Series Three: 1979
| # | Episode Name | Writer | Director | Guest Cast | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | "The Last Run" | N. J. Crisp | Michael E. Briant | Richard Beale (as Inspector Benet), Peter Dahlsen (as Flight Sgt. Bond), Stewart Bevan (as Flight Sgt. Sharp), Christopher Good (as Flight Sgt. Tucker), Anthony Gardner (as Kupper), Alec Wallis (as Farmer), Norman Atkyns (as Station Official) | 22 September 1979 (1979-09-22) |
| An instant mutual antipathy develops between Kessler and Brandt's replacement, Major Hans Dietrich Reinhardt. Meanwhile Lifeline is finding it increasingly difficult to travel through France with the airmen, because of the disruption to rail travel following the D-Day landings. | |||||
| 31 | "Invasions" | Lloyd Humphreys | Viktors Ritelis | Mary Barclay (as Sophie Chantal), Ruth Gower (as Madeleine Chantal), Helen Blatch (as Simone Borel) | 29 September 1979 (1979-09-29) |
| Lifeline realises it cannot get airmen away to Spain and decides it must keep them in hiding until the Allies liberate Brussels. Reinhardt and Kessler continue to clash. The Luftwaffe man's unorthodox methods show some success and he starts to identify the Lifeline safehouses. Two captives take their own lives rather than face torture, and a third remains silent under interrogation. The elderly Chantal sisters occupy another Lifeline safe house in France, and are rescued by Monique just before the Germans arrive. | |||||
| 32 | "Revenge" | N. J. Crisp | Roger Chevely | Roger Booth (as Reichskommissar Glaub), Richard Beale (as Inspector Benet), Peter Davidson (as Customer in Candide), Iain Rattray (as Gestapo Man) | 6 October 1979 (1979-10-06) |
| Kessler suspects that Reinhardt is implicated in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, because of his extensive contacts with those involved. He believes he can find evidence to prove this. Meanwhile the Communist resistance has been tipped off that Albert was responsible for the destruction of their cell. In turn Albert finds out that the Communists plan to kill him. Fearing assassination in the Candide, Albert is helped by an undercover policeman who is also associated with the Communists, if reluncantly, and arrests him after the Candide closes for the night. | |||||
| 33 | "A Safe Place" | Allan Prior | Tristan DeVere Cole | Struan Rodger (as “Mad” Mike Miller), Anthony Head (as Hanslick), Roger Booth (as Reichskommissar Glaub), Duncan Preston (as Gavain), Robert Gillespie (as Zander), Guy Siner (as German Monitoring Personnel), Peter Richards (as German Monitoring Personnel), Jon Croft (as Guide) | 13 October 1979 (1979-10-13) |
| Albert finds himself in custody on a charge of having murdered his wife. Monique becomes responsible for leading Lifeline and running the Candide. Meanwhile Reinhardt has set up a dummy German-controlled escape line and is bugging the safe houses to gather intelligence from the airmen. Alain discovers this when he sees its operatives pretend to stage an ambush on German troops, who feign to have been shot. A group of airmen being handled by the German line includes “Mad” Mike Miller, who had previously been returned to the UK by Lifeline. The airmen discover that they are being bugged and manage to escape from the Germans. Monique fears that Miller will betray his knowledge of Lifeline if recaptured, and as they cannot rescue him she orders Alain to shoot him for their own security. | |||||
| 34 | "Ring of Rosies" | John Brason | Michael E. Briant | Rob Edwards (as Girton), Morris Perry (as Guissard), Robert Gillespie (as Zander), Duncan Preston (as Gavain), Gareth Milne (as McQuaig), Alan Butler (as German Officer) | 20 October 1979 (1979-10-20) |
| Albert remains in prison and learns from his solicitor that the Communist Paul Vercors is responsible for his arrest. Meanwhile Dr. Keldermans makes an astonishing diagnosis after examining an airman who had flown from North Africa – he is suffering from bubonic plague. Keldermans isolates the whole group, including Monique and himself, and says he will shoot anyone who attempts to leave. After being discovered by Alain and Natalie, one man does try to escape, and is shot and burned. Eventually Dr Keldermans and Monique survive the disease and are able to return. | |||||
| 35 | "Prisoner" | Robert Barr | Tristan DeVere Cole | Eric Deacon (as Klein), Prentis Hancock (as Jacot) | 27 October 1979 (1979-10-27) |
| Major Nick Bradley has returned to Belgium to co-ordinate resistance ahead of the Allied advance. Alain is captured seeking to avoid draft for forced labour and, when it is realised his papers are false, held and tortured by the Gestapo. Bradley is determined to recover him, because of what he knows, and as the radio contact with London. Bradley makes a deal with a German officer, using both Lifeline funds and a loan from a Belgian businessman to fund a bribe. The Germans try to substitute another man for Alain when the exchange is made, but they are caught by resistance guards and forced to deliver Alain. Bradley shoots the Germans after the exchange and recovers the money. | |||||
