The BEST episodes of The Sandbaggers season 1

Every episode of The Sandbaggers season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Sandbaggers season 1!

"The Sandbaggers" was a taut British spy series comprising twenty 50-minute episodes produced by Yorkshire Television. The stories centered on the elite covert operations section of British Intelligence, nicknamed the Sandbaggers, and their boss, Neil Burnside (Roy Marsden), himself a former Sandbagger, but now having to battle more with British bureaucracy than enemy agents. It was set contemporaneously with its original broadcast in the late '70s and early '80s when the Cold War still dominated the Western intelligence agenda. Burnside's main operative is Willie Caine, his most experienced agent. Burnside's main opponents in the series are not his KGB adversaries but the bureaucrats and functionaries of his own government, often his own superiors. He he is constatly at odds his his Deputy Chief and occasinally with the head of the Secret Service codenamed "C".

Last Updated: 8/25/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
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A Proper Function of Government
star
8.57
37 votes

#1 - A Proper Function of Government

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1978

The Sandbaggers may be sent to Vienna to keep tabs on a possible defector, while Burnside tries to get official approval to assassinate an African dictator.

Directors: Michael Ferguson
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Always Glad to Help
star
8.03
31 votes

#2 - Always Glad to Help

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/16/1978

Dickens is assigned to find out where an Arab sheik's sympathies lie while Burnside clashes with Deputy Chief Matthew Peele and the Ministry of Defence over a covert scuba-diving operation.

Directors: David Reynolds
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The Most Suitable Person
star
8.03
32 votes

#3 - The Most Suitable Person

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1978

Sandbagger One Willie Caine goes to Gibraltar to investigate the murder of an SIS agent, and potential new Sandbagger Laura Dickens goes to Morocco to get more clues in the case.

Directors: Michael Ferguson
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Special Relationship
star
8.00
31 votes

#4 - Special Relationship

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1978

Laura Dickens is the most qualified agent for a risky mission in East Berlin and Burnside has to double-deal to make sure her presence there won't pose other security risks as well.

Directors: Michael Ferguson
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A Feasible Solution
star
7.97
30 votes

#5 - A Feasible Solution

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1978

Caine and an agent fresh out of field school go to Cyprus on the trail of some missing rocket scientists while Neil lets his romantic guard down at home.

Directors: Michael Ferguson
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Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
star
7.85
34 votes

#6 - Is Your Journey Really Necessary?

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1978

Alan Denson threatens to quit the Sandbaggers after a rough, unauthorized mission near the Soviet border, so Burnside applies pressure to Denson's fiancee

Directors: Derek Bennett
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First Principles
star
7.55
38 votes

#7 - First Principles

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1978

Neil Burnside, the Director of Operations for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, objects to sending his best agents, the Sandbaggers, on a mission into Russia for Norway's Secret Service.

Directors: Michael Ferguson
Watch Now:Amazon