I've cobbled together a few brief words to help support my decisions of my appraisal of how favourable I view the entire story...
(1) Trapped
It’s got to be worst case scenario for Lifeline to have a guide not only become separated from her air crew personnel but to also be caught up in a suspect’s attempt to escape Police capture and getting injured into the bargain. I love the real tension as Monique lies helpless in hospital not knowing if either her friends or Kessler will arrive first. A marvellously tense instalment which concludes with Monique’s emotionally moving delivery of ‘I Bet You’ve Heard This One Before’ rendered back in the Candide, as she fights against the pain of her wounded leg.
(2) A Matter of Life And Death
Nigel Williams character of Francois plays a pivotal role in the brilliantly paced ‘A Matter of Life And Death’ where he attempts to convince Lifeline, and his fiancée Natalie that he can handle the role of guide on his own. The sequence of events bringing him into conflict with Max and the communists objectives is well handled however it is the truly emotionally gut wrenching final ‘morning train’ sequence that for me elevates this story considerably. It’s all credit to the believable performances of both Julie Hammond-Hill (Natalie) and Duncan Lamont (as the brilliant likeable baker Herve) that this scene is indelibly memorable.
(3) The Big One
For me this is definitely a strong contender for Michael Culver’s finest performance as Major Erwin Brandt with him rendering an entirely convincing, emotively brilliant portrayal of his character’s extreme sadness and rage at the death of his wife and child. There are certainly some powerful scenes in another truly complete gem of a story which maintains the viewers interest and attention throughout as the sequence of events are played out.
(4) Lucky Piece
Paul Shelley’s portrayal of the likeable self-assured Major Nick Bradley makes an indelible, favourable first series appearance here and there is good interaction primarily with Natalie making ‘Lucky Piece’ for me a high ranking second season story.
(5) Prisoner of War
A strange new aircraft on the secret list and a high ranking German pilot whom London want sent back to them. A worthy and excitingly satisfying tale itself but it’s the resolution of the threat posed by Max and his communist friends that makes a high quality story even better!
(6) The Hostage
Once you get past the distinctively memorable first look at the new Candide restaurant the way the relatively simplistic return of a high ranking British army officer is complicated by the death of a German soldier adds much to this worthy second season opener.
(7) Day of Wrath
Occupying the centre spot in my preferential story list I feel relatively ambivalent to the overall feel of ‘Day of Wrath’ undoubtedly Andre De Beers desire for revenge for the death of his brother whilst under torture at Gestapo headquarters is a dramatically satisfying premise however I can’t quite decide why it’s gained such a mid point position.
(8) Not According To Plan
Another story with an excellent set piece, in this instance the blowing up of a train on which Natalie, Francois and three evaders are travelling.
(9) Little Old Lady
Undoubtedly the star of this story is David King’s amazingly realistic improvisation sequence as actor Louis-Victor Conde who shows those present how ‘to believe’. I feel Monique’s escorting of the disguised Kelso having a rather muted dramatic tension to it with the danger posed by the Germans on their journey not as immediate as you’d find on other stories during the series.
(10) Weekend
I suppose it’s easy to dismiss ‘Weekend’ due to it having a central premise which is later used in the comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo which is part of the reason why it is placed fairly low on my list. This is despite worthy threats to Oberleutnant Horst and Kessler’s life by Americans McGee and Harris.
(11) Russian Roulette
Despite offering Kessler’s truly chilling, well played ‘garden party’ which understandably has such a disturbing effect on Albert, “Russian Roulette” is let down by the comedic antics of the ‘cats and fish’ drawing incomprehensible Russians Ivan and Alexei. Yes I do enjoy their childish mannerisms however it is a tad jarring to find it in a series so renowned for its tense emotive drama.
(12) Scorpion
The dramatic potential of a potential SS infiltrator for some reason didn’t really emotively engage my interest. There is in my opinion nothing unduly wrong with ‘Scorpion’ however any potential dramatic impact of the central premise is rather diluted by the worthy, interesting scenes of Brandt with his visiting wife Erika.
(13) Guests at God’s Table
Gaining the metaphorical ‘wooden spoon’ award for me we find a tale with a bunch of kids offering Lifeline a downed pilot in exchange for food. Agreed it’s a heartwarming premise but lacking any real German threat to it I personally find it very disposable and not one that I care to return to watch too often.
I'll go away and have a good think about Season Three over the weekend and return at some point very soon to launch a voting thread for that particular run. I already know which two stories will be bottom of my list but I need time to consider where the other eleven will slot in. In the meantime I hope that all you keen fans will visit the forum and these threads and suggest how you'd line up the episodes from the series. It would, I hope, be interesting if we could eventually get a general consensous of opinion as to what were the best and worst of 'Secret Army', something that I don't think anyone has ever done before!
