide him at the Priory during the holiday. The Prior Father Pierre is willing to help, but Brother Anselm thinks Friars should stay out of the war. He contacts the Gestapo, which leads to several members of the order including Girard being killed by the Germans.
15	"Suspicions"	N. J. Crisp	Kenneth Ives	Albert Welling (as Donald Simpson), John Scott Martin (as Concierge)	21 December 1977 (1977-12-21)
Kessler and Brandt are investigating the Neville murder and Curtis, whose cover is as a salesman for a Belgian fertiliser company, becomes their subject. Considering Curtis to be involved in subversive activity, Brandt and Kessler question him at the Candide and take him away for interrogation. The situation for Lifeline beings to look desperate.
16	"Be the First Kid in Your Block to Rule the World"	John Brason	Viktors Ritelis	Michael Wynne (as Reinecke), Adam Richens (as Jean-Jacques Hatt), Mark Jones (as Belgian Police Sergeant), Robert MacLeod (as Belgian Doctor), Ernest C. Jennings (as Old Man)	29 December 1977 (1977-12-29)
Curtis is finally uncovered and Kessler is now aware of his resistance work. Curtis hides out in Brussels and breaks contact with Lifeline for its safety. Kessler arranges a security sweep throughout Brussels and stops all movement out of the city while every house is searched. In desperation Curtis returns to the Candide to seek help, and Monique devises an audacious but successful escape plan; Curtis poses as a bus driver on a Nazi Youth daytrip, which Kessler has personally authorised. Meanwhile Andree has a fatal accident during the house search.