TV Gold

My favourite character is that played by Bernard Hepton. He is a brilliant actor but he does tend to fluff his lines occasionally.

Mmmm..

Upon second viewing of SA (we bought the entire series for £64.99 with free delivery on Simply Entertainment website) I have to revise my opinion of who my favourite character is. My earlier post plumps for Reinhardt (probably cos I fancy the pants off him in his uniform ) But upon watching series 1 and 2 again, I may have to change to Brandt. His portrayal of a man in mourning after the death of his wife and son is quite poignant. The way he starts to lose control when interrogating the downed airman is heart rending. Overall (lust aside!) I think I must say that Brandt is my favourite.

I know I'm fickle, but there you go. And its a woman's prerogative to change her mind!

Hi, I'm surprised this thread is still active ~ now History Series is showing 'Kessler' ~ I didn't see it the first time round ~ so I await to see how it develops. I have read some of the stuff on IMDB ~ not good but we'll see...............My favorite character ~ Bernard Hepton, 2nd Brandt

I watched Kessler when they screened it earlier this year. It was nowhere near as good as SA (in my opinion) but still watchable just to see what happened to Kessler. I think it would have been better had it been set just after the War rather than the 80s.

My favourite character and my favourite series was Reinhardt in series 3. The contrast between the coming of the allied liberation after D-Day and the ever increasing danger from the net closing around Lifeline from German HQ and the hostility from Belgian natives was well portrayed and gripping to the very end. The dignity and honour Reinhardt displayed in his pursuit of Lifeline who were helping his country to lose the war, his refusal to reduce himself to fanatical vengeance and extreme cruelty unlike his Gestapo colleagues was typical of most German military fighters. When he conceded defeat to Albert in the Candide and surrendered his pistol it wasa true show of grace in the face of impending doom. After capture and then Kessler's vindictive efforts to have him court martialled, his execution scene- his final, rational words, "you're all mad, stark raving mad!"- was the saddest and most disturbing scene of all 3 series by a country mile. Only the garden party execution to which Albert had been invited in series 2,and Major Bradley's death in series 3- the indestructible Major Bradley, were anywhere near as shocking. The whole three series were a true television masterpiece that worked on many different levels of character development, with a deliberately dark setting that reflects the times it was portraying, but with true human warmth and strength coming richly out of every episode. Each episode written by different writers knitted together without any lapses in continuity, was a classic in its own right- there was never an episode that was less than wholly memorable or heart wrenchingly moving. Alomgside Band of Brothers it rates as the best Wartime Tv drama series of all time.

malcysson wrote:My favourite character and my favourite series was Reinhardt in series 3. The contrast between the coming of the allied liberation after D-Day and the ever increasing danger from the net closing around Lifeline from German HQ and the hostility from Belgian natives was well portrayed and gripping to the very end. The dignity and honour Reinhardt displayed in his pursuit of Lifeline who were helping his country to lose the war, his refusal to reduce himself to fanatical vengeance and extreme cruelty unlike his Gestapo colleagues was typical of most German military fighters. When he conceded defeat to Albert in the Candide and surrendered his pistol it wasa true show of grace in the face of impending doom. After capture and then Kessler's vindictive efforts to have him court martialled, his execution scene- his final, rational words, "you're all mad, stark raving mad!"- was the saddest and most disturbing scene of all 3 series by a country mile. Only the garden party execution to which Albert had been invited in series 2,and Major Bradley's death in series 3- the indestructible Major Bradley, were anywhere near as shocking. The whole three series were a true television masterpiece that worked on many different levels of character development, with a deliberately dark setting that reflects the times it was portraying, but with true human warmth and strength coming richly out of every episode. Each episode written by different writers knitted together without any lapses in continuity, was a classic in its own right- there was never an episode that was less than wholly memorable or heart wrenchingly moving. Alomgside Band of Brothers it rates as the best Wartime Tv drama series of all time.

You know what, some of that you could find on the back of the DVD Boxset. Writing and a Summary so good it describes SA so well. Brilliant stuff!

