Series Two: 1978
Series Two was broadcast in 1978 with various changes in the cast, including the death of Lisa in the first episode and the inclusion of pianist Max Brocard (Stephen Yardley). With financial support from London, Albert opened the larger Restaurant Candide, which was centrally located on the Grand Place.
| # | Episode Name | Writer | Director | Guest Cast | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | "The Hostage" | N. J. Crisp | Terence Dudley | James Greene (as Brigadier Markham), Alexander Davion (as Duvivier), Crawford Logan (as Hauptmann Schmidt), Richard Hampton (as Rescue Worker), Michael Hawkins (as Paymaster) | 27 September 1978 (1978-09-27) |
| The staff are preparing to open the new Restaurant Candide, part-funded by the British, on La Grand Place in Brussels. A new forger Max Brocard is found for Lifeline. London requires safe passage for a Brigadier General with top secret knowledge of a forthcoming push in North Africa (Operation Torch), whose plane was downed en route to Africa. The Brigadier is located by Natalie and she prepares to take him down an escape route. Meanwhile a German soldier has been murdered in Brussels, and Kessler follows standard Nazi practice in holding twenty people hostage and shooting one each day until the killer is found. One of these hostages is the Brigadier. Albert and Dr Keldermans arrange for a dead body to be handed over to the Germans, via the Belgian police, as the supposed killer, after which the hostages are released and the Brigadier returned to Britain along the escape line. The episode closes with Lisa Colbert having been killed in an air raid whilst visiting St Nazaire. | |||||
| 18 | "Russian Roulette" | John Brason | Paul Annett | Guy Rolfe (as Oberst von Elmendorff), Constantin de Goguel (as Ivan), Kazik Michalski (as Alexei), Jean Rimmer (as Estelle Muny), Richard Marner (as Marais), Geoffrey Bateman (as Claude Pettelain) | 4 October 1978 (1978-10-04) |
| Dr Keldermans brings news to La Candide that Lisa is dead. Albert becomes the new head of Lifeline. Natalie has responsibility for guiding two Russian evaders. At La Candide, Brandt meets a senior military contact, Oberst von Elmendorff, who tries to interest him in a conspiracy to eliminate Hitler. Meanwhile Albert accepts an invitation from Kessler to a garden fete, where he sees several Belgians shot by firing squad. The Russians eventually reach the UK but are handed back to the Soviet Union, where they are likely to be shot by their own government, as was common for Soviet soldiers who had been captured by the Germans. | |||||
| 19 | "Lucky Piece" | Robert Barr | Viktors Ritelis | Peter Wight (as Kennedy), Paul Seed (as Dominique), Eric Francis (as Railway Worker) | 11 October 1978 (1978-10-11) |
| During extreme weather several British bombers crash, including a plane carrying a Polish forced worker back to London with information about German research into special weapons, accompanied by Major Nicholas Bradley, a British officer later revealed to be with the special services. They make contact with Lifeline and Bradley manages to tail Natalie back to the Candide without her realising. Bradley’s fears about lax security are well grounded since a Gestapo agent is already watching her. Natalie assists Bradley in killing him. Using wireless intercepts and ground observers, the Germans correctly guess the pick up time and location, but get there moments too late to prevent the injured Polish worker from returning to the UK by Lysander. | |||||
| 20 | "Trapped" | N. J. Crisp | Terrence Dudley | John Stone (as Hauptman Neumann), Peggy Sinclair (as Mother Superior), John Rees (as Coubet), Edward Arthur (as Police Inspector) | 18 October 1978 (1978-10-18) |
| At La Candide Kessler becomes aware of Madeleine Duclos, a withdrawn former lover of a Belgian Baron. Meanwhile Monique is accompanying several evaders but injured by accident at a railway station, when an unconnected diamond smuggler is shot boarding the train. Monique is investigated whilst at a convent hospital and found innocent of any involvement, but the French gendarmes discover that her papers are false. Kessler travels from Brussels to question her, but she is rescued from hospital just in time by Natalie, Alain and Max posing as a nurse and ambulance men. | |||||
