TV Gold

[Sarah Tarrant]

?and so to <span style='color:red'>?PART SIX?</span>, the concluding part of this extremely enjoyable, exciting and entertaining ?Secret Army? series sequel. Following her father?s traumatic experience at the isolated farmhouse in the previous part Ingrid and Franz decide to take matters into their own hands and kill Mical at her hotel however the Kameradenwerk have the same idea and get there before them. Ingrid?s death is so swift and sudden (although it has to be said not totally unexpected) it practically took my breath away but the implications of this have a pivotal effect on Kessler towards the end of the episode. Meanwhile realising that things are too dangerous for them Colonel Ruckert organises an evacuation of the Kameradenwerk headquarters and it is amidst all the activity that Kessler returns to inform the Colonel of his financial decision. Kessler now finds himself standing in an empty building just as Bauer and Mical arrive and we finally get the showdown between the three lead characters that the series has been leading up to. Finally Mical gets the chance, in a particularly memorable scene, to finally vent her anger against the man that primarily, as described in <span style='color:red'>?PART ONE?</span> had caused her, her family and those close to her so much misery and suffering. Having let Mical take the lead Bauer coolly says he is there for the best reason of all ?I?m German and would like to be proud to be so. I need you to wash my German soul, Kessler.? There then follows more wordy speeches from Kessler (so typical of the character) about how things would be better with a new Reich which can easily be discarded (and indeed are by Bauer and Mical) as merely more tired rhetoric.

Admittedly Kessler is a strong, powerful and popular character who indeed fully deserved this thrilling sequel series but although we viewers grew fond of him mainly due to his romance with Madeline (during the second year of ?Secret Army?) let us not forget he was a cruel sadistic Nazi officer. If you scrape below the surface you will find those aspects as demonstrated in his treatment of an injured RAF Sergeant (Season One?s ?Sergeant on the Run?) and the ?garden party entertainment? he arranged (Season Two?s ?Russian Roulette?) to which Albert Foiret was invited. Now it would have been so very easy to let Kessler in this final part, once more escape the pursuing authorities however it would have rather rendered the events leading up to this final part rather redundant without an effective payoff. Now piece by piece we have seen Kessler?s cosy new life destroyed. Having fled Germany and his new identity of Dorf Industries businessman, he loses his photographic memories of his now deceased wife, his faith in the Kameradenwerk and then, as a final painful occurrence, his daughter (and future business partner) Ingrid is killed. Ultimately we see him placing the muzzle of a machine gun in his mouth, we hear the shots and when Bauer and Mical go back we see his unmoving form lying on a Nazi flag. Now I know from a censor point of view excessive use of blood to emphasise the point was not allowed but it would have made the aftermath of his action be more believable. One could consider that he was merely a bad shot and infact missed and may indeed be merely unconscious (leaving the door open perhaps to a further return!) however again there would have to have been some evidence of the bullets hitting the surrounding walls. However this point aside <span style='color:red'>?Kessler?</span> is, despite being ?a different animal?, indeed a worthwhile follow-up to its illustrious predecessor. It weaves an engaging plot with the use of an effectively portrayed group of characters (both new and old) which is in now way impended by the necessary shifts in location. If you are not aware of its existence and are curious I can heartedly recommend it as worthy purchase.

<span style='color:red'>COMMENTARY:</span> Now like many of us, I am grateful for the participation of director Michael E Briant and series star Clifford Rose in a commentary for this final part. They indeed make some interesting observations about the series and this episode in particular. Amongst those that I stick in my mind are Clifford talking about the authentic German made costumes for his character which were all sourced from Cologne. He was specifically praiseworthy of the distinctive thick-rimmed ?light sensitive? glasses which immeasurably aided his performance. Much later in the episode Kessler is seen playing the piano in Yqueras home which sparked a fascinating memory of how Clifford actually learnt to play the specific piece of music for this scene. Michael also had his noteworthy observations, the best of which, for me, regarded Gareth, a rather versatile stuntman who combined his extensive regular work with a brief acting scene (as ?Muller?) with Ralph Michael?s Colonel Hans Rucket.
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