TV Gold

In my second week I settled back on the settee to watch the next pair of episodes from the first disc. On this Tuesday evening the third episode, going by the title of ?The Honest Broker? moves the story forward to 1870, albeit with a certain linking nature to the preceding second ?The English Princess? episode. Once again both Maurice Denham and Denis Lill appear as Kaiser Wilhelm I and Fritz however whilst Maurice?s character departs the series through a natural death Denis Lill?s Fritz certainly has a far grizzlier fate awaiting him, something that certainly had me wincing on a few occasions through the episode. Although much older, the same forceful dominating persona of Bismark is compellingly brought to the screen by Curt Jurgens, who for me, was captivating in each scene he appears in. Now I am not particularly familiar with the series ?Van de Valk? but the leading actor of that series, Barry Foster appears as confident, self assured Prince Wilhelm II and I am sure would be a welcome and possibly unexpected appearance for fans of that series. I certainly recall, most notably from his appearance in the Tom Baker Doctor Who story ?Planet of Evil? the actor Frederick Jaeger here appearing as an apparent bespectacled bearded administrative member of staff called Holstein.