| 21 | "Not According to Plan" | David Crane | Viktors Ritelis | Emma Williams (as Danielle), Michael Byrne (as Paul Vercors), Jonathan Newth (as Jean Barsacq), Leon Eagles (as Oberst Bruch), Frank Jarvis (as Bluebeard) | 25 October 1978 (1978-10-25) |
| Natalie's new boyfriend, Francois, wants to help Lifeline, but Albert is difficult to persuade. Meanwhile the leader of a clandestine Brussels Communist group, Paul Vercors, plans to take over the organisation. It transpires that Max is their plant within Lifeline, but he is wary of acting too soon. The Communists derail a train with explosives, on which Natalie, Francois and several airmen are travelling. The Germans threaten to shoot 20 communist hostages, and so Vercors tells the Germans what he knows about Lifeline in order to get them released. The people he betrays are not central to the organisation, but Kessler and Brandt decide to tell Berlin they have made significant arrests. | |||||
| 22 | "Scorpion" | James Andrew Hall | Roger Jenkins | Brigitte Kahn (as Erika Brandt) | 1 November 1978 (1978-11-01) |
| Brandt's wife Erika visits him in Brussels. She is frightened of the British air raids at home. Brandt tells her that his work there fighting the escape line would soon be done, as Lifeline has been penetrated by a German agent. Their cleaner overhears this and tells Albert. Lifeline ponder eliminating all 19 hidden airmen for security. However Max and Dr. Keldermans propose that Natalie’s uncle Hans Van Broecken (who from series one we know was a German First World War deserter) might be able to identify the man. Despite disliking Albert he is persuaded to help. Eventually they trick the German into revealing himself because of his fighting skills, and he is killed, against Hans's wishes. | |||||
| 23 | "Weekend" | Paul Annett | Paul Annett | Vincent Marzello (as McGee), Paul Wagar (as Harris), Christian Roberts (as Oberleutnant Horst) | 8 November 1978 (1978-11-08) |
| Lifeline is challenged by liquidity problems. Albert and Monique devise a solution through the sale of three Ruebens masterpieces, which are in a nearby convent, and substituting them with copies. However at the same time the German occupiers are seeking to get hold of them. Kessler travels to the convent and obtains the paintings. By chance two American airmen happen to stop Kessler's car. They take Kessler and his companion hostage, remaining unaware of his identity, and force themselves onto Hans and Lena Van Broecken on their barge. They wish to travel to Switzerland. However Lena persuades them to allow her to contact Lifeline, and they are passed down the line. Kessler escapes unharmed, but takes the Van Broeckens in for questioning. Lena throws herself in front of a passing vehicle to avoid questioning, and is killed. | |||||
| 24 | "The Big One" | N. J. Crisp | Michael E. Briant | Mark Jones (as Oberst Neidlinger), Daniel Hill (as Flight Sgt. Bert Lewis), Daniel Abineri (as Flight Sgt. Mick Murray), Roy Evans (as Belgian Farmer), Royston Tickner (as Air Raid Warden), Richard Seager (as Nobby – Navigator), Nigel Lambert (as Wing Commander) | 15 November 1978 (1978-11-15) |
| Kessler and Madeleine are becoming closer, though he continues to fear emotional attachment. Meanwhile Brandt is still trying to decide whether to join the conspiracy to kill Hitler. The night before he returns home, a British air raid hits the suburb where they live; his daughter survives, but his wife and son are killed. Monique and Alain speak to a bomber's crewmember who has been shot down, but frighten him and he falls into German hands. Brandt holds the man, and obtains some information about his contacts with Lifeline before losing his composure. | |||||
| 25 | "Little Old Lady" | David Crane | Terence Dudley | Andrew Robertson (as Wing Commander Kelso), Mary Barclay (as Sophie Chantal), Ruth Gower (as Madeleine Chantal), Jenny Laird (as Else Lambrichts), John Herrington (as Felicien), Richard Hampton (as U-Boat Commander), Michael Mundell (as Dutch Saboteur) | 22 November 1978 (1978-11-22) |
