TV Gold

I've been rewatching the whole of Secret Army and I realised that the character played by Ralph Bates in Series 3 crops up in Series 2, played by Michael Byrne – seemingly as the head of Max's cell.

Byrne's performance is very extreme, very often he's drunk and maddened due to his girlfriend's 'betrayal'. Bates is cooler, but with a vindictive edge.

Which portrayal do you think was the best? I go for Byrne's.

I preferred Ralph Bates personally. He just seemed a bit more menacing and cold hearted - I remember that scene where Natalie was pleading with him in the cafe to tell her where Albert was and he was deaf to her pleas. A really unpleasant piece of work!

colgirl wrote:I preferred Ralph Bates personally. He just seemed a bit more menacing and cold hearted - I remember that scene where Natalie was pleading with him in the cafe to tell her where Albert was and he was deaf to her pleas. A really unpleasant piece of work!

Oh yes. I watched that episode a couple of days ago and it's awful that, as Natalie says, he knew all along about Lifeline's members but continued to call them collaborators out of spite.

It's hard to see Michael Byrne being as good in those episodes from Series 3 because his Vercors was unstable (which I liked), with all his ticks and fits of violence. As you mention Ralph Bates's lucidity in the part is what makes Vercors' ruthlessness so shocking.