Thank you very much Etienne, I found myself surfing a very good wave while writing that review, and it does please me very much that others still contribute to a site such as this. Yours is the most interesting of all the Secret Army question "blogs" on this site. I first watched Secret Army series 2 and 3 when I was 14 then 15 back in the late 70s. Having sat through the entirety of Series 1 on UKTV History last winter -Secret Army HAS to be on in the winter, it doesn't fit any other season- as a "virgin" viewer, I then went on a reminiscence trip for those episodes I remembered on a glorious day by day schedule, and trembled at how much it affected me at the time, and also at how much I forgot for example, Francois in series two, Natalie's love, I remember his character like it was yesterday, but was shocked at his death at the hands of Max's treachery. Also Max first time around was one of my favourite characters whereas now... I refer you to my previous sentence; there it is the differences of a 14 year old mind and a 43 year old mind- a psychologist would have a field day. What people don't realise is the context also- now we can watch it on dvd or every day on digital tv when it's on or twice repeated if we miss it. It took nearly 2 1/2 years from the start to the finish of the whole three series as we know, but we had to wait a whole week for another episode then, no repeats or midweek previews, no web chatrooms- it took over our lives in the playground, walking to and from school, sat in the evenings when it wasn't on counting the days down, then the series ended on a knife-edge and we had to wait a year till the next series!!! The winter of discontent did not mean strikes and litter piling up in streets to me, it meant Secret Army and trying to concentrate on my O Levels, Best wishes, malcysson

malcysson wrote:Thank you very much Etienne, I found myself surfing a very good wave while writing that review, and it does please me very much that others still contribute to a site such as this. Yours is the most interesting of all the Secret Army question "blogs" on this site. I first watched Secret Army series 2 and 3 when I was 14 then 15 back in the late 70s. Having sat through the entirety of Series 1 on UKTV History last winter -Secret Army HAS to be on in the winter, it doesn't fit any other season- as a "virgin" viewer, I then went on a reminiscence trip for those episodes I remembered on a glorious day by day schedule, and trembled at how much it affected me at the time, and also at how much I forgot for example, Francois in series two, Natalie's love, I remember his character like it was yesterday, but was shocked at his death at the hands of Max's treachery. Also Max first time around was one of my favourite characters whereas now... I refer you to my previous sentence; there it is the differences of a 14 year old mind and a 43 year old mind- a psychologist would have a field day. What people don't realise is the context also- now we can watch it on dvd or every day on digital tv when it's on or twice repeated if we miss it. It took nearly 2 1/2 years from the start to the finish of the whole three series as we know, but we had to wait a whole week for another episode then, no repeats or midweek previews, no web chatrooms- it took over our lives in the playground, walking to and from school, sat in the evenings when it wasn't on counting the days down, then the series ended on a knife-edge and we had to wait a year till the next series!!! The winter of discontent did not mean strikes and litter piling up in streets to me, it meant Secret Army and trying to concentrate on my O Levels, Best wishes, malcysson

Without sounding as though I'm your No 1 Fan Club member that again is spot on, excellent stuff! There's actually so much in that, that I can relate to but especially the 'Secret Army HAS to be on in the winter' That is so true! I have one specific memory that can relate to that which is this. I always remember an Auntie of mine where I spent a lot of time in the early 80's being massively into SA and whenever I was round it was on. There must have been a re-run at about 6pm as it was always on whilst we was having our Tea, for some reason I feel it was BBC 2 that was showing it opposed to BBC 1 so it all figures. However when it was on it was always dark, I remember her saying "As soon as its finished I'll run you home" I'd reply "what time will that be?" The answer was always 7pm. It was 7pm alright and memory always tells me it was very dark and bloody freezing outside. That is the reason I believe you are so right! See its not just the show that you remember, amazing really and very much like SA.

I was 12 when the series was first screened (so you can guess how old i am now!) and remember watching it with my parents. Even at 12/13 i had a big crush on Major Bradley and even now i still think he is lovely! The series made quite a big impact on me and it was great to see it again in its entirety last year and to see that so many other people love it too.

Natalie's uncle Hans Van Broecken, the bargee. A fantastic ongoing character with many strong moments.

Gustavtheelf wrote:My favourite character is that played by Bernard Hepton. He is a brilliant actor but he does tend to fluff his lines occasionally.

Yes, I've noticed that! But he usually gets round it somehow. I think Stephen Yardley helps him out in one episode and it's very good.

Brandt! He was a terrific character. I loved his scenes with Kessler, and his storyline in series 2 was riveting.

my favourite characters would have to be a very sexy natalie c and a very ice cold Major nick bradley who has the same unemotional trademark as a certain kerr avon from B7.