Secret Army (1977–1979)

TV Series  -   -  Drama | War
7.6
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 544 users  
Reviews: 13 user | 4 critic

In this series, inspired by real events during World War II, the kind, intelligent and worrisome Albert Foiret runs both a café, which is the only notable public house in a small Belgian ... See full summary »

0Check in
0Share...

Related News

New Who Review: “Hide”
| Comicmix.com
Ronnie Marsh obituary
| The Guardian - TV News

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 252 titles created 21 Apr 2011
 
a list of 26 titles created 08 May 2012
 
a list of 727 titles created 24 May 2011
 
War
a list of 211 titles created 9 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Secret Army (1977–1979)

Secret Army (1977–1979) on IMDb 7.6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Secret Army.

Season:

3 | 2 | 1

Year:

1979 | 1978 | 1977 | unknown
2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »
Edit

Cast

Series cast summary:
Bernard Hepton ...
 Albert Foiret (43 episodes, 1977-1979)
Angela Richards ...
 Monique Duchamps (41 episodes, 1977-1979)
Clifford Rose ...
 Sturmbannführer Ludwig Kessler (38 episodes, 1977-1979)
Juliet Hammond ...
 Natalie Chantrens (37 episodes, 1977-1979)
Ron Pember ...
 Alain Muny (28 episodes, 1977-1979)
Valentine Dyall ...
 Dr. Pascal Keldermans (23 episodes, 1977-1979)
Michael Culver ...
 Major Erwin Brandt (22 episodes, 1977-1978)
Edit

Storyline

In this series, inspired by real events during World War II, the kind, intelligent and worrisome Albert Foiret runs both a café, which is the only notable public house in a small Belgian town, where locals therefore naturally mix with the Nazi occupation forces, and a just as publicity-shy (even his bed-ridden wife knows nothing) network of the Belgian resistance, devoted to the evacuation of shot-down Allied pilots to Britain. He and his secret 'army' (including some of his staff and the Brussels Dr. Pascal Keldermans), taking orders by illegal radio from London, constantly risk their lives -and if caught by the professionally torturing Gestapo, possibly everyone else's- to find the pilots, hide, nurse and prepare them for the long, dangerous journey out of the Reich under the Nazis' noses, a never ending cat-and-mouse game against specialized German hunters, run by the gentleman Luftwaffe (Air Force)- Major Erwin Brandt and the ruthless Nazi 'secret state police' run by the cunning,... Written by KGF Vissers

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

world war two | escape

Genres:

Drama | War

Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

7 September 1977 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

El ejército secreto  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (42 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The BBC was dissatisfied with the final (43rd) episode, possibly due to its polemical tone, and claimed it had been unable to complete the editing due to ongoing disputes with the broadcasting unions. According to the BBC documentary Shelved, broadcast by Radio 4 on 12-12-09, this was at best disingenuous and in fact the script's leaden anti-communist theme was felt to be at odds with the series' previously subtle characterization. None of the cast members interviewed for that programme were now in favor of it being released. See more »

Connections

Followed by Kessler (1981) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

Classic Drama At Its Best!
20 August 2000 | by (Essex, England) – See all my reviews

I wasn't even born when this series was first made. It was my mother who introduced me to the series on uk drama. She insisted that I 'give it a chance.'I am glad that I did!

During the first series the show showed little potential, the characters were stereotypical and shallow, such as Kessler, with his robotic like ways and constant determination to get one over on life line. The melodramatic content was so bad you could almost hear him shouting: 'I'll get you next time!' at the end of every episode. However somebody waved their magic wand at the start of the second series, because the show changed it's angle completely. With the dramatic exit of Yvette, (one of my favourite scenes in television)and the introduction of the Candide. We saw alot of changes for the characters. Kessler gained a love interest, and at last we could see his human side.Life line too showed it had some weak human traits, more often then not Albert's greed resulted in him ordering command just so that he could keep his precious restaurant. And when Monique was left in charge at the end of series two she turned into a bit of a boozer! More importantly, as the storylines developed and conspiracies got more complicated, life line didn't always end up on top, usually at the expense of poor Natalie or Monique.

The show came to prove that it was more about humans fight for survival. And less about the adventurous action man enthusiasm sometimes given to war in american films. What a shame that somebody made a spoof in the form of 'allo, 'allo. This became more famous than the original classic and now shadows it's brilliance. As my Mother insisted to me, I would insist to you: 'give it a chance, please!'


13 of 14 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
I've wanted to watch this for years, started it watching it, and oh Charles_Calthrop
Reinhardt malcolm-osgood
Secret Army and 'Allo Allo' gary-1093
A Question Of Loyalty (series 1) query chuffnobbler
subtitles? hamedfp
Major Bradley joyfarrah
Discuss Secret Army (1977) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page