| 36 | "Ambush" | N. J. Crisp | Michael E. Briant | David Yelland (as Flight Lt. Cox), Morris Perry (as Guissard), Richard Seager (as Flight Sgt. Burton) | 3 November 1979 (1979-11-03) |
| In the Ardennes, Bradley is looking after a growing number of former airmen hiding in the forest. He is also working with the resistance, and plans to destroy a convoy of military vehicles carrying vital spare parts for Germany's V2 rockets. To carry out an ambush Bradley needs a man who can repair a jammed French machine gun, and persuades Monique to get a reluctant Flight Lt. Cox to help. He repairs the gun, but under pressure agrees to accompany the ambush in case it jams again in action. When the gun does jam, Cox is killed whilst trying to repair it. After the ambush it transpires that the vehicles in the convoy were in fact empty, travelling to Brussels as part of the German evacuation plans. Albert remains in prison and is assualted by fellow prisioners for his assumed collaboration. Meanwhile Reinhardt is becoming more suspicious of the Candide and orders Monique, Natalie and Dr Keldermans to be watched and followed. | |||||
| 37 | "Just Light the Blue Touch-Paper" | John Brason | Michael E. Briant | Morris Perry (as Guissard), Nigel Lambert (as Tony Newman), Derrick Slater (as Willi de Hooch), Max Faulkner (as German Officer) | 10 November 1979 (1979-11-10) |
| A permanent V2 site is discovered on the Belgian/Dutch border, and Bradley plans a raid with the resistance and the army of concealed airmen. Bradley introduces himself to Kessler (posing as a German colleague) and dines with him at the Candide to gain valuable information. Meanwhile Reinhardt is making progress towards cracking Lifeline, and Natalie is suspected. Albert's lawyer contacts Reinhardt for information about the circumstances of his wife's death. The Germans are preparing to evacuate and the atmosphere is becoming openly more hostile towards the remnants of the occupying forces. | |||||
| 38 | "Sound of Thunder" | Eric Paice | Tristan DeVere Cole | Davyd Harries (as Jean Lamotte), Morris Perry (as Guissard), Graham Weston (as Jacques), Paul Seed (as Van Hoyt), Maureen Morris (as Marie) | 17 November 1979 (1979-11-17) |
| The Allied advance reaches Belgium, and the Germans are planning to leave Brussels. Bradley establishes contact with other members of the local resistance. Brussels residents are becoming openly hostile to both the Germans and those Belgians assumed to have collaborated. Madeleine has been attacked, but she only has Kessler to turn to. Reinhardt is now almost certain that Lifeline is based at the Candide and he tries to trap Natalie, now becoming romantically involved with Bradley, using a plant in the resistance. Natalie realises the danger at the last minute, and the supposed Communist is exposed as a spy when he fails to recognise Stalin's real name. After the man has been dealt with, Bradley is killed by German soldiers in the street on his way back to the Candide during curfew. The loss of his plant confirms Reinhardts suspicions about the Candide. | |||||
| 39 | "Collaborator" | Gerard Glaister | Michael E. Briant | Ralph Arliss (as Flight Lt. Dean), Jack McKenzie (as Major Neil Turner), Duncan Preston (as Gavain), Michael Osbourne (as Squadron Leader Bain), Hugh Futcher (as Jean), Kevin Flood (as Marc), Julian Fox (as Hauptmann), Frank Jarvis (as Pierre), Derek Crewe (as German Soldier), Eileen Way (as Woman Patient), Margaret John (as Candide Customer), Shelagh Wilcox (as Candide Customer), Esmond Webb (as Candide Customer), Arnold Peters (as Candide Customer), Reg Woods (as Gestapo Tail) | 24 November 1979 (1979-11-24) |
| Albert finally gets released from prison and returns to find 'Collaborator' graffiti on the restaurant. Locals are making open threats to the Candide staff, assuming they have collaborated and profited during the occupation. Alain has offered his farm as a refuge, but Albert will not leave his valuable business, leading to tension with Monique who is having second thoughts about their marriage plans. Natalie and Alain travel through the front line to contact British intelligence, and try to return with them to Brussels as protection for their colleagues. However, on the way back they run into a front line skirmish. As the Germans are vacating the Gestapo building, Reinhardt has captured an airman and the local woman who was hiding him . He wants to finally identify the Candide as Lifeline HQ. He confronts them in the restaurant, but releases his prisoners and turns himself over to Albert rather than take any action. Paul Vercors and his communist cell arrive and take Albert, Monique and Reinhardt prisoner, intending to kill them. | |||||
