There is a consensus that Tweedledum is the best episode. It's certainly one of the best but I'd argue The Gambler has the edge. It's a bit more fast paced and features about the only man on the Allied side as dislikeable as Major Mohn.
RAF officer Jack Collins (Ray Barrett) is a ruthless card sharp who from the day of his arrival shows a contempt for established procedures and pecking orders. He tells Carter to "take your escape committee and stuff them". When Col. Preston requests a meeting, Collins "would appreciate it" if it could be at a time convenient to him, as though he were the senior man. George Brent, whose nervous disposition hardly suggests suitability for high stakes gambling, is foolhardy enough to take him on and predictably comes a cropper. As does an inoffensive German guard, with even more serious consequences.
I watched Colditz when it first came out and years later remembered Collins making himself especially unpopular by gouging the eyes of a fellow prisoner. This proved to be a false memory, the dirty deed being done by another British hard man in Odd Man In. Which goes to show what a splendidly nasty performance it was.
RAF officer Jack Collins (Ray Barrett) is a ruthless card sharp who from the day of his arrival shows a contempt for established procedures and pecking orders. He tells Carter to "take your escape committee and stuff them". When Col. Preston requests a meeting, Collins "would appreciate it" if it could be at a time convenient to him, as though he were the senior man. George Brent, whose nervous disposition hardly suggests suitability for high stakes gambling, is foolhardy enough to take him on and predictably comes a cropper. As does an inoffensive German guard, with even more serious consequences.
I watched Colditz when it first came out and years later remembered Collins making himself especially unpopular by gouging the eyes of a fellow prisoner. This proved to be a false memory, the dirty deed being done by another British hard man in Odd Man In. Which goes to show what a splendidly nasty performance it was.
