The WORST episodes of Secret Army
Every episode of Secret Army ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Secret Army!
Secret Army, a series created by Gerard Glaister, chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen back to their home country. The show was set in a Brussels café and later restaurant (Le Candide), where the owner Albert Foiret helps Lisa Colbert (code-named "Yvette") hide airmen and control the various members of the "Lifeline" organisation as they take the airmen across borders to safer neutral countries such as Spain. Their principal opponents were Ludwig Kessler, an officious officer in the SS, and the more laidback Luftwaffe officer Major Erwin Brandt.
#1 - The Execution
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/15/1979
Kessler, still posing under an alias, and Reinhardt find themselves interned in the same prison camp for German officers. Kessler learns that Reinhardt surrendered himself to Albert at the Candide and is determined to dispose of him with a trumped-up court martial. Madeleine is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever. In Brussels, Albert and the others learn they are to be decorated for their selfless contribution to the war effort and Albert is given full ownership of the Candide as a reward for his bravery. However, it is a bittersweet victory for Albert as he has lost Monique, who is about to marry Captain Durnford and leave for a new life in England. The Second World War is over.
#2 - A Safe Place
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1979
Albert is imprisoned on trumped-up charges as part of a Communist revenge plot, and Monique is left to take charge of both Lifeline and the Candide. Alain discovers the existence of a false escape line set up by Reinhardt to flush them out and that one of their evaders, “Mad” Mike Miller, had previously been shot down and helped by Lifeline. Monique must make a difficult decision if she is to maintain Lifeline’s safety.
#3 - A Question Of Loyalty
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1977
A British bomber crash lands somewhere outside Brussels, its entire crew is apparently dead. Kessler takes this as an opportunity to infiltrate Lifeline and assigns Ernst Stoller, an officer who was born and brought up in England, to substitute for one of the dead men. Meanwhile, Monique is becoming increasingly disillusioned with her life at the Candide and relationship with Albert, and finds herself letting her guard down when she becomes involved with Stoller as part of her Lifeline work.
#4 - The Last Run
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1979
At Gestapo headquarters, Kessler takes an instant dislike to the newly arrived Luftwaffe Major Hans Dietrich Reinhardt, who has joined him in a final concerted attempt to crush the evasion lines. As the Allies continue to advance from the invasion beaches, Lifeline must continue their efforts in getting airmen back to Britain, but when Natalie attempts to guide two evaders down to Spain, it becomes clear that their work may at last be over.
#5 - Guilt
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/26/1977
In the aftermath of the Romsey business, a German newspaper publishes British military secrets. Curtis decides that the traitor must be found and dealt with. He travels to France and retraces Romsey’s steps. Meanwhile, Albert is still suspicious of Curtis and decides that once he is away from Brussels he will reveal his true colours. Monique follows Curtis to France to watch him and finally prove whether he is trustworthy or not, while Curtis’ investigations lead him to the Neville residence.
#6 - Identity In Doubt
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/9/1977
With so many evaders, Lifeline’s resources are once more stretched to the limit and they must watch their backs after recent events. Jacques and Natalie are dispatched to check out a young South African evader, Noel Uys, and have to consider eliminating him when his answers to their questions fail to satisfy either them or London. In desperation to survive, Uys overpowers Jacques and armed with a shotgun, takes Natalie as his hostage.
#7 - Guests at God's Table
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/1978
Christmas is approaching, and Lifeline finds itself having to play Saint Nicholas when a wounded Group Captain is discovered by a group of abandoned children fending for themselves, who are prepared to sell the officer in turn for food and presents. However, Albert fears that it could all be an elaborate trap set up by the Germans. Meanwhile, Brandt finds his loyalties to Germany divided after recent events and confides his worries to Kessler.
#8 - Little Old Lady
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/1978
A British Wing Commander is badly burned after he has been shot down over Belgium. London wants him back urgently, but his facial injuries make it difficult for him to go down the line. He manages to get to Paris with Natalie as his guide, but Monique decides that if he is to avoid detection he must disguise himself as a woman for the rest of the journey. Meanwhile, Madeleine is ostracised for her relationship with Kessler, but finds a new friend in Monique. The Candide and its staff are targeted by terrorists for being collaborators, and Natalie and Max fear the worst when the Gestapo arrest Albert.
#9 - Good Friday
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/14/1977
As Easter approaches, a monk from a local order, Father Girard, visits the Candide to hear Andree’s confession and also overhears a conversation about an evader. He offers his assistance to Lisa, who gratefully agrees that the airman can be hidden in the abbey over Easter. At the abbey, the head of the order, Father Pierre, is happy to help Lifeline, however another of the brothers, Brother Anselm, strongly believes that the order should not endanger itself by getting involved with the resistance and misguidedly contacts Kessler.
