Show Notes
There were so many series we could have covered for ‘S’ but quite honestly it was only ever going to be the BBC’s Secret Army, after all Andy devoted four years of his life to researching and celebrating this exceptional wartime drama. Rather than trying to explore all three series and 42 episodes, in this episodes we have decided to turn our attention to the last four instalments of the nail-biting third and final series.
Those episodes are: Collaborator, in which Albert is reunited with Monique, and Reinhardt discovers that Lifeline has been running out of the Candide; Days of Judgement in which Natalie seeks to save Albert and find Monique, while Kessler goes on the run with Madeleine; Bridgehead in which Monique faces the mob and falls in love, while Van Broecken meets his tragic end; and The Execution in which Kessler tries to have Reinhardt court martialled, Lifeline helps one last person, the war comes to an end and Monique says goodbye.
We explore the set-up of the third series, key scenes, the performances of the regulars, its place in the best Saturday night line-up in history and how, more than perhaps any other series, Secret Army manages to go out on a total high.
Martin teaches us how to spell restaurateur as well. We’re just too good to you, non?
All this and Andy’s exclusive new interviews with Monique (Angela Richards), Natalie (Juliet Hammond-Hill) and Kessler himself (Clifford Rose), specifically recorded to coincide with this review of the series, which are available as separate podcast episodes.
Signed copies of Andy’s book The Complete Secret Army – a comprehensive celebration of the series, which details the behind-the-scenes story of the series creation and production, as well as all the real-life historical events that inspired its storylines – are still available for just £20. http://www.classictvpress.co.uk/completesecretarmy.htm
And all of Angela Richards wonderful songs from the series are available on a music CD entitled An Evening at Le Candide that was professionally recorded back in 2006 and costs £9.99 http://www.classictvpress.co.uk/secretarmymusic.htm
Next Time: Tenko
More from An A to Z of UK Television Drama
[Spoiler alert! This series is almost 50 years old but we will be revealing - around 90 minutes - in who spectacularly dies in the literal cliffhanger to episode 7. You have been warned!]
After a brief hiatus, Andy and Martin resume the second season of A to Z with the letter V. Admittedly cheating a little, their choice was 'Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton', the second of two autobiographical Dennis Potter plays from 1965 in The Wednesday Play strand. They also cover the first play, 'Stand Up, Nigel Barton'. Both feature Keith Barron as the title character who we follow from childhood, to university, to a reluctant attempt to stand as a Labour candidate in the General Election.
Andy and Martin travel back in time to the summer of 1965 and the adventures of HR consultant Drew Heriot and his sister-in-law Anne as they face up to the machinations of 'Undermind’: aliens who have brainwashed British citizens in order to cause national unrest ahead of their imminent invasion. Their various schemes include: spreading pirate radio misinformation; inciting youth violence in a seaside resort; influencing the works of a popular children’s author; the distribution of suicide-inducing birthday records; interference with the printing of exam papers, and most abominably of all, the assassination of Eamonn Andrews! Yes, really.
This month Andy and Martin review the highly regarded 1987 BAFTA-winning Scottish drama Tutti Frutti, written by John Byrne and starring Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson.
Twenty-one years after their first recorded interview on the first Survivors DVDs back in 2003, Andy catches up with Carolyn Seymour who played Abby Grant in Survivors.