"Secret Army" (1977) TV series 1977-1979

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

7 September 1977 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

In this series, inspired by real events during World War II, the kind, intelligent and worrisome Albert Foiret runs both a café...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | WWII

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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)

Runtime:

50 min (42 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

Company:

Belgische Radio en Televisie (BRT)

Trivia:

The character of Kessler is loosely based on Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! (2007) (TV)

Classic Drama At Its Best!

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!'