#10 - Bait
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/7/1977
The citizens of Brussels are ordered to celebrate the Fuhrer’s impending birthday, and Albert and the others are suspected of being collaborators when they must hang a Nazi flag outside the Candide. Meanwhile, a man claiming to be an RAF evader approaches Catherine Bidout, an elderly English woman who has not yet been interned by the Germans. Rumours of a British woman in Brussels hiding an evader reaches the Candide and Albert decides to investigate. Madame Bidout is uneasy about the risks she is taking and contacts an old friend – Brandt – for help. However, the evader is a plant placed by Kessler to entrap Lifeline and now Brandt is also in danger.
#11 - Hymn To Freedom
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/30/1977
Lifeline once again must tread carefully when one of their safehouses is blown. Meanwhile, Van Reijn, a minister in the puppet Belgian government, wants to defect to England and contacts Curtis. Curtis tries to persuade Lisa to let Van Reijn be sent down the line, citing the propaganda value of such a defection. However, matters become complicated, as Lifeline has once more been secretly infiltrated by a German officer.
#12 - Not According to Plan
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1978
Natalie’s new boyfriend, Francois, is keen to become involved in Lifeline, but Albert has doubts. Paul Vercors, the fanatical leader of a Communist cell in Brussels, wants to take over Lifeline, and tries to enlist the assistance of a colleague – Max. Meanwhile, the Communists continue their resistance activities and plant explosives on a railway line to derail a train. Unfortunately, the train’s passengers include Natalie and Francois, escorting evaders down the line.
#13 - Lost Sheep
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1977
Flight Lieutenant Peter Romsey, a RAF navigator, is one of Lifeline’s latest customers and London are anxious for his swift return – his technical knowledge of the Oboe navigation system is vitally important. Natalie takes Romsey and other evaders down the line, but Romsey is separated from the others and takes the wrong train, finding himself lost in the French countryside. As Lifeline tries to track him down, Romsey finds unexpected assistance from Hugh and Dorothy Neville, an expatriate English couple. A celebrated author utterly disillusioned with the war, Neville must decide where his true loyalties lie when Romsey turns up on his doorstep.
#14 - Weekend
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1978
Hoping to boost Lifeline’s flagging funds and gain some independence from London, Albert and Monique concoct a plan to sell three valuable Rubens paintings, replacing the originals with forgeries. However, Kessler is also aware of the paintings’ existence and plans to acquire them for Germany, setting out to remove them from the convent near Antwerp where they are held. Meanwhile, two American evaders, impatient with Lifeline’s security checks, decide to strike out on their own and ambush the car that Kessler is travelling in. Totally unaware of the true identity of their hostage, the Americans and their captive impose themselves on Hans and Lena Van Broecken, demanding that they are taken to Switzerland on their barge. Lifeline must not only retrieve the paintings, but also ensure that no harm comes to Kessler, as horrifying reprisals by the Germans are at stake.
#15 - Child's Play
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/28/1977
An American airman has written a magazine article about his experiences being shot down in Europe and getting back home with the help of the evasion lines. British Intelligence has blocked the article’s publication, but Brandt has managed to obtain a copy from German intelligence based in America. Studying the article, he begins to deduce the probable route taken during the evasion and travels to the Pyrenees, where he enlists the aid of Malaud, a French policeman, to close in on the line. Meanwhile, Lisa is also in the area, taking some evaders down the very route Brandt is so close to tracking down.
#16 - Day of Wrath
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/20/1978
Andre De Beers, a Belgian fighter pilot, is taken prisoner by the Gestapo and forced to watch his brother being tortured to death. De Beers overpowers his guard and escapes from Gestapo headquarters, seeking refuge with his old friend Alain. Determined to exact vengeance, he begins a campaign of killing German soldiers. After Kessler orders the capture and shooting of twenty innocent people in retaliation, Albert orders Alain to kill De Beers to stop any more bloodshed, however Monique and Natalie come up with an alternative solution. Albert is forced to stamp his authority on the others to preserve Lifeline’s safety when he learns that they have taken matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, as Kessler begins to launch an innovative new scheme to police Brussels, a communiqué from Berlin has shocking news for Brandt while sudden German radio silence indicates that a significant turn in the war is about to occur. The date is 6 June 1944.