| 40 | "Days of Judgement" | Eric Paice | Viktors Ritelis | Jack McKenzie (as Major Neil Turner), Roy Boyd (as Spaatz), Frank Jarvis (as Belgian Resistance Worker) | 1 December 1979 (1979-12-01) |
| Vercors holds his three prisoners at an unknown location, and intends to execute Albert on charges he knows to be false. Natalie manages to get help from the newly arrived Allies, and saves him just in time. But he is seriously affected by his ordeal. No one knows where Monique has been taken. Kessler is with Madeleine, who has hurt her ankle, trying to escape Belgium through the countryside. Kessler swaps his identity with a dead German military officer, to disguise his position in the Gestapo, and obliterates the face of the dead German. He is subsequently captured by the British, and goes to a Canadian prisoner of war camp. He claims Madeleine was his hostage and she is 'liberated' by the Allies. | |||||
| 41 | "Bridgehead" | Michael J. Bird | Andrew Morgan | Peter Arne (as Colonel von Schalk), Doug Sheldon (as Major Scheer) | 8 December 1979 (1979-12-08) |
| Monique is being held in a cage containing women about to have their heads shaved for alleged collaboration. Natalie finds her surrounded by a baying crowd. A British officer, Captain Stephen Durnford, arrives to investigate, and stops the 'punishments'. He disperses the crowd and releases the women. Monique is by now separated from Albert and living with Natalie. Durnford calls back on Monique and falls in love with her. Meanwhile Albert almost visits Monique, but sees the Captain arrive with food and returns unhappily to the Candide. In Holland, two German deserters stow away on the barge of Hans Van Broecken. British troops retreating from the Arnhem offensive are unable to help. When the Germans arrive, they discover the deserters on the barge and shoot all three men dead. In the POW camp Kessler has been identified by his fellow German captives, but they agree to conceal his true identity from the Allies. Back in Brussels the Captain asks Monique to marry him and she accepts. The British hand their 60% of the Candide over to Albert. | |||||
| 42 | "The Execution" | John Brason | Roger Chevely | Peter Arne (as Colonel von Schalk), Shane Rimmer (as Canadian Commandant), John Ratzenberger (as Staff Sgt. Dexter), Ian Barritt (as Von Wolzogen), David Quilter (as Prosecuting Officer), Doug Sheldon (as Defending Officer) | 15 December 1979 (1979-12-15) |
| Reinhardt is moved to a Canadian POW camp, and finds Kessler pretending to be a captured army officer. Reinhardt admits that he had given himself up to Albert in Brussels. Kessler betrays Reinhardt and presses for a court-martial. Although the senior German officer Colonel von Schalk knows Kessler's true identity and has contempt for Gestapo officers, he is concerned to preserve the reputation of the Wehrmacht. Although Hitler is now dead, Kessler insists on the court-martial being concluded. Reinhardt is shot by guns borrowed from the Canadians, echoing a similar historical incident which occurred in Amsterdam in May 1945. Meanwhile the final victory over Germany is declared. Madeleine bribes a Canadian officer to release Kessler (under his assumed name) and uses forged papers supplied semi-willingly by Monique for them to escape to a new life. The Lifeline members are awarded British military honours for their wartime work, and share out the money Albert has saved during the war. Despite his new financial security, Albert is romantically defeated; Monique marries Captain Durnford on VE day. At the after-wedding party the Lifeline members get together for one last time, and toast their survival and their missing friends. | |||||
| 43 | "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?" | John Brason | Viktors Ritelis | Michael Vivian (as Paul Durnford), Peta Bernard (as Louise), Brian Jackson (as Interviewer), Robert MacLeod (as Air Commodore), Seymour Green (as Master of Ceremonies), David Strong (as Interviewer) | (never broadcast) |
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In 1969, Albert, Monique, Natalie and Alain contribute to a British television documentary In Our Time on the quarter-century anniversary of Brussels' liberation from the Nazis. Manfred Dorf, a German industrialist, is challenged by investigative journalists who (correctly) believe he is Kessler. The ex-Lifeline members meet at the Candide, still owned by Albert, and reminisce about their common past. NB: This episode was withdrawn from transmission for unknown reasons, and has never been broadcast in the UK. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Secret Army Episodes