| A British Wing Commander suffers severe facial burns when his plane is shot down by anti-aircraft fire in Belgium. The British want him returned, but his face risks being noticed by the Germans. Some makeup is enough for him to reach Paris accompanied by Natalie, but Monique believes he should pose as a woman if he is not to be discovered during the rest of the journey. He successfully travels down the escape line to Spain. In Brussels, Madeleine faces isolation because of her affair with Kessler, although she finds Monique a surprisingly good listener. The Candide is threatened by terrorists for their supposed collaboration, and the Gestapo briefly take Albert into custody. | |||||
| 26 | "Guests at God's Table" | John Brason | Terence Dudley | Keith Jayne (as Wim), John Line (as Maurice Tourtellat) | 29 November 1978 (1978-11-29) |
| Approaching Christmas, Lifeline receives list of demands from a group of orphaned children who have a hidden Group Captain. The man is drifting in and out of consciousness. Albert is worried that it might be a German trap, but the man is handed over to Lifeline disguised as a St Nicolas dummy in a pram. Meanwhile, Brandt's sympathy with senior officers starting to plot against Hitler leads to Kessler confronting him, but concealing his knowledge of Brandt's indirect involvement. | |||||
| 27 | "A Matter of Life and Death" | Robert Barr | Roger Jenkins | Duncan Lamont (as Hervé), Michael Graham Cox (as Philippe), Michael Goldie (as Rene) | 6 December 1978 (1978-12-06) |
| A downed airman kills a German guard rather than be captured. Another two evaders are wrongly thought responsible, but helped after they stumble into the bakery of a Lifeline sympathiser. Another two plan to work with a Communist cell. Knowing that the others still doubt him, Francois tries to prove his worth by organising the journey down the escape route for each man, and contacts the Communists without Albert’s consent. While visiting the Communists, Francois is surprised to see Max. As the first stage of his plan to take over Lifeline, Max tips off Kessler so that Francois is shot as he is meeting one of the airman from a train Natalie is distressed to witness this, and immediately suspects the Communists may be involved. | |||||
| 28 | "Prisoner of War" | Gerard Glaister | Michael E. Briant | John Abineri (as Bertrand Lecau), Sebastian Abineri (as Flight Lt. Jones), Jean Rimmer (as Estelle Muny), John Baker (as Jacques Lamboit) | 13 December 1978 (1978-12-13) |
| Brandt's continuing grief over losing his wife leads him to drink heavily, to Kessler's concern. He develops a crush on Monique. Whilst Alain has to hide two airmen, a neighbouring farmer finds an injured German fighter pilot on his land. He turns out to be one of Germany's leading airmen, flying a prototype night fighter unknown to the Allies. Max is dispatched to sketch it, and the British wish to capture the German airman for his information. Max suggests that he and the Communists transport the airman to the French coast, where he would be picked up by a British motorlaunch in exchange for weapons. Albert now has information confirming Max's involvement in Francois's death, and feels little remorse in tipping off the Germans about the communist activities which leads to their being shot returning from the beach. Only Paul Vercors survives. | |||||
| 29 | "Day of Wrath" | John Brason | John Alkin (as Andre de Beers), David Neilson (as Jelinek), John Rolfe (as Weikmann) | 28 December 1978 (1978-12-28) | |
| Belgian pilot Andre De Beers becomes a Gestapo captive and is made to watch his brother being tortured to death. He manages to escape, and contacts Alain who he knows from before the war. Seeking revenge, De Beers kills two German soldiers. After Kessler's instruction to take and shoot twenty Belgians in reprisal, Albert tells Alain to kill De Beers to prevent further deaths. However Monique and Natalie send him down the escape line, and he returns to Britain. When Albert finds out, he tells Monique he will kill her if she disobeys him again. Subsequently Kessler is evaluating 'CCTV' surveillance for Brussels, during which a lone plane piloted by De Beers breaks off from a mission to strafe Gestapo HQ. Meanwhile both the Resistance and the Germans hear news of the D-Day landings on the radio. Kessler finally opens an urgent communiqué from Berlin with news that Brandt has been implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler, and is to be arrested. Brandt kills himself rather than face torture and execution. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Secret Army Episodes