#17 - Second Chance
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/5/1977
The safety of Lifeline is at risk when Albert deduces that the Candide is being watched by a Gestapo spy, while Lisa continues to resent Curtis’ presence and his domineering take-charge manner. A wounded RAF evader, Finch, finds sanctuary with Hans Van Broecken, a Dutchman who lives on a barge with his wife Lena. Finch plans to desert the army and escape to Switzerland and finds a kindred spirit in Hans, who is in fact German and deserted during the First World War. Hans plans to take Finch to Switzerland himself on the barge, but Lifeline becomes involved when Lena receives a visit from her niece – Natalie. However, helping evaders escape to comfortable Swiss internment is not Lifeline’s purpose, and how can Finch be involved with Lifeline with the Candide under German surveillance?
#18 - Prisoner of War
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/1978
Kessler tries to help Brandt as he tries to cope by heavy drinking and flirting with Monique at the Candide. Alain is forced to hide two evaders on his farm when a neighbour finds a wounded German fighter pilot on his property. It transpires that the pilot is a decorated flying ace and his plane is on the German secret list, and London asks for Lifeline’s assistance in getting him to England as a prisoner of war. Meanwhile, as Max prepares to bring his plans for Lifeline into fruition, Natalie demands that Albert take action.
#19 - Ring of Rosies
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1979
Still languishing in prison, Albert learns that he was set up by the Communist leader Paul Vercors. Meanwhile, Dr. Keldermans makes a shocking discovery when examining an evader at a safehouse – the man is dying of bubonic plague. Lifeline’s personnel face the horrifying possibility of being wiped out by the deadly disease.
#20 - Lisa-Codename Yvette
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/7/1977
Lifeline, a Brussels-based resistance organisation smuggling downed RAF fliers back to Britain, is endangered when Luftwaffe Major Erwin Brandt blows one of their safehouses. The Lifeline leaders, Lisa Colbert and café proprietor Albert Foiret, are suspicious when London sends Flight Lieutenant John Curtis, who had previously gone down the line with Lisa, to help co-ordinate their activities. Brandt, meanwhile, also finds assistance from Gestapo Sturnbannfuhrer Ludwig Kessler, transferred from Berlin to crack down on the evasion lines.
#21 - Radishes With Butter
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/21/1977
The Jewish population of Brussels is being systemically deported according to colour-coded identification papers developed by the Germans. Curtis becomes involved with a Jewish family hiding out in the city and asks Lisa if Lifeline can help, but Lisa is unwilling to put the line, which is supposed to help RAF evaders not Jews, at risk. Curtis himself is still under suspicion by Albert, when Lisa’s uncle, bank manager Gaston Colbert, identifies Belgian banknotes he brought over from London as forgeries. Kessler obtains some of the notes, and realises that they are too accurate to be real and have been made by the Belgian treasury plates, which were evacuated to London before the German invasion. He believes that the notes will bring him closer to Lifeline.
#22 - Days of Judgement
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/1/1979
Vercors has taken Albert, Monique and Reinhardt prisoner, and plans to hang Albert as a collaborator and a murderer. Only the Allies, helped by Natalie, can save him but they have only just entered Brussels. Meanwhile, Kessler and Madeleine are trekking on foot towards Germany through the Belgian countryside. To evade capture by the Allies, Kessler decides to take on a new identity.
#23 - Just Light the Blue Touch-Paper
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1979
As Bradley’s army remains in hiding along the Dutch border, he and Natalie become closer as they work together planning the raid on the V2 site. To increase his chances of success, Bradley must try to obtain the rocket delivery schedule and plans to get the information by dining with Kessler at the Candide…. Meanwhile, Reinhardt is rapidly closing in on Lifeline, with Natalie as his chief suspect.
#24 - The Hostage
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1978
Some months have passed, and Albert and Monique are preparing for the grand opening of the Restaurant Candide on Brussels’ Grand Place, financed by London to allow Lifeline to continue its activities. Lifeline also recruits a new forger, Max Brocard. Alain brings a British agent to the Candide with an urgent request from London: a Brigadier General with information on a major Allied offensive in North Africa (named in the programme as Operation Torch) has been shot down on his way to a top secret meeting and must be rescued at all odds. Natalie has already discovered the Brigadier and prepares to take him down the line. However, disaster strikes when a German soldier is murdered, and in retaliation, Kessler orders that twenty people are to be held hostage and shot if the killer doesn’t give himself up. The Brigadier is one of the hostages.
#25 - Sergeant on the Run
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/14/1977
Albert and Lisa continue to be suspicious of Curtis, whilst Lifeline is stretched to its limit trying to deal with several evaders. The Germans capture one evader, Sergeant Walker, who has travelled down the line and is familiar with several of Lifeline’s personnel. Walker makes a desperate bid for freedom to avoid talking and throws himself down a staircase at Gestapo headquarters. As Walker recovers in hospital, Lifeline deliberate over whether he can be rescued from the Germans or if he must be silenced to preserve the security of the line.