Secret Army: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Classic TV drama about the Resistance in Europe during the Second World War
Year: 1977-1979
Certificate: 12
The secret army of the title are Resistance fighters working in occupied Belgium during the Second World War. Putting themselves in grave danger, they helped Allied airmen who had been shot down by the Luftwaffe to get home, and this is a fictionalised look at the risks involved and the sort of people who took them.
First shown from 1977 to 1979, it might suffer a little in comparison to 1980s sitcom 'Allo 'Allo, which was conceived as a parody of this very show. Just don't expect the saucy shenanigans of café owner Rene and 'Michelle of the Resistance', this is deadly serious and at times harrowing stuff.
Jan Francis (Just Good Friends) is the key Resistance figure, Lisa 'Yvette' Colbert, who runs the escape line to Britain. She is joined by café proprietor Albert Foiret (Bernard Hepton, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), a rather sombre take on 'Allo 'Allo's René, with a bedbound wife. Also helping Colbert are Foiret's mistress Monique (Angela Richards) and waitress Natalie (Juliet Hammond-Hill), while, lurking in the shadows, the main threat comes from SS man Ludwig Kessler (Clifford Rose), determined to find them and end the Resistance for good. (Three series)
